Shellac finish

[Upstatewoodchuc]

Hey guys, I built a simple bookshelf from some live edge EWP slabs I have, and chainsaw milled maple and hemlock. After thinking some on how to finish it I was thinking about doing a simple shellac finish especially since I'm worried about the EWP bleeding sap and ruining books and there's 3 different types of wood. Would a clear shellac seal this enough to not worry about sap bleed through? Also do you guys think the shellac will show off the 3 different wood types? Or do something different on the maple shelves?

[terrifictimbersllc]

Shellac is what's supposed to seal bleeding knots so you can paint.  But the best would be to cut up some sample boards and try it out. 

[btulloh]

X2 on the sample boards .That's the on ly way to sort all that out .Shellac for sealing but probably not going to bring much out of the maple .Probably need something more durable for a top coat .Should look nice no matter what you choose .Interesting mix of woods.

(FireHD 8 iiss hard to use for this.  Please excuse the typin g  Mind of its own.)

[low_48]

Shellac has too high of gloss for my tastes. It has to be knocked back with steel wool. Tough to steel wool natural edge if that means bark.

[No_Dude]

I dig Shellac, kinda a pain for me since I try to match existing firearm finishes with it, but a very easy to work with finish. It can be pretty glossy for some projects but as stated it can be knocked down with steel wool. For a bookshelf I'd say it would be nice, and if it has good figure would make it pop.

[Upstatewoodchuc]

Alright guys so I took the dive and I lightly sanded the bookshelf down with 150 grit and then layyed on 2 coats of clear shellac, I actually really like the results! Surprisingly it seemed to have the most effect on the maple which prior to the shellac just looked white and uninterested, it's now showing alot of figure and has a pink hue to it! I didn't get crazy sanding because I wanted to leave some of the rough cut chainsaw milling marks in it, shelf is gonna be a birthday present for a girlfriend, now to see if I can figure out how to upload pictures!

[No_Dude]

How did you apply it? I know some guys like brushes, foam brushes, or a pad.

[Upstatewoodchuc]

I brushed on a thick coat, let it set up for 2 hours, came back and scuffed it all and than brushed on another coat.

[SwampDonkey]

Some pricey stuff these days, $35 a quart locally for clear. And flakes you mix in alcohol are $60 a pound. No idea how many quarts a lb does, guessing two quarts. With flakes you can get 3 tones. Wasn't that long ago it was $12 a quart. The sealer is $42 a quart now.

[Brad_bb]

I have a 1 3/16" thick 22"x5' Walnut top for My computer desk.  I had the bare glued up top in my shop for years and I wanted to at least protect it until I had time to finish it properly.  Rubio didn't exist then.  So I brushed on the Zinsser clear shellac you find in the box stores. I brushed on several thin coats so that it would dry thoroughly.  I finally bought some steel legs for it and added some steel tube reinforcements underneath so it wouldn't bow/sag over time.  I could have sanded the Shellac off and put a proper finish, but I needed to get the table into service and didn't want to take the time to redo it then.  So I brushed a couple more thin coats of Shellac and once dry, used a fine scotchbrite to knock down the gloss and I might have then polished it a little with newspaper.  Finish looks fine.  Would I rather it be Rubio or maybe a water based urethane, yes.  But it's find for now.

[alan gage]

Would I rather it be Rubio or maybe a water based urethane, yes.  But it's find for now.

You can put anything on top of the shellac.

For nearly all my finishing I start with 2 coats of shellac seal coat and then top that with a water based poly.

The shellac adds some color to the wood, dries very quickly (so hardly any dust settles in the finish), sands well, and seals the wood so the water based poly doesn't raise the grain.

The water based poly also dries quickly, allows me to choose the surface finish I want, and provides a tougher surface.

Alan