Reply by Byron

TBH I think the best surface is generated from a well tuned hand plane. Sand paper damages the fibers of the wood so much in comparison that you lose alot of figure. Using a high angle plane or putting a back bevel on your plane iron prevents tear out. This is a much more dificult process but nothing beats it.

As far as putting down shellac I just found a great tutorial on french polishing : http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpbannerframes.html

A simpler method is taking a cotton cloth like a t-shirt that is ripped up, cutting into small squares, and folding up in a way so you have a rounded smooth edge of the cloth to work with. Dip and gather a moderate amount of shellac, you want to put on thin coats but fill the pores as much as possible. With maple you will not need to use pumice or a filler to build a polish, which is still a more difficult process I have yet to dive into. Wipe on a thin coat in a pattern you are comfortable with, the thinner you mix the shellac the longer you have to work with it until it will drag. I strongly recommend mixing your own shellac with denatured alcohol or anhydrous alcohol. I use denatured but anhydrous apparently reduces the water content and extends shelf life slightly.

Try to keep your coats as even as possible but do not go back and try to touch it up after the shellac starts to pull. You may need to rewet your rag as well. After your first coat dries, which will be rather quick, LIGHTLY sand with 320 or 220 grit sand paper, or scuff with a scotch bright. This depends on how even your coat is and what cut of shellac you use. Cut is how thick or thin you make the shellac flakes with alcohol. Continue this process until you start to build a smooth surface. Check every coat to make sure everything looks even and uniform as well as doing the blind man test, feeling the surface. If the surface pulls even slightly, when you sand or scuff wait for the shellac to dry longer. The goal is to get the surface uniform enough until you only have to buff between coats. To buff I use a brown paper towel folded so there are no ridges. A brown grocery bag seems to work well too. Eventually you should be able to buff the finish itself in to an extent, but you have to work quick. The final finish is buffed with the paper towel or scuffed with a scotch bright to get a more matte finish.

There are many ways to use shellac, this is a simple way I’ve used. I have a project I am getting photographed soon I finished a few days ago that I used this finish on.

-- Byron Conn, Woodworking/Furniture Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, http://byronconn.com