Can a friction shellac finish like Mylands brand be used over a dried tung oil/Danish Oil finish. I,m looking to give a little more gloss to the finish after about only 2 coats of tung or Danish Oil which are rather dull.
-
Congratulations to Bernie Hyrtzak, People's Choice in the January 2026 Turning Challenge (click here for details) -
Congratulations to David Croxton for "Geri's Basket Illusion" being selected as Turning of the Week for February 2, 2026 (click here for details) -
AAW Symposium demonstrators announced - If the 2026 AAW International Woodturning Symposium is not on your calendar, now is the time to register. And there are discounts available if you sign up early, by Feb. 28. Early Bird pricing gives you the best rate for our 40th Anniversary Symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 4–7, 2026. (There are discounts for AAW chapter members too) For more information vist the discussion thread here or the AAW registration page
-
Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.
Another Finish Question
- Thread starter LANKFORD
- Start date
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,540
- Likes
- 22
Shellac is carried by alcohol, which is polar. Oils and waxes are generally non-polar, so they find alternate paths into the wood and hold as they can. Unless you've got a fairly occlusive surface finish, shellac should do what you want.
finish
It works for me too! Good luck.
It works for me too! Good luck.
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Lankford The 2 finishes you mention are what I call low build finishes. That means it takes many coats to get the same kind of gloss that you would from Shellac, lacquer, Varnish etc. You could simply add some polyeurethane to the tung oil. I think I used to mix it 1part Poly to 7 parts tung oil. Then you apply as many coats as necessary to achieve the gloss you want. Friction polishes "build" a little better than tung oil so it takes fewer coats to get a good shine. I use the Beal polishing system with lacquer most of the time. I'm working on a hand mirror right now that I'm using True Oil. I'm not sure the contents but it's something like Varnish and oil. It builds very quickly. I'm on the 4th coat now (steel wool between each coat) and it's almost done. I would say 6 to 8 should do the trick. This is a very thick glossy finish used for gun stocks and that's why I thought I would use it. This mirror is made from Claro Walnut so I thought I would duplicate the gunstock look. I'm going to finish the next one with many coats of lacquer and look at the difference when I'm done.