Re: Liquid shellac vs. powdered

On May 5, 12:44=A0pm, marlowe <zde...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Is it possible to use liquid shellac cut with alcohol to wet stars in
> which the shellac acts as a binder? If so, what would be the ratio of
> shellac to alcohol? (The common stuff on shelves is a 3lb cut; that
> is, three pounds shellac per gallon of alcohol.)
>
> If it won't work, would it be wasteful to pay the $19/pound Skylighter
> wants for powdered shellac, and does anyone have suggestions for other
> suppliers?

I ran across a Chinese firework formulary last year and several of the
formulations for stars called for the use of "shellac paint".  The
percentage of the dry shellac to alcohol called for was pretty high...
20% or more by weight, a I recall.  These were colored stars with or
without MgAl and included some chlorinated resin as additional fuel to
the shellac "paint".
As Mike and Lloyd have noted, this hasn't been common practice in many
years and I don't understand why anyone would choose to do it this way
unless they have a cheap supply of mixed shellac varnish to get rid
of.


John Reilly