Need just a little shellac?

[MsLoathsome]

I just bought a pint of shellac to fix a leaking 51 hood and of course only used about three drops from the whole can. I'd like to do something with it rather than let the whole can go bad. I think I have figured out a way to share with other members at low cost. Please PM me if you're interested.

[MsLoathsome]

I just "sold" a little nail polish jar of shellac to Balog for $3.50. It's pretty convenient because you can just unscrew and screw the bottle, and it has a handy built-in applicator brush. Anyone else interested?

[penmanila]

i am. please PM me the details, including shipping to my address in virginia. i can pay you by paypal. will take two of those bottles, thanks!

[Balog]

Received mine last night. Fast shipping, well packaged, and I like the little brush. A good deal, thanks!

[The Moose]

I'd like one as well. Please PM details.

 

[MsLoathsome]

I'm sending two to Penmanila tomorrow morning. Anyone else want to be mailed out in this batch? PM me for details.

[itungsten]

Can you please email me details on this. Interested as well.

 

Thanks!

 

[MsLoathsome]

Packages out to Penmanila and The Moose this morning. Please let me know here when you receive them. Thanks!

[johnboz]

You bought a whole pint? Where did you find that? That would probably last every member of FPN (including the pros) for the rest of their lives!

 

Make sure to keep some for yourself so you don't have to buy another pint when you need a few more drops.

[MsLoathsome]

I was lucky to find a pint at a hobby store and not have to buy the quart at Home Depot!

[woodbin]

Do you realize that the "cut" of hardware shellac is nowhere near as thick a "cut" as used for adhering sacs?

 

 

Cheers

Martin

www.woodbin.ca Pen sacs and parts/supplies

 

 

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Martin, are you saying that makes it unsatisfactory for re-sacing use?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[woodbin]

Sure you can buy a pail of shellac at the hardware store for 10 bucks, but that is for a wood finish and has about the same viscosity as water. In my opinion you need a thicker consistency for adhering sacs - it's been made that way for over 100 years for a reason.

 

Cheers

Martin

[MsLoathsome]

Mr. El Zorno said the Zinsser Bullseye was a-okay, and it fixed my problem, so I'm not too worried. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, though.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Sure you can buy a pail of shellac at the hardware store for 10 bucks, but that is for a wood finish and has about the same viscosity as water. In my opinion you need a thicker consistency for adhering sacs - it's been made that way for over 100 years for a reason.

 

Cheers

Martin

 

With all due respect,

 

If Ron Zorn uses woodworking shellac for sacs and has pens done with it that have lasted 20 years, and the Sheaffer FACTORY had GALLON JUGS of woodworking shellac in THEIR repair shop, I'd think it's good enough for me to use...

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...howtopic=105546

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Johnny Appleseed]

Lets remember that there are a lot of good, experienced pen repair people in the world and not all agree on every point.

 

Martin is certainly an experienced repair person and member of the community, who does a great deal to make repair products available to all of us. Ron is also a highly respected and experienced repair person. I would take both their opinions seriously.

 

There is a danger in the online pen world (and I am not accusing anyone in this thread, but I have seen it before) of putting too much credit on a few individuals based on their online presence. There are some highly respected repair people who have a strong online presence. It is very easy to fall into seeing these few as the legitimate experts, as opposed to those who have less online presence. In reality there is a whole world of pen collecting and pen repair that never makes a post, including some people who learned their chops working for the original pen manufacturers. Those of us who are less experienced need to make sure we do not fall into the trap of championing our favorites, when we should step back and let people with experience discuss.

 

And I say that not to say we should not solicit other opinions - starting a thread to raise a question about one viewpoint is a valuable contribution to all our understanding, as is bringing in those other opinions to the discussion. But I get concerned about the tone some time, especially because it can get into "my expert is better than your expert" - not that anyone was really doing that in this thread, but it felt like there was an edge.

 

John

Edited May 1, 2009 by Johnny Appleseed

[eckiethump]

Lets remember that there are a lot of good, experienced pen repair people in the world and not all agree on every point.

 

Martin is certainly an experienced repair person and member of the community, who does a great deal to make repair products available to all of us. Ron is also a highly respected and experienced repair person. I would take both their opinions seriously.

