Colouring Shellac

[pe2dave]

Our TV hero on Repair shop uses powdered colours with Shellac.
Anyone know what kind of colours he's using please?

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Spirit aniline colours, earth pigments and powdered chromes all work well with shellac. Spirit aniline if you are after a translucent stain that will be bound with the shellac. Chromes (difficult to buy now but art supplies have good alternatives) and earth pigments if you want a more solid colour.
John Penny Restoration | Dry Powders at trade prices The spirit powder dyes on this page are spirit aniline including the orange which is the renamed Chroistodine which in fact has been banned since the early eighties thanks to Easter Ranzen! Cornelissen supply the best quality pigments and will have substitutes for the chromes. Pigments Gums & Resins
What are you wanting to achieve with them?

 

[pe2dave]

Spirit aniline colours, earth pigments and powdered chromes all work well with shellac. Spirit aniline if you are after a translucent stain that will be bound with the shellac. Chromes (difficult to buy now but art supplies have good alternatives) and earth pigments if you want a more solid colour.
John Penny Restoration | Dry Powders at trade prices The spirit powder dyes on this page are spirit aniline including the orange which is the renamed Chroistodine which in fact has been banned since the early eighties thanks to Easter Ranzen! Cornelissen supply the best quality pigments and will have substitutes for the chromes. Pigments Gums & Resins
What are you wanting to achieve with them?

Tks Percy, very useful.
I've made a small pen tray, too pale by half and wanted to darken it (as per Will).
I *think* solid colours as apposed to translucent.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I'm not allowed to watch Will in my house, my wife gets offended by my language!
The spirit stains mixed with meths will make a good stain that will darken your pen tray, they can also be mixed with shellac to make a 'paint' for want of a better word. The two downsides to them is they dry incredibly quickly so are susceptible to streaking. They can also turn a greenish grey over time!

 

[sploo]

Fiebings leather dyes have worked well for me (mixed into shellac).

 

[Pedronicus]

Fiebings leather dyes have worked well for me (mixed into shellac).

Sounds like Susie & Will should get together then!

 

[XTiffy]

I agree with mrpercysnodgrass for his advice and also his "reservations" on Will of the Repair shop. Much like the "curate's egg" only good in parts. I am extremely cynical as to how TV selects it's "Experts" (Covid being an extreme case). Many on that show are, but not all, Imho.
My only addition to darkening down the pen tray, would be to stain it first and then use a clear finish to seal it.

 

[Vintage Frames]

There are two kinds of 'dry powders' you can add to shellac.
One is called dry spirit powders and these are simply aniline dyes or wood stains. The different manufacturers will supply their own pre-mixed stains such as oak, walnut or mahogany.
These are completely transparent and are used to change or augment the natural colour of the wood.

The other powders used in wood finishing are called Earth Pigments.
They have names such as Raw Sienna, Brown Umber and burnt sienna.
These are insoluble powders that float around inside the shellac and settle on to the surface when the shellac has dried.
The trick is to add just a small amount pigment to the stained shellac so as to give the resulting varnish some 'body'.
Practice on some scrap sanded wood by first staining some clear shellac with a walnut spirit stain.
Puddle it onto the wood and you will see it as a darkish transparent stain.
Now stir in a little Brown Umber dry pigment.
The stain will now produce a more solid appearance.
Less is always going to be more when doing this and a fine quality soft brush or polisher's mop essential when applying the shellac.

 

[pe2dave]

There are two kinds of 'dry powders' you can add to shellac.
One is called dry spirit powders and these are simply aniline dyes or wood stains. The different manufacturers will supply their own pre-mixed stains such as oak, walnut or mahogany.
These are completely transparent and are used to change or augment the natural colour of the wood.

The other powders used in wood finishing are called Earth Pigments.
They have names such as Raw Sienna, Brown Umber and burnt sienna.
These are insoluble powders that float around inside the shellac and settle on to the surface when the shellac has dried.
The trick is to add just a small amount pigment to the stained shellac so as to give the resulting varnish some 'body'.
Practice on some scrap sanded wood by first staining some clear shellac with a walnut spirit stain.
Puddle it onto the wood and you will see it as a darkish transparent stain.
Now stir in a little Brown Umber dry pigment.
The stain will now produce a more solid appearance.
Less is always going to be more when doing this and a fine quality soft brush or polisher's mop essential when applying the shellac.

Informative - expensive experimentation though!
Thanks.

 

[XTiffy]

Frustrating, as I had to clear my large workshop in a hurry and it is all packed into a barn, such that I can't lay my hand on anything yet. I have loads od spirit and water aniline stains and load of earth pigments. Soon I hope to unearth them and will offer them for sale here in small containers ( a lttle goes a long way). Can't help in the short term but......!
The pigments I have are polisher's pigments which are not as finely ground as artist pigments (still quite fine though). The main point in using earth pigments is that using too much gives a "muddy look", which is why I would advocate staining first and using a clear finish over. As someone else commented spirit stains, either in meths or shellac are difficult to apply without streaks as they are so fast drying.