Coloring Shellac?

[Xaromir]

Can i stain the shellac instead of the wood?

That way i would ever only need super-blond,

and i could mix every shade of brown and also other translucent colors that way.

[B. Aaron]

In theory, yes, with alcohol based dyes. I think some mandolin builders do that. I haven't tried it myself, though.

[RobSm]

I've used Feast watson proof tint dissolved in shellac without any problems...

actually on the build in my avatar

[Woodenspoke]

Transtint dyes work fine in shellac. Its called a tinted finish..

[Drak]

The problem with tinting shellac is that most people want to do it to be able to -brush- on a tinted finish, but trying to brush on tinted finishes usually results in a basic overall unevenness to the finish if you're using a brush...in my experience anyway...

If you're going to shoot the shellac, no problems then, besides the normal problems associated with shooting shellac (it can hit the piece dry if your mix isn't correct), but yes, you can tint shellac with many types of tints.

Best to mix your tint into a little alcohol first to thoroughly dissolve it, then add that to the shellac.

[avengers63]

The problem with tinting shellac is that most people want to do it to be able to -brush- on a tinted finish, but trying to brush on tinted finishes usually results in a basic overall unevenness to the finish if you're using a brush...in my experience anyway...

Which is absolutely correct. What that means is that the ones trying to brush on the tinted finish don't know how to brush on a good finish in the first place.

This was done with a tinted finish that was brushed on. The ONLY little bits of slightly lighter pigment came from a near sand-through in the beginnings of the buffing stage. That was an issue with my wet-sanding technique, not in the brushing.

Yes, it's a LOT harder to get a smooth brushed finish on a curved 3-D item like a guitar. I'm just saying that it CAN be done. The big trick is to thin the finish to about 50%. You'll need more coats, but they go on thinner and are thus less prone to brush marks, thick ridges, and other brush-induced badness.

[MiKro]

WHatttttttttttttttttttttt you mean someone makes finish that is already colored? Man I never knew that.

Well I have always mixed my own when using shellac or lacquer. I use transtint liquid dyes mixed with the appropriate thinner then add to my base clear or blonde shellac.

mk

[Xaromir]

There is clear shellac?

Thanks for all the hints, and sorry for not replying earlier,

i was pretty down because i thought i've bought 150€ worth of unusable wood.

Quite a bit of information to process actually, i will try some of that on scraps the next days!

Thanks a lot guys!