windborn
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1957 Sportcraft 15
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Post by windborn on May 9, 2016 15:09:03 GMT -8
Hello my wood-finishing friends. I'm beginning to explore shellacking on some test panels. I like it so far! It's very easy with the rag method. I have a question though: I'm doing some test swatches on an old fir (?) panel pulled from the trailer to see what it'll look like on the two old panels we left up in the trailer. The shellac seems to be sticking well to the dark parts of the grain, making them shiny, but sinking into the lighter parts, so they remain dull. Is this normal? Do I need a lot more coats to even it out? Do I need to sand more? This shiny area is still wet:  This shiny area is dry:  For what it's worth, this is a picture of the trailer that the previous owner took before she painted it:  Thanks in advance! This isn't the end of the world for me, but I know y'all have all the answers so I figured I'd ask before I run out of test swatch space. |
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Post by danrhodes on May 9, 2016 15:59:45 GMT -8
I had similar results. I generally needed 2-3 coats of amber to even out the color and still a few clear coats to even out the shiny areas. This is 3 coats of amber and 1 coat of clear, though my grain is not as dark as yours. Are you positive that you are dealing with ash? To me, it looks like the old plywood they used to make shelves and other inside cabinet wood from my trailer...maybe pine or fir?  |
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Post by danrhodes on May 9, 2016 16:29:20 GMT -8
Here's a photo I just snapped of an original finish ash panel behind a piece they used as a closet shelf that i always assumed was just utility plywood. Btw, did you sand your test piece, because I only got good results removing the old finish first.  |
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windborn
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Post by windborn on May 9, 2016 16:30:46 GMT -8
Thanks, Dan. That cabinet looks great!
Others have commented that this is probably fir. It's what the whole trailer was made out of. Sportcrafts were known as the "most affordable trailers in the East," so just about everything is as basic as it gets.
I'm also testing some birch scraps from the walls we replaced (Yes, I have extremely different wood grains on my walls. No, I don't expect to be on the VTT calendar anytime soon.) and I haven't had this issue. The shellac is building up nice and smoothly, though the grain on that is much less dramatic.
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windborn
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Post by windborn on May 9, 2016 16:34:42 GMT -8
Here's a photo I just snapped of an original finish ash panel behind a piece they used as a closet shelf that i always assumed was just utility plywood. Btw, did you sand your test piece, because I only got good results removing the old finish first. Yeah, what I have is definitely closer to the "utility" wood. The walls are solid 1/2in ply so I guess they were able to do that. I do love the look of the grain though, which is why I'm not just painting over or replacing these walls. I sanded the panel starting with 80grit to get the finish off, then I went down to 180, then 220. But I haven't been sanding between coats of shellac. |
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Post by danrhodes on May 9, 2016 17:19:38 GMT -8
I am no woodworker, but if a few more coats don't get you what you like, I wonder if a pre shellac wood conditioner would help.
Also, not sure why I thought you said it was ash...5 o'clock syndrome in cubicle heck
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windborn
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1957 Sportcraft 15
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Post by windborn on May 12, 2016 8:06:21 GMT -8
For anyone following along, the grain was still slightly noticeable around 10 coats, though much better. I think I may be applying my shellac really lightly (using a rag and thinned a bit with alcohol), so others may get it done more quickly.
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