 

There is a danger in the online pen world (and I am not accusing anyone in this thread, but I have seen it before) of putting too much credit on a few individuals based on their online presence. There are some highly respected repair people who have a strong online presence. It is very easy to fall into seeing these few as the legitimate experts, as opposed to those who have less online presence. In reality there is a whole world of pen collecting and pen repair that never makes a post, including some people who learned their chops working for the original pen manufacturers. Those of us who are less experienced need to make sure we do not fall into the trap of championing our favorites, when we should step back and let people with experience discuss.

 

And I say that not to say we should not solicit other opinions - starting a thread to raise a question about one viewpoint is a valuable contribution to all our understanding, as is bringing in those other opinions to the discussion. But I get concerned about the tone some time, especially because it can get into "my expert is better than your expert" - not that anyone was really doing that in this thread, but it felt like there was an edge.

 

John

 

 

Very succinctly put, no irony intended, as I do believe, there are more than online opinions, many of which are much more experienced. They spend their time on pens, not writing about them....

et

[OcalaFlGuy]

Very succinctly put, no irony intended, as I do believe, there are more than online opinions, many of which are much more experienced. They spend their time on pens, not writing about them....

et

 

Exactly.

 

And I meant and mean no disrespect to Martin.

 

I certainly am no expert but I have done ALOT of reading and my curiosity was mostly in that his opinion that that

form of shellac was UNSATISFACTORY for re-sacing was the ONLY time I'd ever heard that.

 

Now if anyone has any evidence that there is some widespread opinion supporting that, I'd certainly like to be

enlightened.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

[Johnny Appleseed]

Very succinctly put, no irony intended, as I do believe, there are more than online opinions, many of which are much more experienced. They spend their time on pens, not writing about them....

et

 

Exactly.

 

And I meant and mean no disrespect to Martin.

 

I certainly am no expert but I have done ALOT of reading and my curiosity was mostly in that his opinion that that

form of shellac was UNSATISFACTORY for re-sacing was the ONLY time I'd ever heard that.

 

Now if anyone has any evidence that there is some widespread opinion supporting that, I'd certainly like to be

enlightened.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

I have never seen evidence of a widespread opinion that wood-varnish shellac was unsatisfactory for pen work, and as you point out I have seen several restorers who use Zinser or some other hardware shellac. I have heard that some shellac is better than others. There is of course a difference between "unsatisfactory because it will not stick and the pen will leak right away," and "unsatisfactory because it will give only 7 years average adhesion while formula Y will give you 10 years".

 

Giovanni Abrates (Tryphon.com) claims that his formulation of blond-and-orange shellac is better for pen repair work. Of course, it is his product, so he has a commercial reason to say that, but I doubt he rakes in big bucks off of selling shellac and other pen parts - that seems more of a sideline for him. I suspect he really believes, in his experience as a restorer, that his formula is better, and sells it for that reason - but it is hard to know for sure.

 

There have been posts over the years as to the quality and shelf-life of orange shellac, particualarly the latter, with some seemingly knowledgable posters claiming that you should not keep "wet" orange shellac for more than a year. If so, then a huge hardware-store can would probably not be the best idea, unless shared (as here). A few voices recommended buying shellac flake and mixing it oneself in small quantities as needed.

 

Personally, I added a little denatured alcohol to my 3-year old Pendamonium bottle when it got too thick, and it seems to be working fine.

 

John

 

[Ron Z]

There have been posts over the years as to the quality and shelf-life of orange shellac, particualarly the latter, with some seemingly knowledgable posters claiming that you should not keep "wet" orange shellac for more than a year. If so, then a huge hardware-store can would probably not be the best idea, unless shared (as here). A few voices recommended buying shellac flake and mixing it oneself in small quantities as needed.

 

Zinsser puts a manufactured date code on the bottom of every can. They clearly state on the can that their orange shellac is good (will maintain dry time and hardness) for 3 years after the date of manufacture. After that date they recommend testing the shellac to see if it drys within 2 hours. If it doesn't, then they say not to use it. For the clear shellac, they guarantee the results for 2 years, and say not to use the product 3 years after the date code.