Anyone know how to duplicate shellac finish on clock plates

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  • November 29, 2015 at 3:13 pm #49709
    trumpeterjack29
    Participant

      Does anyone know how to duplicate the shellac finish on old, antique, British clock plates, which looks almost like gilding? No, I don’t mean the lacquer finish, which we are much more familiar with these days. My understanding is that the great British makers used shellac to finish the plates, up until around 1860, when the use of lacquer started to replace the use of shellac. This shellac finish has visible swirly lines, irregular lines, over the whole surface of each plate, which must be produced by the shellac itself, which I wish to duplicate.

      November 30, 2015 at 12:24 pm #63451
      arutha
      Participant

        Can you post a picture of what you are looking for finish wise?
        Paul.

        December 2, 2015 at 1:01 pm #63452
        trumpeterjack29
        Participant

          Have yet to upload any pictures; don’t really know what I am doing when it comes to that. I tried to follow the post regarding “uploading pictures,” i.e. I went to control panel, and “edit avatar, I next browsed to my photo, that I have stored on computer pictures, and tried to upload it, but was essentially lost as to how to get photo where I want it. As it turned out, I got photo to be on my profile page, so I still have no clue as to how to do the photo transfer correctly….. :D

          December 3, 2015 at 1:14 am #63453
          gerene
          Participant

            When you edit your avatar, you are indeed changing your profile picture.
            To upload a picture and attach it to a message you have to chose the tab “upload attachment” below the input area when you are editing a (new) message for the forum.
            It will then offer you the possibility to attach a file or picture to the message.
            Hope this is clear ;)

            Jan

            December 3, 2015 at 11:56 am #63454
            trumpeterjack29
            Participant

              Jan,
              I tried, but it is way too complicated for me; I don’t have the patience for it, but thanks for trying!

              December 4, 2015 at 9:49 am #63455
              Bob Tascione
              Moderator

                Welcome to the forum Trumpeterjack,
                I think that ‘back in the day’ they used to use orange shellac flakes thinned with some sort of mineral spirits and then just brushed it on the plates. Not sure about the swirl pattern that you’re talking about. They may just be plates that have been spotted with abrasives to give the pattern and then shellac applied over the textured plate or might just be the way they applied the shellac. Like Arutha points out though, it’s difficult to tell without seeing a close up pic.

                Bob

                December 8, 2015 at 4:55 am #63456
                vanhooglesnort
                Participant

                  http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?62345-Shellac-tutorials

                  This is mostly focused on case restoration, but you may find the information useful.

                  December 8, 2015 at 1:56 pm #63457
                  trumpeterjack29
                  Participant

                    @Bob Tascione wrote:

                    Welcome to the forum Trumpeterjack,
                    I think that ‘back in the day’ they used to use orange shellac flakes thinned with some sort of mineral spirits and then just brushed it on the plates. Not sure about the swirl pattern that you’re talking about. They may just be plates that have been spotted with abrasives to give the pattern and then shellac applied over the textured plate or might just be the way they applied the shellac. Like Arutha points out though, it’s difficult to tell without seeing a close up pic.
                    Bob

                    _________________________________

                    My thinking, my guess, has been exactly as you are describing, Bob. I know for a fact that the swirl pattern has not been created on surfaces of the brass plates, but it seems to be created, somehow, from the finish itself, which I thought was shellac. Perhaps the finish was created from padding the shellac on in a circular fashion? Having done a lot of furniture refinishing, and of antique furniture finishing through the years, I am quite familiar with shellac. At this point, I think my next move will be to take some brass plate, and experiment with applying shellac in various ways, in an attempt to recreate the original old finish put on by the masters of yesteryear—did I actually say that? Too bad that the extremist among us, such as I, have to relearn how these old masters did things so long ago, but that is life, I suppose, unless you want to live in our modern poly finish; plastic world! Thanks for all the suggestions and information, guys, I appreciate it.

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