Wildwood 

Not sure I have seen a shellac thread in ages.

But here is the twist - anybody ever used a spray-on can of shellac?

Share your shellac experiences.
I will post spray-on results after the deed is done.



the ‘59 Rickert needs a touch of old fashioned. Besides the bar tape is too yellow, so maybe the clear shellac will darken it. No chance to add a few flakes of Amber. But oh the spray on ease and lack of prep.

arex

I wouldn't use spray shellac on bar tape. The spray will get all over everything.

unworthy1

I use spray shellac on all kinds of wood finishing projects but no reason to spray when brush-painting the same Bullseye "blond" shellac is much more controllable (on handlebar tape or hemp twine).
Or you can make your own with pure alcohol and super blond shellac flakes

gugie 

No spray.
Brush the shellac.

Wildwood 

As a contrarian, thank you for all the support.

Classtime 

Even with a brush, I get all over everything.

Drillium Dude 

For sure, if using spray, the easiest (not to mention, least-messy) method would be to remove the bar/stem combo from the bike, pull out the cables, remove the brake levers, then mask the stem and bars. A PITA, to be sure, but if not, that stuff's gonna get everywhere.

Even being careful while brushing the stuff on, you will still likely notice little dried flecks on your frame later on - it's just an occupational hazard. I used the brush technique with denatured alcohol and shellac flakes supplied by the late Scott Gabriel / rootboy :

Before:



After:



Worked as advertised and has held up well over the years. Glad I finally gave it a go - my bar finish maintenance has been reduced to pretty much zero as a result.

DD

Wildwood 

Nice pics, as usual, Drillium Dude

El Chaba

I like shellacked bar tape, but it does limit your use of many modern gloves with a fabric-type palm as they can be quite slippery….That sort of negates the purpose of the bar tape…right? Leather and fake leather gloves seem to be fine, in my experience. Shellac is also very forgiving so as your shellac gets a little worn, you can always touch it up with another coat as the new shellac will solve the old and form a nice new coating. At some point we should have a discussion about another cycling related use for shellac…and one almost forgotten. That is the shellacking of tubular tires as a substitute for cement to fix the tire to the rim. It was primarily used for track tires, but also sometimes for time trial tires.

USAZorro

I have purchased a number of bags of shellac flakes of various colors from Wellermart. I've used it on bar tape and some wood finishing products. It isn't difficult to adjust the color to what you want (within the boundaries of chemistry and physics), and painting it over bar tape of different colors is not difficult. My experience with applying shellac to bar tape... It will eat the cheap foam brushes, but they do a reasonable job of applying it. Good brushes can be better BUT, the shellac tends to form a gazillion tiny driplets EVERYWHERE if you don't take it super-slow. Also, you need to thoroughly clean the brush immediately afterward, or face a choice between spending an hour cleaning it later, or simply pitching the brush.

Oh... pictures... Silly me.

My first attempt. Clear from a can over red bar tape. I had this on the Hetchin's I used to have, but sold it on as a frame and fork and kept this. Now on Loki - the Single-speed Viking. It could use a refresh.



I initially had this blonde blend (and the same saddle - an limited run ochre Brooks Pro) on my 1972 Competition when it was the original and scraped to crap black paint (prior to it's gugification). It is now on the "no hills, please" Argos.

The colors match a bit better in daylight.







And a darker mix on the Grand Sports. I believe I was attempting to match an older Ideale saddle with this, but have since swapped it out with a "cushier" saddle that's a couple shades different.







I have another one a few places down the build queue that I intend to treat with shellac. No telling how long it will take the glacier to arrive there though.

One last consideration to throw out there. Unless you have stems with removable face plates, bars with shellac are essentially married to the stem. Choose wisely, or face the prospect of tossing all that effort away.

unworthy1

since I have used it a lot over many years, but primarily for wood (furniture) finishing, allow me to share some shellac tips and trivia.

I prefer to make my own "cuts" which is just lingo for the ratio of solids to solvent and is described in "pounds" with is dry weight per a gallon of solvent.
You buy the solids in various forms (flakes, seeds or buttons are typical) and shades (orange, amber, blond or "super blond" which is what Bullseye/Zinnzer sells as "clear", but it has some straw color).
Solvent should be as close to pure water-free alcohol as you can legally obtain: 99% pure used to be typical, I try to find ethyl or methyl "wood alcohol" versus Isopropyl but these days (and in California) you take what you can get.

Shellac, even in dry form but especially when prepared in a solution, has a limited "useful life", it will eventually go bad. True even of the cans of Bullseye or the rattlecans, so mark the date you bought it on the can or jar. With experience you can judge the condition by sight and sniff before using and don't use expired shellac on anything "important". I was told rule of thumb is nothing over 6 months old for "quality" projects, but if a year old "it's expired". YMMV.
But removal or "bad shellac" with alcohol is sometimes easily done, depends on the application. Some grades of dry shellac contains a percentage of wax, the most refined grades are "de-waxed".

