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I was wondering if any of you are spraying just shellac as a finish. If so how you do it. I'm interested in trying it but any spraying I've done before seems to reflow the entire finish so getting a good build to get everything flat and slick must be difficult or a trick to it. I've been doing traditional french polishing with pad and pumice, etc. It would be nice to be able to spray on a few coats and then proceed on to rubbing out or whatever but just wondering who does what. FWIW I always use fresh 2# cut dewaxed shellac and Denatured alcohol or Everclear. I get fine results both ways but a lot of time and labor...just trying to streamline my time if possible.

Thanks for any input guys/gals....

Steve

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"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

You are in for a tough learning curve, IMO. You will probably need to find an alcohol compatible solvent that will slow the flash of the alcohol down. Getting the shellac to flow out is difficult. You can accomplish largely the same thing by wiping on a dilute solution of shellac in multiple coats: just straight shellac/alcohol with no padding or oil involved.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I've sprayed shellac without problems. I go to about a 1-1/2 lb cut. What's wrong with it flowing out and burning in to the coats below? I thought that was desireable. You can get alcohol retarder; it's some kind of slower evaporating alcohol. I haven't found it necessary. I use a conventional siphon feed gun--same one I use for lacquer. Slightly lower pressure and I spray a little closer to the work.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I can give you input on spraying shellac as it relates to furniture. Keep in mind I haven't sprayed any instruments with it...in fact..I haven't even finished my first guitar. When I do spray it on instruments I think the same principles will apply though.

I spray shellac regularly and with great success. You MUST use an extremely efficient HVLP spray gun (I use a Walcom STM) and you must learn where the sweet spot is. The sweet spot being the exact pressure where you get a good atomized spray that doesn't flash off too fast. The distance the gun is to the piece you are spraying is also important. Spraying water based finishes is much more forgiving than shellac. Also I typically will not spray anything over 1.5lb cut. 2lb cut is too heavy for my gun.

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.