# Cleaning spray gun after shellac, plus tips on spraying??



## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

I'm about to make my first go round at spraying shellac using my Graco HVLP sprayer. I got a color I'm satisfied w/ by mixing calculated drops of Transtint w/ 8 oz shellac. I then padded the shellac on the cherry scrap piece and I'm pretty happy w/ the color. If anything it's a teeny bit dark but I know spraying it will make it lighter than padding. Anyhow...

My plan is to mix my potion up, then put it into my spray cup and thin the shellac 1:1 w/ DNA. Is that a good formula to use for spraying?? 1:1 will make it a 1lb cut (it's 2lbs otherwise, Zinnser dewaxed shellac in a can).

Also, I imagine since the shellac dries to the touch in about a minute that cleaning the gun is something that would need to be done ASAP after spraying. Any tips on this? I also imagine I'd use DNA to clean the gun, but any pointers would be extremely helpful!! Thanks!!

Just FYI, I am going to spray on a practice piece before diving into my main project w/ it, just don't want to ruin my spray gun!

One other question that came up while doing some research via google- I read that you don't want to use shellac in a gun that used for (basically) anything else. Is this true? If so, I may be padding , I don't have the finances right now for another spray gun. I think (it was a while ago) the last thing I used my spray gun for was enamel. It is clean, but you know how that goes; I can still see trace amounts of red hear or there.

Just thought I'd add some pics.

Here's the 2 main reasons I don't want to pad the shellac...

The base- I'm not a pro by any stretch when it comes to shellac, but I could imagine this being nearly impossible to pad. I considered making a pad using a q-tip, but I think it would take 100 years and still look horrible. Spraying is definately the way to do this unless I'm missing something.










And then padding around the contours here doesn't look fun either. Do-able yes, but tough.










If I were just using blonde shellac I'd pad it, but w/ tinting it I'm seeing some major lapping and dark streaks everywhere if I tried to pad it on the bases and around the contours.

Here's the color I want. The left is naked, sanded cherry. The far right is BLO, then blonde shellac w/out the Transtint. Just to the left of that is the tinted piece, and also the color I hope to end up w/.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

i normaly dont spray shellac, it tends to orange peel alot. i dont like sanding if i dont have too as much. i just use a throw away brush.
to clean, yes, dna, then thinner. i try not to cross oil and water with my guns, but hay sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. the key is to clean very well no mater what you use. if you got a kit, with the cleaning brushes, use them. if not go buy um. always dis assemble completely, and i always use the compresser to blow out .


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

jack warner said:


> i normaly dont spray shellac, it tends to orange peel alot. i dont like sanding if i dont have too as much. i just use a throw away brush.
> to clean, yes, dna, then thinner. i try not to cross oil and water with my guns, but hay sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. the key is to clean very well no mater what you use. if you got a kit, with the cleaning brushes, use them. if not go buy um. always dis assemble completely, and i always use the compresser to blow out .


I just threw some pics up there, must have been the same time you were posting. What kind of brush do you use? 

In the end I'm just using the shellac as a toner and sealcoat over the BLO. I plan on going over the shellac w/ a waterborn acrylic so I'll have to sand the shellac regardless. 

Now that you've seen what I need to do, in your opinion do you think I can pull this off w/out streaking or lapping if I do brush it? I realize the answer to that question might be subjective, but I do have a lot of brushing experience.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

i use purdy brushes, but for shellac i use throw away's. ya got to watch for loose hairs.
i would brush the shellac and spray the finish. i also would never put shellac over blo. just make sure the blo is 1000%dry and cured before topping with anything. i would use a gel stain on the wood for color, dry two day or more.then top coat, i prefure oil, but have use wb poly's recently.zar makes a good one.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Just curious why you wouldn't use shellac over BLO? Also, by what kind of brush I meant a natural or synthetic bristle?

