Shellacking

Recent depressing political events have given shellacking a bad name. But as a wood finishing I think it can't be beaten.

Shellac allows wood to resonate more naturally than polyurethane or nitrocellulose which is why it is used on high-end classical guitars.

I'm not a fan of the shiny chemical pollutants they spray on most drums. (Although it can be handy to see my reflection in a drum if I need to comb my hair).

Shellac is made from secretions of the lac beetle. It's also used for the coating on Skittles.

Mmm...Skittles. Num num num.

I mix my own with fresh flakes that I dissolve with denatured alcohol.

One disadvantage is that shellac can be a pain in the arse to work with until you get the hang of it. And even then it's too time consuming for most builders, let alone factories.

People say that the chemical finishes are more durable than shellac. This is overrated. Any drum will scratch if you bang it around. And if you really want your drums to stay pristine shellac might be better because it is more easily repaired. Because it dissolves with alcohol you can cover over a scratch and blend in the finish perfectly.

Because it's alcohol soluble some people worry that if someone spills their drink on your drums at a gig it will ruin the shellac finish. I'm skeptical about this because it can take hours to dissolve shellac flakes in straight denatured alcohol. But I decided to test it on this scrap.

First I poured beer on it and left it to soak for about twenty minutes.

After wiping it off I couldn't tell the difference!

Yes, I know my Australian friends are thinking that's because I used American beer. So next I tried a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Of course if someone is pouring straight whiskey on your drums, losing some sheen is probably the least of your problems!

This time I waited for about an hour.

Will you look at that. As good as new!

The rest of it went down the sink. My hard liquor days are over but that's another story!