Some basics of restoration
1. Antiques were never finished with blond shellac. The Fine Woodworking article needs to be interpreted for what it is - general information for those who have never used shellac, and their recommendations are good for new furniture. Both of the main posters here are dealing with antiques, so the FWW article is not relevant - though the 'how to make a rubber' video could be useful to all. Neil Ellis's book (see Forums home page) covers it all thoroughly.
2. In the old days shellac came as solid 'buttons' and brown button shellac was probably the original and most used. Shellac buttons can still be purchased in Aus from Shines shines.com.au These are what I use to repair Australian antique furniture.
3. I dislike the colour of orange flake shellac. I think it ruins antiques.
4. The most convenient shellac you can get comes from the forums' owner UBeaut. They have made-up bottles of various shellacs including white (I think they call it instead of blond) as well as 'normal' shellac and also sell flakes I think (I've never purchased those see point 3.
5. The wax in normal shellac helps to protect the timber, and it also binds to the final wax finish applied to give the warm glow to the finished product. I like UBeaut's Traditional Wax but any good furniture wax with a high Carnauba wax content (and low beeswax content because beeswax stays sticky and attracts dirt and dust). No, I am not affiliated with UBeaut in any way, I just like their products and use them.
6. The paint on the shelf was original and very commonly used on European cabinet interiors, though very rare in Australian antique furniture. Probably red lead so I hope you didn't breathe in the dust.
7. The secret to retaining the value of an antique is to do the least intervention possible and to live with the dings and dents - they are called patina and are part of what makes antiques valuable. For that reason removing the paint was not a good idea, but now that you have done it don't try to repaint. Likewise, for that antique table - if you cut it down you may as well throw it away or burn it in terms of what you have done to its value. Try the wet grass in the sun trick - take the cupped table top off, wet some lawn on a sunny day and put the table top - concave side down - on the grass in the sun. Voila the cup often comes out, top flattens. Mostly the top stays flat after you re-fix it to the base. Sometimes you have to seal the under-side with shellac to keep it flat, but that is not normally a good idea - see above.