Maxing and shellacing

There's not a whole heck of a lot going on here - except shellac.

Coats and coats of shellac.

I think this is coat #5 in these pictures..

...maybe #6.

It rubs the sandpaper on its skin

...or else it gets the hose again

Yes Precious, it gets the hose

Put the shellac in the basket!

What's going on here is I'm sanding in between coats.  The very first coat I put on was too thick and so I got runs and drips and all sorts of bad things.  So, I added a little more denatured alcohol to the shellac to thin it out a bit and tried applying thinner coats.  By thinner coats I mean using less shellac  on each coat and applying the coats with a rag or pad and not a brush.  Because shellac melts into itself the runs will eventually disappear but to save yourself some time and aggravation - try sanding after every 2 or 3 coats with 400 grit sandpaper.  It will speed things up (and level the shellac).

Don't know why but nitrile gloves just look sinister

After I shellac this body I'm going to bury the one in my trunk

My goal is to have an even layer of shellac on the body - no drips, runs, or swirls.  By applying more shellac and sanding after every two coats I'm evening everything out.  My google searches tell me that because shellac 'melts' into itself - you really only have one coat.  Not the 5 or 6 I've applied.  Shellac doesn't build on itself that way.  Either way - things are looking better.  One or two more coats and I should be ready to switch to pore filling.

Getting closer.