recommendation for hard shellac alternative?

[JurgenV]

For my last few guitars I used hard shellac as finish and I really liked the result. As I don´t have access to a spray booth the hard shellac had been the perfekt solution to get a high gloss finish which is also more durable than the standard shellac. At the moment it seems to be difficult if not impossible to get a new bottle of hard shellac in Germany. There´s an importer for Europe in the Netherlands but it looks like he doesn´t have any on stock.
Does anyone know an alternative except of tru-oil from Birchwood Casey. It needs to be applied by wiping and it should be resistant to water and it must allow polishing with a buffer. Non toxic would be nice too
AND it need to be available in Europe

[Mark McLean]

Hard wax oil products designed for flooring are an option. There are gloss and satin versions. Application is very easy by rubbing, brushing or roller and they are non-toxic. Another advantage is that the finish is repairable with sanding or recoating. There are many brands and some are European, some on sale in Australia seem to come from Germany.
A possible disadvantage of hardwax oil is it doesn’t build on the surface as much as shellac or nitro or polyurethane, so it won’t produce a glassy french polish type of look. Even the gloss versions are not super glossy so it may not be a suitable option if you want that look. I like it for a hand rubbed satin finish and I have never gone for a full gloss.
I found this video helpful to explain how it differs from oil finishes or polyurethane, and it demonstrates application and results of HWO versus shellac and poly and danish oil.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ggA1JvjrE

[kiwigeo]

Give Robert a call at Shines. http://shines.com.au/products-page/product-category/

[JurgenV]

Thanks Martin.
I wrote him via the contact form on his web site. Let´s see if he can help.

In the meantime I found the following web shop offering a hardener for shellac to "formulate hard shellac polish" but it´s again just in Australia and does not export because it´s flammable.

https://www.thewoodworks.com.au/shop/co ... ish-detail

It seems nobody in Europe is selling something similar

[kiwigeo]

Re Robert at Shines....if you give him a call you'll get a much quicker response....and usually Robert will give you lots of useful advice while he's yakking with you Robert will discuss what your needs are and he can twig the mix accordingly.

Thanks Martin.
I wrote him via the contact form on his web site. Let´s see if he can help.

In the meantime I found the following web shop offering a hardener for shellac to "formulate hard shellac polish" but it´s again just in Australia and does not export because it´s flammable.

https://www.thewoodworks.com.au/shop/co ... ish-detail

It seems nobody in Europe is selling something similar

[JurgenV]

you remember the part of me being from Germany? The phone call is a bit expensive if I´m not using something like Whatsapp. But otherwise you´re right it would be very valuable knowledge to aquire

[lamanoditrento]

you remember the part of me being from Germany? The phone call is a bit expensive if I´m not using something like Whatsapp. But otherwise you´re right it would be very valuable knowledge to aquire

International calls must be different in Germany. Most telcoms here offer copious amounts of free international minutes. I had thought with the advent of sykpe etc that was the same elsewhere.

[lamanoditrento]

Also, you could try Royal-lac, pretty much the same thing

[sebastiaan56]

There are a number of recipes floating around that use additives to the shellac to achieve the same durability as Hard Shellac. Specifically additions of Mastic and Sandarac. DelCamp forum has a few recipes. They work well.

[Semmens Guitars]

I have just tried Solarez recently and I like it a lot. Brush on with a foam pad, let is settle for 5 mins, spend 2 mins in the sun and then start sanding. Its not Shellac but its easy to apply and you can buff it to a high gloss.

Thin it out by placing a cup in a warm water bath and it thins out to make sure you don't put too much on a top.