Back to the shellac attack, I let the freshly mixed shellac sit for about 30 hours. When ever I walked past it over that 30 hour period I gave it a little shake to upset the flakes settling at the bottom of the containers. I hold the mixture up to a light to see how its dissolving and when I can’t see any more sediment on the bottom I know it’s done.

Checking for sediment on the bottom of the shellac container.

Once complete, I’ll get a second container ready with a paper coffee filter over the opening. I’ll hold it in place with an elastic band and carefully strain the shellac through. This may be over kill but it will give me the cleanest possible mixture when getting started.

A coffee filter will get rid of any particles left in the mix.

Carefully pour the mixture through the filter.

After I have my freshly filtered shellac in a new container I’ll give the first container a good cleaning with some alcohol and wipe out any residue left behind. Now I have my concentrate of blond shellac ready for further mixing. This blond mix is probably a 1 lb cut and is quite thin but I’ll cut it further with denatured alcohol by approximately a third. A gentle shake to blend and I’ll fill a dollar store, condiment bottle with the shellac mix using a funnel.

Condiment bottles make great storage containers.

I’ll follow these same steps to get my dark garnet shellac mixed but will do a slightly different ratio for the later. The blond is used only as a base coat to ‘level the playing field’ before the garnet is applied for body. As mentioned, my blond mix is about one part concentrate shellac to three parts alcohol and the garnet is about half and half.

The condiment bottles make excellent storage containers that I’ll keep on hand to ‘re-charge’ the rubber while applying the finish. Speaking of rubbers here’s what I’m using-

I start with a high quality cheese cloth I picked up from Lee Valley Tools; I’ll take a handful of it and form a ball about the size of a large egg. The applicator is then ‘charged’ with the shellac mixture until saturated and followed by a tight wrap with some fabric. I’ve seen people use everything from 100% cotton T-shirts to old bed sheets and everything in between- this piece of fabric I’m using here has a nice open weave that lets the shellac work through for easy application and doesn’t break down too quickly. It also won’t leave behind small dust particles which is a real good thing- I’ll be going over all of these surfaces again, later on in the finishing process but I don’t want to be picking lint out of it as I go! So make sure the fabric you’re using isn’t making more work for you later on.

High quality cheese cloth is saturated with the solution.

The cheese cloth is tightly wrapped making sure no creases or folds are present.

With my ‘rubber’ ready to go I’ll place it into an air tight plastic bag while I prep my area for finish. The finishing area as you may know is actually my dining room so to begin I’ll cover the table with a plastic drop cloth and lay out a couple of scrap pieces that will elevate the work piece off the table top surface so I can easily apply finish to its edges.These steps are crucial to good results and spending a few minutes to get the finishing area set up can be just as important as the actual finishing. Take the time to get things set, vacuum the space and make sure you have adequate lighting. Get all of the tools or accessories you’ll need as you work- gloves, paper towels, rags what ever. The few minutes you take now will keep the finish process less stressful and you’ll have better end results.

Before I begin I’ll make sure the piece is free of any dust or dirt and has been well prepared for finish. One thing about a shellac finish is if you’ve skipped a step getting to this point the shellac will accentuate any imperfections in the wood. I make sure I have no glue residue behind and I’ve gone over all of the surfaces with 220 grit sand paper. I hate sanding but working with this plywood, makes it a necessary step in the process.

The finishing area can be just as important as the actual finish.

With that I apply two coats of the blond base coat and follow with four coats of garnet. This piece is the headboard section of the bed and is quite large; by the time I get across the surface with my first pass, the opposite side is dry enough to begin the second. I’ll work the surface until I start to feel the rubber ‘drag’ and call it a night. The finish will be set in the morning and I’ll lightly go over it with some steel wool and apply a couple of more coats of shellac. This will be left again to sit over night and the final process in the finishing dance will be a gentle rubbing out with some super fine steel wool and a natural wax to level out the sheen and bring the surface to a silk like feel. Stay tuned…

ps. sorry for the strange lay out between the photographs and the text in the post- I’m having some problems with it…..

The warmth of the cherry with its sable, pink and tan over tones are accentuated by the richness of the shellac.