Jazz bass Mod becomes Build?

[fender3x]

Could you point me to McCreed's information on shellac? Got me curious. I am looking for ways to improve my finishes.

Here's are a few...

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=9674

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=11994

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=12326

McCreed uses a spray gun and compressor for his finishes. I use a brush or wipe on and have never tried to spray any sort of finish that does not come in a rattle can. The people who get the best finishes here, tend to use a spray gun and compressor. That includes the use of shellac. I don't know that it matters if you use it as a sealer or pumice-and-shellac grain filler. But if you use it as a sealer between coats (which is what I use it for most) there is some advantage to spraying, because brushing can "pull" on what ever is below it. It's not been much of an issue for me, but it does pull a little. That, and adding a little color to the maple in necks is mostly what I use Shellac for, and I got that from McCreed. I have a flamenco guitar that was french polished (a shellac based finish)...It's beautiful and thin, but as McCreed says, it doesn't provide much protection.

I mix from flakes. I use denatured alcohol from big box stores...so not as pure as what McCreed uses. Denatured alcohol will usually be called menthylated spirits on this forum since that's what it's called in Australia. Since you are in Utah, at Home Depot they just call it "Fuel" and sell it in the paint department. You can also mix with Everclear which is less toxic (all ethanol, no methanol), if it's legal in your state. It's illegal in FL.

The alternative to using shellac flakes and alcohol is to buy it pre-mixed either in a spray can or as liquid. The only kind I see in stores here is made by Zinsser, but you have to be a bit careful. What Zinsser calls "shellac" is WAXED shellac. You can't use that if you plan to put anything over it--so not good as a sealer, tint or seal coat. What Zinsser calls "sealcoat" is actually pure dewaxed shellac. So if you get that kind get the dewaxed. Also if you get the liquid (as opposed to the spray can) it will be a "2 pound" cut. I tend to use a 1 lb cut which is considerably thinner. You can turn Zinsser sealcoat into a 1 lb cut by adding alcohol at a 1:1 ratio. The Zinsser stuff is also a little darker than the platina shellac I usually use.

[XP Rider]

Thanks. Haven't heard from Mick for a while, but I know he does it right. Mixing flakes probably gives you some control over consistency? I am one of them non-drinkers up here, so I might get a raised eyebrow if she found a bottle of Everclear in my closet, but I might enjoy the project even more.
Last spring I looked at a tutorial from Driftwood Guitars about using epoxy as a pore filler on open-grained woods. I have an ash body coming, so that is something to think about.

[fender3x]

...Mixing flakes probably gives you some control over consistency? I am one of them non-drinkers up here, so I might get a raised eyebrow if she found a bottle of Everclear in my closet, but I might enjoy the project even more.

I just realized that I had not responded to this. Sorry for the delay! My wife is an environmental engineer. I suspect she'd have less of a reaction to Everclear than to more toxic painting products. If you can't get Everclear in Florida, I suspect that it may be even harder in Utah ;-)

As to control... If you use Zinsser Seal Coat in a rattle-can, you get what you get, of course. If you use the Seal Coat in a can it's advertised as "100% dewaxed shellac" and is a 2lb cut. That is about twice as thick as what I use. The good news is that if you want to make it thinner, it's no problem, just add alcohol. To make a 1lb cut, add alcohol at 1:1.

What you can't do with the canned stuff is vary the color. It's pretty much all blonde, but shellac comes in more colors than that. I use blonde (same color as Zinsser) to do maple necks, to given them a light amber color. (In a store-bought neck this would be considered natural). I used garnet (the darkest shellac) to color my tele build. I think it came out OK, but I found it a bit difficult, so may not use it again.

What I use the most is "platina" or "ultra-blonde" shellac which is the clearest. It has a little color, but not much. I use it between different products and as a sealer when I don't want the color changed. In the test swatches for the Jazz bass project, I colored platina shellac with alcohol dyes. I am hoping to create a stain-like effect that I can use over a thick seal coat/hardner.

Aside from that, flakes allow me to make just as much shellac as I need. The shelf life of shellac flakes is virtually forever.

[fender3x]

This is 11 coats of PC Petrifier, to which I have been adding a little, very fine paulownia sawdust.



I am not really using this product as it was designed. What it was designed for is hardening rotting wood. The paulownia I am using is obviously not rotting, but it is very soft. Also, they recommend using 2-3 coats, so I am using a lot more coats than they recommend.

It's one of the few water based wood hardeners that I have found, so that is one reason to use it. According to it's SDS it's mostly water, a very mild solvent (glycol ether TPM) and a proprietary hard urethane. Very low VOCs and toxicity. But my off-book use goes beyond that.

When I first used it I noticed that it dries relatively quickly and hard. It seals the wood well and is about the consistency of normal water, although it is milky white. Since paulownia has huge open grain, I thought it might be interesting use a sanding pad with it, and add some sawdust. From there the idea was to just keep adding a little sawdust and building it up until the grain was pretty well filled. So I have been putting a coat on once a day for almost two weeks. It's now fairly hard, the grain is mostly filled. It dries completely clear with no yellowing. Coats are super thin, and it's only $10 for 8 oz.

Stain won't penetrate, but I have tried it in swatches with colored shellac, with which it seems to work pretty well...although I am still gaining experience with that.

Also, putting a coat on every day has kept me from feeling bad about putting off sanding my Tele project...