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Has anyone tried button shellac for a finish.On shellac.net they say it`s tough enough to use on floors.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

James;
I like it allot.
It's NOT dewaxed!
Filter it after mixing .
Mike

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Mike Collins

Just going by the feel of it. Button Lac does seem harder than the clear blonde variety, as does Seedlac. Both Button and Seedlac seem to have a longer shelf life, especially in a dry state. In fact I have some Seedlac that must be well over 15 years old and it's still working fine.

Sure,

It works fine and makes a great finish. Decant it first.

So how about spraying it on instead of french polish, and then buffing it out. And then how long a wait before buff out?
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Sure, you can spray it and buff it. I like to wait several weeks while it cures.

Why isn't all shellac de-waxed? Who wants it with the wax and why?

I feel like I've asked this of someone before, but I don't recall the answer.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Buttonlac and seedlac are traditional products probably made the same way as they were 100 years ago. Commercially dewaxed shellac is normally cleaned and often bleached using chemicals and some will claim the resulting finish is less durable. Dewaxing is easy, just run it through a coffee filter (takes about 1 hour for 1 guitar-worth of shellac) or simply let it settle by itself in the jar and pour the clear solution after a week or two. You can even polish with the wax in, but it clogs your pad and you might need to change it a lot more often. I have the feeling that most of the wax is not going to be embedded in the finish when padding. Maybe the wax might even be beneficial if left in when sprayed or brushed. In any case the shellac buttons are hard as a rock despite those 5% or so of wax.

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