This is my first attempt w/ the shellac, I've never used the stuff. I got the idea from a write up I found by Jeff Jewitt. Seems the more I research, the more I come up w/ different answers on shellac.

I usually do use gel stains, but I didn't want this one too dark. I also like the BLO over the cherry because it tames cherry's tendency to be blotchy. Then I was going to use the BLO as a toner and a sealer. I'm using it as a sealer because I don't think I can go over BLO w/ the finish I want, it's Ceramithane. I've used it a lot and love how durable it is and it's very user friendly IMO; but then again I'm no finish expert.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

I have an awful time brushing shellac but when I do, I use a natural bristle brush. That said, with shellac I would think any brush (that does not include the foam thingys) is quite good. Better yet, if it's dedicated to shellac, no cleaning! Just let it set up, then soak it for a few minutes in DNA before the next use. Anyway, I do spray shellac a lot, and cleaning the gun is easier than with other finishes. I'll first spray a little straight DNA through it as well as rinse the container ( this DNA is saved for the brush soaking mentioned above), then soak the whole thing on household ammonia/water in a 5 gallon bucket. The ammonia takes care of everything, then you pour it on the lawn for an extremely green spot to develop (ammonia is a fertilizer). Be sure to rinse the gun with clean water, then store. Easy-peasy.... and it works even if the shellac has hardened. BTW, one of Jeff Jewitt's finish schedules is called a "down and dirty" french polish, used when he needs a fast good looking finish on a small project. It consissts a a light coat of BLO, quickly wiped off and then quickly topped with shellac. Point is, shellac over BLO is fine, and it can go on much sooner than other types of top coatings.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

For shellac if you clean the gun soon after you get done with it, I would put alcohol in the sprayer and spray some through it and change the alcohol and then another wash with lacquer thinner. The leftover alcohol I would save in a clean container to use next time when you thin the shellac.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

mattk8715 said:


> I usually do use gel stains, but I didn't want this one too dark. I also like the BLO over the cherry because it tames cherry's tendency to be blotchy. *Then I was going to use the BLO as a toner and a sealer*. I'm using it as a sealer because I don't think I can go over BLO w/ the finish I want, it's Ceramithane. I've used it a lot and love how durable it is and it's very user friendly IMO; but then again I'm no finish expert.


I worded that wrong. I meant to say I'm using the shellac as a toner and a sealer. That's what happens to me at 1:30am.



Fred Hargis said:


> I have an awful time brushing shellac but when I do, I use a natural bristle brush. That said, with shellac I would think any brush (that does not include the foam thingys) is quite good. Better yet, if it's dedicated to shellac, no cleaning! Just let it set up, then soak it for a few minutes in DNA before the next use. Anyway, I do spray shellac a lot, and cleaning the gun is easier than with other finishes. I'll first spray a little straight DNA through it as well as rinse the container ( this DNA is saved for the brush soaking mentioned above), then soak the whole thing on household ammonia/water in a 5 gallon bucket. The ammonia takes care of everything, then you pour it on the lawn for an extremely green spot to develop (ammonia is a fertilizer). Be sure to rinse the gun with clean water, then store. Easy-peasy.... and it works even if the shellac has hardened. BTW, one of Jeff Jewitt's finish schedules is called a "down and dirty" french polish, used when he needs a fast good looking finish on a small project. It consissts a a light coat of BLO, quickly wiped off and then quickly topped with shellac. Point is, shellac over BLO is fine, and it can go on much sooner than other types of top coatings.


Awesome!! Thanks for the info Fred :thumbsup:!!

My main concern was that I didn't want to wreck my spray gun. I'm going to do some practice pieces w/ the sprayer tonight. The sample piece looks a bit too orange and maybe too dark in the pic, but it looks better in person. 

