Thread: Question for Matthew on Hard Shellac

I'll pipe up here.

I've tried french polishing with hard shellac. Its a 4lb cut out of the bottle, but builds faster if you dilute it 50/50 with ethanol. Using it neat tends to take a long time, seems like you're taking it off as fast as you're putting it down. Seems a little counterintuitive that it'd build faster with a lower solids content, but that's the way it seems to work.

Even faster when you put it in a spray gun.

Thanks Paul,

Im using it cut 50:50 but its still a bit ropey going on and I cant get the "plume thing" happening. Might cut it back a bit further and see how I go.

Added a bit more meths (FP grade) and am now getting some better results.

I did not have the patience to try french polishing his time.

I found with about 50/50 cut, it went on very nicely with a cotton rag, better than a brush. Tinting the shellac complicated things because brush-strokes were more visible.

I promise I will try french polishing the NEXT bass.

MT

Making progress at last. I cut the Hard Shellac down to about a 1 to 1.5lb cut and got the results I was after. One thing Ive found is that French Polishing with Hard Shellac requires less oil than with the shellac Ive been using previously.