hello, another shellac question

as i mentioned before i am making a coffee table out of red gum, i am now at the stage were i can put the shellac on it, so i have a couple of questions i am hoping someone can me with, first question:- i am using u-beaut hard shellac, can i use it straight as a sealer, sand back after a few days then go ahead and apply more as the top coat, or is it best to thin down to use as a sealer.

question 2:- with the top coat after putting on a few coats and letting it sit for say 5 days, can i give it a wipe down with a damp cloth (metho) and then give it a few more coats, will it bond with the first lot i applied,

to apply the shellac i have made up a mop from a piece of cloth filled with cotton wool,

i guess to some these are pretty dumb questions but i never used shellac before and this is a big project for me so i dont really want to get it wrong so any advice will be greatly appreaciated
cheers Tony

G'day Tony - Sorry, missed the first thread.

I'm not really big on using shellac on redgum as the timber moves around so much that it's likely to craze or crack many hard surfaces down the track. Have even seen a finish completely delaminate from a redgum bench top.

I usually direct redgum users directly to Organoil as their oils move with the redgum and some actually can help to stop cracking and even close up cracks. EEE Ultrashine can be used after the oil has been allowed to dry for a few weeks to bring up an brilliant finish.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers - Neil :U

Neil
thankyou for the info, i am going to follow your advice and use oil, last thing i want is to make a real hash of it with a dodgy finish
again thankyou
cheers tony

I wish I had read this thread before I started putting shellac on the redgum top of my new 2 person dining table. Not sure whether to sand it all off or just go sit in a corner and cry now. :C