berry wrote:I'm confused, how can applying shellac take days? Are you mixing your own from flakes - and counting that? Shellac, especially a 'spit' coat, drys in 15-30 minutes, tops.
(I run my flakes through a coffee bean grinder before adding to the alcohol and put it in a warm part of the house, like a shelf that gets sun, that speeds up the mixing. I never buy Bulls Eye. Shellac goes bad in just a couple of months and if you get an old batch, it's a problem.)
I suspect the garnet would be too red for your needs. I use the blonde, as a sealer in most projects, regardless of the finish coat. If you want to try garnet Rockler sells a kit. It' a few grams of flakes and a mixing/storing container with marking on the outside so you can get the 'cut' of shellac you want.
I don't use stain very often so I can't help you but I thought I'd read the gel stains need to penetrate the wood, and with a your shellac sealer, perhaps that's not happening?
If you like the chesnut stain, give their 800 number a call. Sometimes you get a real pro. Keep posting, I gotta get back to work before the boss comes round.
Berry
I'm sorry I should have explained my process perhaps a little clearer. I'm using the shellac almost as a clear pore filler. I flood the first coat on and let it dry. It's a heavy coat with fairly long drying time. I then sand it off and brush on a second very light coat. Let that coat dry then do the other side. With drying time this ends up being a two day process.
I want all the alcohol to be gone and the product cured.
Next I lightly sand the piece and apply the stain. The stain needs to dry 24 hours before I can do another coat or the other side. Again I let the pieces sit at least a day before I begin coating with Poly. I always allow a day of drying between coats. After the final poly coat I usually wait a full week or longer do a polish buffing and a coat of wax.
I am using Zinsseer seal coat shellac as it is a dewaxed, and actual 2Lb cut which comes in dated cans. I usually do mix my own shellac if it is going to be the final finish.
I never use stain or at least not in a long long time and I'm beginning to remember why.
I have even thought of tinting the shellac but I'm pretty deep into the process to experiment now.
I had been applying the stain in a liberal coat then allowing it to sit a few minutes and wiping off the excess. This is where I having problems. The gelstain has a funny nature. As you rub off the excess you can go back but only once or twice. If the finish isn't even then, or there is a spot where the rag touched trying to fix it will cause the stain to go tacky and clump. Any rubbing beyond this point and you have a mess.
You can't fix it you either have to allow it to dry or flood the area with stain and begin again. You can't just flood a localized spot you have to flood everything that is fresh stain. It is maddening!!!!!! Believe me.
