What is shellac used for in a pen repair?

Is it used as an adhesive when you put the pen back together, or as some sort of polish?

(I ask this because two bottles of shellac--"pendemonium shellac" and "orange shellac" come in the Pendemonium pen repair kit)

Orange shellac is used to attach the sac.

It's also used to glue in sections, although Giovanni's section sealant is probably better, and to seal Parker "51" and similar hoods. A nice, totally waterproof, easily released adhesive.

Peter

Let's modify that a bit shall we?!

Shellac is sometimes used to seal the threads of pens where the barrel holds the ink, as is the case with the Parker Vacumatics or Sheaffer Vacuum fillers AKA "wire" pens. In my opinion, Giovanni's section sealant is better. Sheaffer used a thread sealant here, as did Parker, but not shellac. But shellac works very well to seal the threads of the hoods of the Parker 51 in place.

Do not use shellac to "glue" in the section of a sac type of pen. It makes it a heck of a job to get it back out later.

Shellac is of course used to attach sacs to the section, but it can also be used as a thread lock, where you don't want something to unscrew too easily, but want it to release with a little heat. As you say, it's water resistant, so won't fail where something like nail polish will.

None of which, while very informative, addresses the possible distinction between the two kinds of shellac mentioned in the original posting-- a question which I am fairly giving birth with curiosity over!

I would think that a call to Sam and Frank would provide the answer to the question.

Hey Kenny.

Shellac flakes are mixed in with methylated spirits to form an adhesive, commonly used to glue ink-sacs to section-nipples.

Hi Kenny,

You have even me confused as we only have ONE kind of shellac, Orange Shellac, although the label on the bottle might have Pendemonium and our contact info. If you got two bottles of shellac in the repair kit, that was an added bonus, should only be one since one bottle will last a good long time.

Orange shellac is primarily used to adhere sacs to the sac nipple, there are a few other uses, as well. It is not to be used to adhere a section to the barrel ( with a couple odd exceptions). Never use as a polish.!

Best regards, Sam

Well, not as a polish for pens perhaps... Shellac has been used as an essential part of the traditional 'French Polish' technique for fine furniture for a significant period of time....

Regards,

Gerry

Why you got 2 differently labeled bottles of shellac is a mystery that only the packager can answer, but I doubt that their properties are very different if at all. Many "brand name" products are unique but in many cases the uniqueness is limited to the label on the package!


Unsolicited information as a bonus:
In my experience, and that of my focus brand Wahl-Eversharp shellac is/was used for all sorts of joining and sealing. There are specialized products that can do some sealing and joining better than plain old shellac of course, but shellac is a great material for most work on pens because it melts when heated (old shellac seems to take about 150 degrees to soften while more freshly applied shellac seems to melt around 140 degrees). These temperatures are all low enough to avoid pen damage from the heat.

Back to your original question:
Polishing with shellac? I assume you mean as a coating. I would not do it to pens! Shellac dissolves in alcohol. Shangas said that shellac is dissolved with methylated spirits, which is a mixture of ethyl - from sugars and methyl - from wood alcohols (the latter is added simply to make drinking the stuff poisonous). Doesn't matter if it the alcohol is methyl, ethyl or isopropyl for that matter its all alcohol and alcohol can damage some pen finishes and surfaces.

More unsolicited information:
As a sealant, shellac does works fine too, just don't slather a lot of it on things. As a sealant coat the surface evenly and completely. As a fixative just a drop when attaching a friction fit section, for example, will keep things in place nicely. Modern thread sealant is far better for threaded situations. Actually I prefer museum wax as a thread leak proof sealant, but if thread sealing AND locking is desired and you don't want to use shellac, use a specialty product. FWIW, The Wahl company used shellac as a thread sealant as a matter of course. (They called it "cement #1)

Even more unsolicited information...because I don't know when to stop!
For me commercially available well refined (not bleached is not necessary, but it is clear) shellac is all fine. True shellac comes from a natural source: the Lac bug. While some folks like their shellac to be triple refined and with the original natural red dye prominent, or darkish orange, simple refined hardware or paint store shellac is good enough quality. That is just what was used at the Wahl factory when making their pens. I use Bullseye brand, myself. Bought a quart about 5 years ago and opened the can to re-fill my 2 oz ready-bottle maybe 3 times so far. I have never had a failure or any damage using this material. If the shellac gets thick in the bottle due to air exposure a few drops of alcohol will fix that. You can buy shellac flakes as mentioned in this thread and they dissolve in Alcohol to get the consistency you want.

Syd,

From my experience as well I know Shellac lasts quite a long time. The only reported problem with older shellac is a longer drying time. I'm not sure when that starts to set in, but it's simple to check - just put a test drop on a surface to dry and see what it takes. That experience tends to fix in your mind how long to let something rest after sealing and before putting into service too, although it should always be left longer that that to allow for different thicknesses of application and the lack of air circulation.

Regards,

Gerry

Zinsser says that their shellac will be good (usable) 3 years from the date stamped on the bottom of the can, after that drying time will be affected, so your test is valid.

Since the can is only $5 or so, I tend to toss the can after that. I've seen cases where older shellac can take anywhere from hours to days to set up properly.

OTOH, I was surprised to see a couple of GALLON cans of Zinsser shellac in the Sheaffer repair center. One can had a date of 1974 on it. I don't know if they still used the shellac from the can, but it was sitting in the fountain pen repair station. Of course, so were feeds from the 1940s, so maybe they just hadn't moved it out of the way.