Jan van Dijk (janvdijk@bart.nl)
Sun, 11 Apr 1999 14:05:55 +0200
If one wants to know everything what is to know about shellac, pictures of the bugs, etc. try to get hold of the book "Shellac"published by the Indian manifacturer Angelo Bros. Ltd., Calcutta. It also has or had an establisment in London with the same name, 5-7, St. Helens Place, London EC3.
The book was published in 1956 and has 161 pages.
There is one thing I want to add to the practical application of shellac (I used it in 1988 for one of the coatings for Woodburytype printing paper):
Try to get high quality (white, fresh und not yet hardened) shellac, which was impossible to buy in Holland at that time.
A very good alternative was buying it already solved in alcohol. It that form it will last for a long time.
Good luck,
Jan van dijk
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Richard S. Sullivan <richsul@earthlink.net>
Aan: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Datum: zondag 11 april 1999 1:10
Onderwerp: Re: Kodalak/amyl acetate
Kodalac is most likely Kodatalk for Kodak''s long forgotten brand of shellac. The fact that it is soluble in alcohol tends to confirm that it is shellac.
I did some web research and came up with this ditty on it:
Shellac is an animal product. The basic material comes from the Coccus lacca, a scale insect that feeds on certain trees in India and southern Asia. After feeding, the insect produces through its pores a gummy substance which hardens into a protective covering called lac. This lac is collected and then it is crushed, washed and dried. After further treatment, it is skillfully drawn into thin sheets of finished shellac. Many products such as phonograph records, sealing wax, fireworks, and electrical insulators and instruments have shellac in their composition. When mixed with alcohol, shellac forms ordinary varnish.
Soon after the scale insect is hatched, it leaves its birthplace and begins to wander about, looking for a likely place to settle down. It finds this place at last upon a stem or a leaf or the outside of a fruit. It inserts its sharp little beak in the tissue and then settles down for a lifetime of sucking at this particular spot.
It is soon covered by a substance that it secretes or gives forth from its body - a substance that in certain species looks like wax, in others like cotton, in still others like powder. The growing insect sheds one skin after another; these skins form a rounded little scale, held in place by the secreted substance.
Oooohh wee!
BTW, they haven't used shellac in phonograph records since they spun around too fast to read the label.
It comes in waxed, unwaxed, white and orange. My web search was clogged by the fact that there is a rock group named shellac. It still seems to be imported, mostly from India and I suspect any really really good paint or art supplies store would have it.
Hope this helps.
--Dick Sullivan
>I know what wood alcohol is. I could probably find amyl acetate (I take it
>that's NOT amyl nitrate). But I wonder wnat Kodalak might be. Collodion?
>Or? (The book was from 1939.)
>
>I don't recall the old formularies listing by brand name, but maybe
>someone has a clue, even of where to look...
>
>TIA,
>
>Judy
>
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