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Hello everbod. I've been reading a bunch of instructions on preparing shellac flakes for finishes. Use denatured alcohol to dissolve the flakes. Where I come from denatured alcohol is called methylated spirits and it has a blue/purple color. Is that OK or does it affect the color of the shellac?
Thanks - Ed

Look for Everclear or some other 190 proof grain alcohol at the local package store. This lets ya avoid the yummy chemical addiditives used to "denature" alcohol.

Jonathan wrote:Look for Everclear or some other 190 proof grain alcohol at the local package store. This lets ya avoid the yummy chemical addiditives used to "denature" alcohol.

One shot for the guitar, one shot for you...for a short while that is.. :)

If you can not get Everclear be careful to buy a safe DA. Methanol is toxic even through the skin. DA is usally a combination of Ethanol (everclear) and some methanol and other alcohols
So brands, like crown have a lot of methonol, I personally avoid them.

The spring 2011 GAL American Lutherie journal had a safety list of most of the commonly avalable DA products. The product PEL (higher is better) for some FP alcohols: Grain alcohol 1000, KLean Strip Green 915, Behkol 845. On the worse side Crown denatured alcohol 286, and Klean Strip XLS 400.

Klean Strip Green avalable in a lot of big box hardware stores is only a couple of dollars more expensive than crown and a lot cheaper than other products.

Just FYI this thread was necro'd from back in July.

Still good info though.

I have a bottle of Everclear (the 190 Proof) I got from a friend in Texas that I'll be cherishing until I attempt my first French Polish later this fall.

Strangely enough, there is no quantity anywhere on the bottle.



How many guitars can I expect to get out of this bottle?

Looks like a 750 ml bottle. Should be formed in the glass at the bottom under the label.

jrc127 wrote:Looks like a 750 ml bottle. Should be formed in the glass at the bottom under the label.

Yup they make 4 sizes...200 Mil; 375; 750; and 1.75 Mil...different laws for different states if you can buy it, some only allow 750 mil now.
Hard to tell the way the pic was taken with no reference but it does say on bottle somewhere...federal law FWIW :)

How many guitars will it do? UUUhhh about 30 years ago I might get ONE out of it and it would have taken a long time and not looked very good when I finished...heheheheh ah, anyway back at the ranch...trust me..you don't have to worry about running out any time soon if your French polishing...and not sipping as you go... :)

I used to love to take a nice glass of quality warmed red wine, poor in a cup, place a fork over the cup, stack a pyramid of sugar cubes on the fork (About 6) saturate it with Everclear, light it off with a match and watch it melt the sugar into the heated cup of wine, stir with fork....2 will do ya.
I woke up one morning and my liver said "Hey...uh... can we talk?" Ok ...I got off topic sorry...(:>)8>

haha

I checked, and there is a 750ml emboss on the bottle.

No chance I'll drink any of it. Cost too much,and I have enough challenges in life without putting myself into a stupor on purpose. :p