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I'm trying to apply amber shellac to an Edison bedplate without it winding up looking like a hot mess after it dries. I know I can spray it on but the only shellac I can find in a spray can is clear - not amber. Any tips to brushing it on?

Thanks

Why not clear? Just saying, because it is not easy for the average person to tell the difference between clear and amber coats. Here is a picture of a Standard done in clear. The base coat was Rustoleum Black enamel. Gold pinstripes done with a pen, and then clear Rustoleum as the final coat. Please forgive the dust, this was done over ten years ago. Cheers, Russie

nice looking machine...

just trying to stay with traditional techniques...if I have to I'll go with clear, but would like to know how brushing was done to get the finish the originals had.

Hi Jerry.

It’s funny, I had the opposite problem with spray shellac. I sprayed it on and got some horrible “fisheyes” in the finish. I did end up fixing it - thankfully shellac is fairly forgiving.

For bedplates, I start with a couple of coats of amber. This helps in two ways: it gives the black paint some “depth” and also tames down the bright gold of reproduction decals.

After the first two coats harden up (could be 2-4 days), I follow up with 3-6 coats of light shellac. I let it sit for about 3 weeks to harden and then final sand and polish with white auto body polish.

Use a 1” sable artist’s brush and you won’t be sorry.

Good luck!

Martin

I get bad brush marks - maybe these will polish out if I just leave them alone until everything hardens enough to polish them out. Also not using the best brush but that's easy to fix...trouble is that it dries so quickly.

When working with shellac, it is normal to have brush marks and sand them out later. With the advent of spray application all the money is on the spray job being right the first time. Beyond the surface prep, one of the keys to a smooth finish with the least amount of brush marks is to use a first class fine brush and thin the shellac somewhat. More coats of thin work better than fewer coats of thick.

Regards,

Martin

Buy a Preval sprayer, cut the amber shellac a bit with denatured alcohol, and spray.

One thing I ran across in an old paint book a few years ago was the problem created by too much methanol in some of the denatured alcohols after prohibition and it would cause shriveling, lifting, fisheye and other problems. And I do think there is something to that. Methanol is really quite a dangerous thing to be around anyway. But the so-called "Green" painters alcohol made by kleen Strip has the least amount of methanol required by law and that does seem to work better as a thinner for shellac.

You can also tint lacquer and spray that as well. I actually have had much better luck refinishing bedplates that way. But I do understand wanting to do it the way they did. Those guys also did add other gums or resins to shellac to make it a little more durable, and also to get it to flow out better and level out nicely. They also were going over those varnish transfer decals and could brush over those without worrying about lifting them.

Good luck with your project. Bedplates can be kind of a pain in the hind end to refinish, but they sure look nice when they are finished.

I apply amber shellac with a piece of clean cloth, like a tee shirt - no brush marks... Also, you cannot go back over any areas once coated, until it dries overnight or problems will occur...

You can also use a foam brush.

you've done bedplates like that? Interesting!