After deducing that Mosins were finished in orange shellac, I thought I'd give it a try on one of mine that was missing some large patches, really looked tatty. Knowing absolutely nothing about shellac and it's supposed limited shelf life didn't deter me in the least, of course. Since I never throw anything away, especially old cans of paint, I looked on the shelf and sure enough there was a pint can, felt about half full. So back to the shop it went, shook it up thoroughly, and pried the lid off. As soon as it started to release, the lid removed itself, with quite a bit of violence, scattering shellac all over the place and me, as if the can were pressurised ( which of course it was).
Most of the shellac stayed in the can, but looked like a pot of water on astove doing a slow boil, or simmering, hundreds of little bubbles coming to the surface, which finally subsided after a few hours.
It was still a liquid, so what the hey, let's see if it works. Brushed it on the stock, went on smoothly enough, dried in an hour or less, and looks just fine. Nice semi- gloss finish, looks just like my original Mosins.
The can is over 20 years old!
So-- does shellac age or not?
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