Re: varnishes for alt and the elusive soehnee

Super Blond is the shellac grade you'd probably want, clear as a bell.
Also, mix with denatured alcohol only. You'd probably also want to make
a weak mix, say a 1 lb cut. Anyhow, you can read all about it at
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/

Pam

Judy Seigel wrote:

> ...
> I thought the major ingredient was probably shellac, because one
> reference in Demachy & another in a 20th century artists' materials
> manual mentioned solubility in shellac. However, shellac doesn't keep,
> tho possibly there's some preservative I haven't seen mentioned.
> Meanwhile, after the "lac" & alcohol were mixed, they gave a nasty &
> harsh, not a luscious wet look to the print, and the mixture in
> container proceded to darken.
>
> The "bleached lac" Chris mentions, would I suppose be what Kremer
> sells as their "white shellac" -- I think that's what they call it,
> though can't lay hands on the catalog this minute. However, I bought
> it and tried every pound cut the expert at local woodfinishing shop
> suggested (and he seemed to know his stuff, including the whole
> history of shellac, starting with the French & some Scandinavian
> tribe). It DID NOT WORK ! Possibly because shellac doesn't work over
> gelatin (I'm told) -- Demachy didn't use a gelatin size.
> ...
Received on Thu Dec 29 08:54:11 2005