I've always liked the idea of attempting a shellac, but just reading how to go about it has always had me believing I'll stuff it up so I never actually do it.
Using shellac is really quite easy. If you're talking about doing a French Polish, that's a bit more involved, but not what I have proposed above. If applied by hand, it's really no different than doing a wipe-on poly or Tru Oil.
Initially it's just mixing the right ratio of shellac flake and alcohol to get the appropriate "cut" (consistency). Happy to provide more info if you're interested.