Brushing: we were taught to use a pure China bristle brush for shellac, nothing else (but I know conservationists who use MUCH pricier brushes, they can afford those) A really good quality China bristle brush costs a bit but the cheapest "chip brushes" are also China bristle and can work ok and be used and tossed, but expect some bristles to pullout. if you spent money on a good brush then clean it after each use with alcohol, then soap and water, rinse very well and form the bristles to air dry. Don't use a wet brush with shellac, it must be dry of water, damp with alcohol is "OK" but it will dilute the solution to some degree.

We were also taught to brush shellac out quickly, in one direction (with the grain if on wood), overlap strokes just enough to coat evenly then DON'T try to coat again until that coat is dry). Don't brush "back-n-forth". If any "sanding" is needed between coats use fine steelwool, but tack cloth that thoroughly to pick up any residue, especially steel particles. if you use synthetic scratchy-pads you won't have steel particles to worry about, but you will have plastic bits.

Shellac is considered a nearly "universal undercoating", nearly compatible with anything except it will not stick to wax! So very versatile as a inter-layer between old and new finishes and can be a barrier, too. Pigmented shellac can seal knots in wood, cover and hide stained surfaces and you can add colorants yourself to created tinted shellac. I like Mixol tints for this, myself, but don't use any solvent-based UTCs with shellac: check the labels!

Much more info than anybody asked for, I know....you're welcome!

cyclophilia 

How do you remove the shellacked tape from the handlebars when you decide to change bar tape?

Drillium Dude 

Using an X-Acto blade on the underside, cut lengthwise - slowly! - along the bar from clamp to end. Slowly peel back, by sections if needed, and away from the cut on both sides. Once all the tape is removed, you can use Goof-Off to remove the remaining scut or simply leave it be if you're going to tape and shellac again immediately. I only super-clean bars after removing tape if I'm putting them away in storage.

DD

gugie 

You don't. Well, you can, as @Drillium Dude has detailed above. On the flip side, I've got 8 years on one set of shellaced cloth bars, and outside of some touch up every few years, the finish is bullet proof, and is near impossible to unwrap without the knife method.

Kinda reminds me of someone who was complaining about powder coating a frame - you can't media blast it off, unlike wet paint. Hmm, hard to remove finish, isn't that a feature?

branko_76 

I'm looking at the amber colored bar tape on the white & blue Carlton and wondering if anyone has ever wrapped their bars with thin rope and then applied shellac ?

arex

wschruba

Don't throw it out! Pour it into a larger can with at least 1/2 the volume empty, then put it on the stove, and light it on fire (yes, on fire!). Using an oven mitt/pot holder, swirl occasionally, until it thickens and begins to smell like caramel apples. Snuff with a tight metal lid, and allow to cool. Pour into an airtight vessel/bottle.

You've just made burnt shellac, which is a low tack adhesive that can be used in woodworking to join things that aren't wood or leather onto your project. Common use would be in lining a box/drawer with paper. The advantage is that it is easy to remove whatever you put on (as far as adhesives go), and is also reasonably easy to remove in conservation/restoration.

USAZorro

Rattan would be a better color match.

unworthy1

Sounds half-crazy but that's trivia I never heard of! Thanks for the tip (I hope!)
I think a good idea to keep the fire extinguisher close at hand when you try this at home...

The Thin Man 

Like Drillium Dude, USAZorro and others, I too have started mixing my own in small batches. All products, even in a sealed can, have a shelf life and the ability to retain water, ruining the product. Mixing in a small batch with denatured alcohol or food grade (I use Everclear!) to reduce the fumes, is perfect for a small batch that you have control over for both color and shellac/alcohol ratio. It stays good for 6-months. I never feel bad about throwing out 1/2 a cup of shellac when I used to have to dump 3/4 of a can of tainted Bullseye.

easyupbug 

I hate cleaning brushes and could see that given the way the shellac wears on my bikes I could easily mask the shifters and bar end plugs, spray outside with a mask on me and I still would not do it.

ehcoplex 

Timely thread! I'm 5 or so coats in with the bars on my Peugeot tandem rehab... Clear over Newbaum's dark brown & hemp twine.

The Golden Boy 

I use spray-on shellac on my cowboy hat.

It makes a mess.

Sactown_Albert 

More like try it in the back yard away from flammable vegetation.

himespau 

I think you're going to spend more time masking than you'd save in brush vs spraying. On the other hand, you already have the spray.