This is what I was trying to match as far as the veneer goes when I began this whole project, but IMO I ended up w/ too much sapwood on my project so I'm toning to blend that and speed up the aging process. These won't be in sunlight so I'm not too worried about it darkening too much.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

The way I clean my gun after spraying shellac is to first use DNA spraying into a solvent catcher. I then spray ammonia through the gun. Then I disassemble the gun and wipe all the parts with mineral spirits.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Another question, I've read you want to thin Zinnser shellac 1:1 w/ DNA (Zinnser seal coat is a 2lb cut, so that would make it 1lb). 

That said, I tried that and sprayed a sample piece and it had orange peel like crazy. Not a huge deal cuz its just a seal coat and I'll be sanding anyhow, but is there a way to avoid it? Should I practice a bit more or is that the nature of spraying shellac?

Just FYI, I'm using a .07 tip on my spraygun.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

If you have orange peel, it's too much shellac. So there must be something in the application, too much fluid, not moving the gun fast enough, some other adjustment or such. Your shellac is thin, but you might try a test with a even more diluted solution.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks again Fred!

At this point I'm just a bit nervous is all. I know I want shellac, and maybe just so I can figure it out but that's for sure what I want at this point. So, based on that, here's what I have to shellac...










Given the way the baffle where the speakers mount bumps out, plus the bead around the bases (there's a 1/4" tall, 1/2" deep channel there), would you pad these or spray them? I think I'd rather pad if that's possible; just because from the many, many practice pieces I've done the padded shellac looks great and the sprayed shellac doesn't (to say the least). I can sand the orange peel out of the sprayed shellac, but it just seems like more work. My main concern here is the bases, padding into that channel seems like it would be tough.

What do you guys think??


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## woodman73446 (Feb 25, 2012)

*Explosion Danger of spraying shellac*

Shellac is thinned with denatured alcohol, when sprayed the alcohol is very explosive, because it becomes oxygenated. It can be ignited by a motor, fan or air conditioner, or any spark, flame. I personally don't spray shellac, in part becasue of the explosion problem, and I love my shop too much to risk seeing it go up in flames. I brush and pad shellac on my projects, work just as well and is safe to boot.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

I think you could successfully pad that cabinet. The base molding may have to be brushed. Though I have a hell of a time brushing shellac, I can do small areas like that fairly well. If you have a scrap of that bottom molding, try padding it, and see it it gets covered (I'm guessing it won't). If not brushing it (and padding the rest) should be a good approach.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks for all the help and responses on this :thumbsup:!

I ended up just using it as a seal coat over BLO, which I used over the Transtint. I did end up padding it on, but I made 2 pads. One pad was the normal golf ball size, the other was a small one that would pad that 1/4" channel in the base. It seems to have worked very well! After the padding I let the shellac dry for 24 hrs (so long mostly because I ran out of time that night), then went over that w/ 3 coats of gloss Ceramithane which is a water based acrylic urethane. Now I'm going to wait about a month and wet sand and polish the brush strokes out.

All in all I'm pretty happy w/ the results. I did accidentally learn a little about how a french polish works by doing a scrap piece. I padded shellac on the scrap piece and had it laying around; then I was spraying transtint (mixed w/ DNA) on another scrap board to get my color and I layed that board on the scrap pc w/ shellac just randomly. When I picked the the board off, the DNA fumes from the tinted board must have worked the shellacked board over cuz it was mirror shiny where the freshly tinted board was laying on it. Crazy how that stuff works. I would love to learn a french polish, but I don't have 14 days to spend finishing this project :blink:!

Thanks again for the help here. Here's some pics of the speakers, waiting to get buffed out. I'll post the complete build thread for these in the finished project section once I get them polished.










BTW, because of your signature I've been listening to Merle Haggard radio on Pandora today :thumbsup:. Thanks Fred!


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Looks good, glad things worked out for you.


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## slevapaul (Aug 25, 2012)

Wow you have shared really the nice information. Thanks for sharing such a useful info about the furniture. It really looks good. hope it is useful for everyone. Those wooden zoom boxes looks great in its texture.


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