On drums...

I would have gotten at least two more saw horses and poles and created more room around each drum. But you are younger and stronger than I am, and I am always bumping into my work if I don't make skads of room.

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Gregory

Funny you should mention knocking your work. My kids were playing around and I had to keep telling them to be very careful and stay away from the work area. Later on in the day, as I was showing the shells to my wife I had to tell the kids again to calm down. They did, then I did a little 'dance' (very loosely used term) of excitement and nearly knocked over the entire shellac mixture. . Luckily the kids didn't see me.

There is a bit more room than it looks. They are spaced out evenly in the pic, but you could move the other shells away a little whilst working on one.
I'm thinking of doing the original wooden hoops in shellac. They are Beech, painted white.
Gonna get some stripper today and see what they look like. I could veneer the outside with left over Ebony, but I don't think i have the patience to do that. As they have rounded edges, a nice straight line might be difficult to achieve.

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

Yeah, and then there's the glue line made wide by being cut on an angle. Trying to get that veneer in place cut it back, and then trim it up on the router could be done, but it would require some precision.

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Gregory

So, I sanded the hoops back to natural and gave them 3 coats of shellac. They look fantastic, but I'm not at all sure they will suit the Ebony. I can always replace them I suppose, I think Ferros would look better or maybe solid black.

Gregory, as I have never worked with shellac, what should I expect when I cut them back with fine paper, and how should I do it?
Sand by hand, with the grain? What will happen to the finish, will it have a frosted white appearance?
Do I sand then polish with cloth prior to adding another coat, or should the sanding be adequate?

Thanks again.

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

Sand lightly and minimally. Sanding is not for adhesion; alcohol softens everything below the new coat and adheres that way. Sanding takes off the high spots, but don't try to make it flat, because you will rapidly sand through your first coats. Just knock the tops down.

With the grain, by hand. Use a soft rubber backing pad if you like, but a piece of sandpaper folded over three times is usually adequate. Sanded shellac looks... sanded. If the finish gums up on the sandpaper, wait another day before sanding because the alcohol has not fully flashed out. Should just create dust.

I use 400 grit for that job so the scratches don't show after the next coat.

As to the hoops: I would try to match the darkest portion of the ebony, using dyes on the wood like a stain. Black might be okay but I think the wood theme will get lost. I'd mix black and dark walnut tints together and get the wood to absorb as much as possible, then mix some of that same tint into the shellac and spray it over the dye (rubbing shellac over an alcohol base dye will lift the dye, so that won't work). It's one of those things you'll have to play with to get it right.

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Gregory

Man, I am glad my that there are guys like you both in the world to handle this finishing stuff. Personally, I put this stuff right next to auto body work.

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Thanks, Gregory. I don't think I would have taken this on if it wasn't for having you there. I can't say how much I appreciate it.
I had some 1200, so I used that. I then rubbed all the excess dust, and gave them a quick polish with the microfibre cloth.
I have applied 1x extra coat, and they look very nice. Could be just me hallucinating, but I believe the coloring might be evening out across the set, perhaps it is now more influenced by the Amber of the shellac, or, a want for those two toms to match. Yet appears as though the other 4 have leaned towards the color of the 10 + 13.

This coat has been applied much thinner. As I believe, you, Gregory, could have probably done a better job with a putty knife . It was so thick, and looked quite average up close.
I also did this coat outside in the sun. I found this easier to see exactly how the stuff was going on, this made it much easier to keep an even coat.
Yesterday and the day before were over 40c degrees here (105f), only 25 today.

I'll do another coat, and hopefully get some pics.

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

Hot! Should dry remarkably quickly.

I was wondering how you got runs, but I guess you are using a heavy "cut," buy your description. Cut describes the amount of shellac per alcohol. Chart found here:

https://www.shellac.net/PoundCutChart.html

Shellac can be thinned so that you can hardly tell there's a new coat on it, and anywhere in between. I'm really glad to hear that you are enjoying the process, and hope you have a good enough experience to be encouraged to know more about it.

I'm looking forward to the pictures.

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Gregory

I used the recommended 250gms - 1 litre.
It was the application method and the applier that created the dodgy finish. I made a shellac mouse with a soft cloth encased in fine cotton. I just had way too much shellac soaked into it, that once it had oozed onto the shell I had to smooth it without squeezing more out. This happened at the first application of the second coat, the first coat was already quite thick.
It doe's appear much smoother and even than before. If it doesn't all fall off I'll be very happy.

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

I don't think it will fall off!

When working with epoxy and ebony, I had to wipe all surfaces with acetone before application because the slightest bit of oil and the epoxy would not adhere, and it had to be coated quickly, before the oil rose to the surface again. Shellac,on the other hand, does not seem to care about oil. One of the finishing methods for shellac is applying oil to the wood beforehand, and then using oil on the pad to lubricate. Contradicts everything I know about finishing.

And yeah, getting the right amount of shellac in the pad is key. I wear rubber gloves, and as soon as I have charged the pad with shellac, I compress the pad into my free hand until shellac stops running out. At that point, the pad creates a light film. You want only the slightest hint of a surface, what a damp - not wet - sponge might leave behind. On your work, you should be able to see only a shiny path behind the pad that dries back almost instantly. When the pad dries out too much, it will start to drag on the work. Time to refresh the charge.

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Gregory