Preparing Shellac Glue

[BillyL]

I'm preparing a Powerpoint Instructional for a friend on the west coast, on how to make a small quantity of shellac glue for pen repair and thought that I'd share the pictures here. Hopefully, some might find the process helpful.

 

 

 

!. Small Vial (I use an old contact lens vial)

2. Syringe with milliliter markings (I used a 12 mL syringe)

3. Digital Scale, sensitive to .1 gram

4. 10 Pieces of Dewaxed Shellac Flakes

5. 4 mL Denatured Alcohol (not pictured)

 

 

 

 

Ground up the Shellac Flakes, as small as possible. A mortar and pestle would be useful. Grounding up the flakes makes dissolving easier.

 

 

 

 

Measure out 1 gram of grounded Shellac Flakes.

 

 

 

 

Pour the 1 gram grounded Shellac Flakes into the small vial.

 

 

 

 

Measure 4 mL of Denatured Alcohol.

 

 

 

 

Add 4 mL Denatured Alcohol to the 1 gram ground Shellac Flakes. If you are unable to measure out 4 mL of Denatured Alcohol, you can approximate the amount of Alcohol to add by using 2/3 Alcohol by volume to 1/3 Shellac Flakes by volume.

 

 

 

 

Stir the Alcohol/Flakes mixture, then cap the vial. The Shellac Flakes will take 3-6 hours to completely dissolve before being ready to use. It's important to keep the vial capped, as the alcohol will evaporate rapidly. You'll have enough shellac glue to repair a dozen pens. The shelf life to the shellac is approximately 6 months to a year, if you keep it capped and store it in a cool dry place.

Edited February 2, 2012 by BillyL

[Dr. Eriko]

Excelent !!!!

Thanks for the instructions, very helpfull. Hope this information is pinned.

Regards

[crabe919]

nice topic,

thanks for the explenation.

Where do you get the flakes?

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[BillyL]

You can buy shellac flakes from woodworking supply stores. They are available in 1 lb and 5 lb packages. Another source for shellac flakes is from a furniture finisher, ask him/her to purchase a handful of flakes, which should last the amateur pen repairer, years.

[Lapi0]

Hello there,

thanks for best shellac preparation recipe ever.

[Paul80]

Hi all

 

Anyone know what Denatured Alcohol is called this side of the big pond. I was once told its Methylated Spirit but thats blue, could it be Isopropanol Alcohol IPA or is it something else.

 

Thanks

 

Paul

[Flounder]

Many thanks for this. I think I'll start mixing my own shellac too, so I know the ratio is okay.

 

Hey Paul, my meths is purple. Have I been drinking the wrong stuff?

[balson]

Hi all

 

Anyone know what Denatured Alcohol is called this side of the big pond. I was once told its Methylated Spirit but thats blue, could it be Isopropanol Alcohol IPA or is it something else.

 

Thanks

 

Paul

 

it is methylated spirits. i have never seen it with a dye myself but the article mentions that some places require one.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol

[Paul80]

Many thanks for this. I think I'll start mixing my own shellac too, so I know the ratio is okay.

 

Hey Paul, my meths is purple. Have I been drinking the wrong stuff?

 

Its probably me, never been much good with colours.

 

In the UK Meths has to have a dye put in it so the cops can see when the Homeless are drinking it, nothing to do with how bad it is, just because of all the duty the exchequer is loosing out on

 

Paul

[Froschmann]

Denatured alcohol is ethanol, but with an addition of some toxic chemical (methanol, that I've seen) so that you can't drink it. That's

a tax revenue protection measure. It's sold here in paint stores and generally has an additional labeling as "shellac thinner".

 

Under no circumstances use rubbing alcohol -- it's mostly water.

[Paul80]

Would pure IPA Work, I have a gallon of the 99% stuff I once bought in error for the 70% rubbing verity and it would be nice to be able to put it to use.

 

Paul