Trouble with finding Shellac sellers

[Autiflip]

So, I'm in Europe (Belgium) and the only seller I knew lives in the UK, which isn't part of the EU anymore.

I need this shellac to finish a restoration.

Thanks a lot in advance! Any info is welcome since I'm relatively new at restoring pens.

 

[Newton Pens]

any hardware store - buy it by the quart.  Way cheaper than those tiny bottles pen sellers sell. 

[Autiflip]

15 minutes ago, Newton Pens said:

any hardware store - buy it by the quart.  Way cheaper than those tiny bottles pen sellers sell. 

Is there a wrong kind of shellac or is it all the same? I really really don't want to mess this pen up since it's pretty hard to come by.

[Paganini]

At least where I am (in the US) it's called "amber shellac" or "orange shellac." It's the traditional stuff: the resinous secretion of the Lac bug dissolved in alcohol. If you can't find it at your hardware store, try a luthierie supply or an antique furniture refinishing business. It's still used in a lot of old-style wood-refinishing applications. 

[Stylomeister]

French polish works and that’s pretty easy to find or shellac flakes mixed with bioethanol though you do need to heat this to dissolve the flakes.

 

You can still buy products from the UK, I just received a box of Miele washing machine detergent from France today and a juicer from Germany the day before.

[OleJuul]

Flakes is the way to go. Furniture finishers violin makers, etc, always make it fresh because it goes gooey and nasty after a while when it sits in solution. I wouldn't trust premixed from a hardware store. To use, you simply mix with alcohol. It's extremely soluble. You may want to strain it, or just let it settle a while if the flakes are particularly "natural" on orange, which could contain the odd piece of the bugs. Any store that caters to cabinet makers, or violin makers, should have it.

 

 

[Newton Pens]

13 minutes ago, OleJuul said:

 I wouldn't trust premixed from a hardware store. 

 

 

 

It's what Sheaffer used on a regular basis.  Ron Zorn has said so many times on here whenever people say it isn't good enough.   If you can find stuff mixed in a can go for it.  If it sits for so many years that it goes gooey, then buy another can.  It's cheap enough.

[sgphototn]

If you find a hardware/paint store where there's good turn of stock, the canned stuff should be fine. In my woodworking I use a variety of shellac flakes: ruby, garnet, orange, gold, depending on what I need for the final result before varnishing. I also use a magnetic stirrer for a minimum of thirty minutes to dissolve the flakes in denatured alcohol. That's a lot of work if the canned shellac is available.

[Autiflip]

15 hours ago, Newton Pens said:

 

Thanks a lot for the picture! That makes it a lot easier. I'll go to some stores to see if they have it.