Shellac Flakes

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Posted by Larry White on January 14, 2004

I needed to make up some more shellac, so I took my flakes and soaked them in denatured alcohol as instructed. The flakes never fully disolved. I wrote them off as being old. I bought some new flakes (or were they old too as I bought them from the same source). These refused to completely disolve also. Has anyone else had this problem? Do you think it's because the flakes are old, or another factor? Thanks... Larry

Danny Baronian

I have some notes from one of the Conclaves that dealt with this, I'll have to dig around for them. I don't think the shellack goes bad, Rick had some in the shop that was quite old he mixed up as needed.

I purchased some mineral spirits that seemed weak. Rick later said to make sure and get spirits from a paint store, or a reliable hardware store. Seems newer brands were either diluted or not as hot. Could this be the case with the alcohol? I assume your not using rubbing alcohol, which very weak, 3-7%.

Pat Mackle

Hi Larry,
Just as a thought, before you discard the solution of undesolved flakes, try adding a few drops of lacquer
thinner to pep up the desolving solution. The laquer should evaporate sooner than the alcohol.
Also I've noticed that if you place denatured alcohol on a plate of glass and set it on fire that after the flame burns out there is still a lot of moisture left that won't reignite. I've always thougth that it was water that was part of the alcohol. If this is right, maybe your can of alcohol has been opened enough to evaporate the strength of the product thereby raising the water percentage remaining in the can. If it was a new can, I
guess that shoots my theory.
Pat

Robin Sharrard

Larry, I purchased three shades to use on my MicroMeet peice. The two darker shades disolved fine, but the pale yellow did not completely dissolve. I let it go for three weeks, shaking it up every day and while it did get better, it still did not totally dissolve. I strained out the undissolved flakes and have tried it on a test peice that has sat for the past week with no signs of lifting or hot spots. There is an extensive artical, about shellac, in the December issue of Fine Wood Working Magazine that states "...dry flakes can be stored almost indefinately without spoiling (once dissolved, shellac should be used in as little as six months)." The article goes on to talk about "Cut Ratios" etc... Hope this helps...Robin