I certainly still use shellac - and I'm pretty sure other pipemakers do. It
has the advantage of being easily removable. Heating the ferrule quite
gently will melt the shellac and allow the ferrule to be taken off if any
future repair is needed. Old shellac can be cleaned off with methylated
spirit (denatured alcohol?) as can any that gets where you don't want it
when you are using it. I also use it for sticking key-pads on - I'm very
traditional - where it's best to use the thicker and stickier bits from the
sides of the jar, where some of the spirit has evaporated. Painting it on
and then lighting it to burn away the spirit also makes it stickier, and
does a faster job of securing the ferrule - but sometimes it's then too
sticky to push the ferrule over. You may find that a bit of sewing thread
wrapped round the wood first is useful if the ferrule is too loose a fit.
Buying sanding sealer may mean you have to get a big tin - far more than you
need for a few ferrules.
I buy it in little jars or bottles as "French Polish" - which I suspect may
be thicker (i.e. less alcohol in the mix) than sanding sealer, and one jar
lasts a very long time. "Button polish", or genuine shellac knotting
(knot-sealer for use prior to painting) is the same stuff, though some stuff
sold as knotting is made with synthetic resins. Beware of stuff called
"Amateur French Polish" - I got some once and it was far too thin, and
didn't work well enough as glue.
Philip
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Scott" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 11:56 AM
Subject: [NSP] Shellac
After having fixed a leaky tuning bead fitting I have to replace the brass
ferrule and end stopper. Am I correct that shellac is the best solution? I
know that there are plenty of other adhesives but would Shellac in alcohol
be the stuff I am looking for? It us advertised as sanding sealer and says
on the label that it is pure shellac and alcohol. They are lignum drones.
Paul Scott
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
