For this class we had David McDonald of Tara SchoolHouse Antiques talk to the group about finishing technigues. David does extensive refinishing of antiques and has many years of experience in the business. He has in fact trained nurmerous people for the Furniture Medic franchises.

David will start by sanding a surface and appy a shellac sealer coat using a 1 lb cut (1 lb of shellac per gallon of denatured alcohol) before starting any finishing job. However he never mixes an entire gallon at one time. Instead he puts 2 ounces of shellac in a pint container (16 ounces) and fills the rest of the container with alcohol. He will often add dyes for a second coat of shellac if needed to match any existing finish on other sections of the piece that are not being refinished. He then will put on the remaining finish coats. He emphasized that any kind of finish such as lacquer, varnish or polyurethane  can be put over a shellac base. Usually David will use a standard 2 lb cut of shellac for his final coats. After several layers of shellac, he ends the process using the French polishing technique for the final surface finish.

Gerald Jones, President GWA