Thread: Hard Shellac for Bagpipes

Hi Folks,

I need to refinish a set of bagpipes, and though I'd give Hard Shellac a go.

For those of you who have never been close to a set (understandable) they are usually made from African Blackwood, a dense, close grained and very oily timber which is decorated with low beads and "combed" areas (made with a modified thread chaser). Six months back I cleaned up the old crappy finish on this set and restored the bore. Inside and outside were treated with an Almond Oil/Olive Oil/Vitamin E mixture.

The pipes have been gradually played back in, and show no signs of cracking, so now that they have stabilised its time to put an external finish back on them. The owner wants a high gloss finish, so I grabbed what may have been the last bottle of Hard Shellac in Adelaide - Use By 2006, so it should be fine.

A quick test run with a bit of broom handle convinced me that I have no idea of the correct technique for this. I read through Neil's book but this is concerned predominantly with flat areas. Applying shellac to a spindle in a lathe inevitably applies it at right angles to the grain, so I'm sure there's some special tricks to doing this right.

So what's the right technique? Do I need to strip the oil first (its not obvious to the touch or the eye, but I know it's there)? Do I apply with a very wet rag to cover the decorations, or just damp and work it into each groove? Medium speed until the rag starts to "grab" or keep at it until it heats up like Shellawax? How many coats? How long between?

Many thanks for any "clues"