…and here it is, as promised, the first post by luthier Lukas Milani, dedicated to shellac coating.
I hope you enjoy reading it, and don’t forget to follow the next posts
The Shellac (Lukas Milani)
The use of shellac as a coating paint was only introduced in the early nineteenth century; early on, the wooden furniture was usually coated with wax. Various layers of wax were applied by hand and rubbed off until the surface was shiny enough. This kind of coating, though, had some disadvantages. It wasn’t strong enough against external agents such as water, mildew, and abrasion. The use of ahlcohol-diluted shellac, applied with a small tampon, that arose in France around 1820, seemed so effective that quickly spread throughout Europe.
Applying the shellac with a tampon became over the years a kind of art for the furniture-makers, and until the advent of synthetic paints remained the paramount coating method. The shellac has indeed several advantages: it is not toxic, it easily spreads over the surface, it dries quickly and it’s cheap.
MATERIALS
The shellac itself, of course. It is sold in powder or flakes. It’s available in various colors: orange, amber, ruby, white, etc.. It’s easily dissolved in alcohol (methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol), and the solution that is obtained maintains its properties for about six months. To apply the shellac with a tampon you obviously need a cotton swab, which should be cleaned and wrapped around itself like a gauze. You also need some oil, preferably linseed, to allow the pad to slip over the layer of paint that was previously applied.
