AreteVeteran Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I can easily get shellac (white, amber, orange, clear) solution from my local hardware store, but it comes in denatured alchy. Can i evap this off to get the shellac in powder form, or should i just add the liquid to my comps when its called for. Ive never dealt with the liquid before (only solid) so i was wondering if it is possible to do. This would save me loads of cash. Does the color of the shellac make a difference? Thanks /AV/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonman586 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 How do you get it in solution? What do they sell it as? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asilentbob Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I have some shellac laquer too, i have often thought about evaporating off the solvent to reclaim the powder but i would immagine that it would turn out to be really sticky and thick and hard to powder. I wonder if you boiled it down till it was thick, then added to ice cold water to try to precipitate the shellac as powder and then filter. I believe i read somewhere that you couldn't just use the liquid that you can get from the hardware store, but i really don't know for certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AreteVeteran Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 Some sticky-icky shellac....Damn ill have to try it /AV/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Can’t you just get some shellac flacks and ball mill it to a powder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Nope, you can't. Ballmilling it will just make a mess of your media and jars. The best way thus far is a coffee grinder. Some sort of high speed cutting process. It prevents the shellac from being able to conform to the powdering device. The problem with using straight liquid, is by the time you get the appropriate amount of shellac in the composition, it may be too wet. The water thing may work, I don't know. Just so you guys know, shellac is a mix of various resins, tars, and other things. It's not going to crystalise into a powder. You will probably get an amorphous blob. It will be about as effective as recrystalising NC from acetone and expecting to get a powder. My best advice would be to water it down with more alcohol to make it more dilute and easier to pour. If just adding it to water doesn't form a powder, I would pour it in a slow stream into a blender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Umm... I thought genuine orange Shellac was nothing more than the by-product (feces) of an insect called a "Lac" (French origin, IIRC). They eat tree resins and poop out shellac which, once dry, is collected (God knows by whom) and sold. There's info about it in several places that I've seen. Just can't recall any at the moment. M P.S. I've never heard of any genuine Shellac *other* than the orange variety, 2 lbs of which I have in my garage ready for use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUUUUUN Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Shellac is a brittle or flaky secretion of the lac insect Coccus lacca, found in the forests of Assam and Thailand. Freed from wood it is called "seedlac." Once it was commonly believed that shellac was a resin obtained from the wings of a bug (order Hemiptera) found in India. In actuality, shellac was obtained from an excretion of the female bug, harvested from the bark of the trees where she deposits it to provide a sticky hold on the trunk. Unfortunately there is a risk that the harvesting process can scoop the bug up along with the secretion, leading to its death. Kinda like the Bat Guano shovelers of Peru... Poor guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Most shellacs on a structural level will be the same. About the only phsyical changes they do is dewaxing the shellac. This stuff will be more easily powdered by the way. The orange, yellow, lemon, clear, whatever else just have some of the coloring removed. Others have dyes added for more attractive finishes. I don't believe it effects it's use in pyro. They will all be good binders and will all burn pretty much the same. The orange is the natural color, and is usually the cheapest. Go with whatever is cheapest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyks Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I agree with the coffee grinder idea; you throw that stuff into a ball mill and it's not going to do any good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AreteVeteran Posted June 18, 2006 Author Share Posted June 18, 2006 Thanks everyone, I'll prolly go to HD this week and get some, then hijack my moms old grinder much to her chagrin. If the type doesnt matter, then cheapest one it is! unless of course Orange shellacis only a few cents more. /AV/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 When grinding shellac (flakes) in a coffee grinder, I throw the orange shellac into the freezer for 1/2 to 1hr. Grinds up finer and quicker as the flakes become much more brittle. Don't remember where I read that tip, but works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty green flame Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 When grinding shellac (flakes) in a coffee grinder, I throw the orange shellac into the freezer for 1/2 to 1hr. Grinds up finer and quicker as the flakes become much more brittle. Don't remember where I read that tip, but works well. Nice tip, i'll try this first thing tommorow when i retrieve some shellac flakes from my workshop. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty green flame Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Sorry for double post but i thought i'd post an update. I threw the shellac flakes in the freezer for an hour then ran it through a coffee grinder, 4 cycles of 5s in a coffee grinder will produce a material that will EASY pass 30mesh. Thanks for the tip bonny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tentacles Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 You can also buy shellac flakes at some hardware stores, and most woodworking suppliers will have them in various colors. Then you're just paying for the shellac and not the alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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