When to give old shellac a shellacing ?

A question that I’ve been thinking about for a while - At what stage should old shellac be ditched for a new batch ?

I recon similar to anyone else who uses it, I always end up mixing a bit too much. The excess gets put into the old conserve rubber seal jars and sits on the shelf.

Although I’d never use it for a tabletop, I’ve thought of using it for sanding sealer, sealing drawers, undersides of pieces, etc, given it hasn’t sat on the shelf for more than 12 months.

Is this OK, or is it a slapdash foundation for a final finish ?

G'day Eastie - You have about 12 - 18 months depending on the shellac and the alcohol used to disolve it. From 12 mth on I would be mixing it with more metho and using it as a sealer. This will work well up to a couple of years from when it was first mixed.

There is a theory that old shellac can be rejuvenated by placing the container in hot water and letting it stand for a period of time. Maybe someone else can enlighten us on this one, however I think I would still be sticking with it for sealing work only.

Shellac is best used fresh. A good manufacturer will mix it with pure alcohol (ethanol) and should include at least a use by date on the label and preferably also a manufacture date.

White shellac is best purchased in liquid form, whilst brown is best purchased in flake form and mixed down for use as needed.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers - Neil http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

As always, thankyou for the timely advice Neil. It's good to know it can still be used, especially with about a litre of it is storage.

Hope to see your new shellac in the near future.

Mark

Seems like "R" the anonymous (read gutless) critic (see Announcements) may have got it wrong. According, it seems, to R this BB was set up to brainwash it's readers into spending up big on advertised products, the shady makers of which have spent hours in backroom negotiations with the ubeaut mafia determining their cut, and how to further fool unsuspecting BB readers into buying more locally produced, quality wodworking products!
However from reading the preceding post i get the feeling that Eastie was offered clear and usefull advice in short time on how to get the most out of his finishing dollar. Perhaps though i am not reading between the lines or receiving the subliminal messages which must flash across the screen at such a high speed that they are received by my subconscious mind through the intricate manipulation of my thalamus and sub-cortical areas.
R, if you haven't got the guts to post then sod off. The characters are what make this bulletin board enjoyable to be a part of. They get as good as they give, but always make the efort to share some of their knowledge and experience with others, including rank beginers, something that i suspect you deem to be below you as you continue to suffer for your "art".

Anyway, thanks for the advice Neil, Im sure many woodies have jars of old shellac sitting around that they wondering what to do with.

Cheers, Tim

[This message has been edited by Vonrek (edited 19 September 2002).]

Tim R probably uses a tinfoil hat so it blocks out the message body and shows what we ar being brainwashed with
Pete