I got on line with a few distributors of this stuff. And I called one of them. So far no luck. Seems to be the same problem as your friend in NY. I guess the college kids want it to poison themselves at parties!
I used ordinary denatured alcohol and Behlen flakes. I put on a one pound strength coat, let it dry and rubbed with 0000 steel wool. Repeated about five times. Then I sanded once with really fine sandpaper using a Festool sander. I did that because I saw what looked like orange peel to me and it wouldn't come off easily. I finished up using the Beale system of power buffing with tripoli finished with carnauba wax. I know this process cannot come up to your standards, but I must say it's glass smooth and looks fine. I am determined to get better at it. but so far no luck with the Everclear. Any suggestions would be welcome. Perhaps something like Everclear -- but legal!
Don't worry about Everclear. If anything, historically shellac wasn't exactly dissolved in purest ethanol. Neither it was pure shellack, there's a great research from "Furniture History" magazine, apparently "shellack" was a mix of various resins in a mix of various solvents. If that worked - yours will work too.
Orange peel might be caused by shellack being too thick. Next time do a base coat with diluted cut. Just pour a bit into a separate vessel and add about the same volume of alcohol. It should be almost water consistency and will dry almost instantly. Brush a coat, let it dry and lightly scuff with brown sponge, repeat once or twice, but no more than that. After you have a smooth and level base it's easier to apply a thicker coat. Also a rubber works better, esp. when you build up a layer. Once it gets sticky put a few drops of BLO on it and continue some more — it will smooth out most bumps, so rubbing out will be less tiresome.
If you are concerned about exposure to methanol and you can't buy Everclear, I suggest Behcol, which is a Behlens alcohol product for diluting shellac, but instead of being denatured with methanol, it is denatured with isobutanol. It is much less toxic than methanol. It doesn't blind you if your eyes are exposed to the vapor. It dries much more slowly, so you have less problems with orange peel or blushing.
Well, I can't seem to get the Everclear anyway. I was listening to John from NJ because I was so impresses by his masterful bow making. Your suggestion appears to be safer. I confess to be more or less outer -directed because I have little experience with hand tool methods. (But I'm getting more confident as I work at it.)
I've handled some of Aniano's bows. They are amazing. He's won some national competitions. It is a shame I can't play a stringed instrument, so I couldn't try them out. I'm also in NJ, so I also have no problem obtaining Everclear. My first bottle of it I got in Covington, KY, at a Woodworking in America conference.
You know, it's weird about making musical instruments. I once mentioned to a professional clarinetist, who's a distant relative of mine, while were eating at a restaurant, that I would like to make a clarinet. He burst out laughing and started to choke on his food. I thought he was going to croak right there! He obviously knew that I would, presumably, have no chance of getting it remotely right. So just to spite him, I started looking into it. What do you think I found? It's nearly impossible to find out how to do it. Clearly, SOMEONE knows how to do it. But, take my word for it, it's hard to find much out. At least it was then.
Wrong! You can make a clarinet, albeit a simpler one. The excellent book Amateur Wind Instrument Maker, by Trevor Robinson
shows how to make many wind instruments, including the clarinet. Not a modern version, an earlier few keyed version. The author maintains that the most complex wind instrument to make was the recorder as the fipple (part of the mouthpiece) is especially fussy to get right.
I've owned my copy since it was published and made only a "rackett" - a bassoon predecessor. Some day I'll try making a wooden cornetto covered with leather. There are drawings and instructions to make many great wind instruments.
