making shellac darker / tinting shellac

Question

I’m finishing pine with amber dewaxed shellac (with a brush). I was hoping it would impart to the pieces the same color as the flakes after a few coats, but it’s still looking too yellow for my taste after 4-5 coats.

Is there anything I can add to the next shellac coats to make it darker?

I’ve read it’s possible to obtain very dark shellac by dissolving audio records (33s, 45s) from the 1940s, but that seems like a waste. Amber was the darkest flake I could purchase.

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Edit: I said i would report back… Better late than never:

I purchased a dye kit for wood, and used about 6 drops of a dark brown in 500ml of a 2lbs cut of shellac. I didn’t sand the light shellac back to the wood (but i should have), so i just kept applying coats until i got to a tint that i liked. I definitely don’t recommend mixing colors of shellac —- the first two coats will make you feel like you ruined everything —- then the colors start to blend undistinguishably at some point (sanding is always an option later).

If you mix, i recommend you make enough for your project, or that you get a micropipette to reproduce your exact recipe if you ever need to refill.

voilà

Answer 1

I’m finishing pine with amber dewaxed shellac (with a brush). I was hoping it would impart to the pieces the same color as the flakes after a few coats, but it’s still looking too yellow for my taste after 4-5 coats.

FFR this is a general rule for shellac, the flakes are always going to be darker than the finish looks on a lighter wood unless it is built up very heavily.

Is there anything I can add to the next shellac coats to make it darker?

Yes, a darker grade of shellac or an alcohol-based stain/dye*. There are numerous woodworking stains based on shellac but also leatherworking colours will work. These can be used to tint shellac as well as to colour wood directly.

It's worth picking up more than the one colour you think you need as it often takes a bit of this and a bit of that to get just the right colour. And remember to test on scrap before committing to the workpiece.

A word of caution using alcohol-based dyes: they're very concentrated so a little goes a long way!

I’ve read it’s possible to obtain very dark shellac by dissolving audio records (33s, 45s) from the 1940s, but that seems like a waste.

It does seem a waste but records old enough (78s) are still abundant in some places and any that are cracked, or badly chipped, are no longer playable so this is actually an ideal way to recycle them.

The only problem with this method is it produces black polish, and you won't generally get a pleasant colour by just adding black to a lighter colour of finish, generally you want to add a darker brown or something like that. Here, adding black might actually yield a greenish colour (sort of like olive drab)!

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*You can also colour shellac with powdered pigments but this is trickier to do well and the resulting finish will mask the wood more than a dye-based colourant will, basically very much like oil-based stains and "gel stain" often do.

Answer 2

Perhaps garnet shellac would give you the darker colour your looking for. I have seen a number furniture restorers use it for an antique finish.

Answer 3

I use 'black' shellac from shellac.net --- but more than 3 coats.
'BLACK' SHELLAC Flake Black Shellac • On Light toned woods, the First coat yields a rich medium Cordovan (Bluish-Red) Mahogany. • A second Coat is Deeper & Dark Cordovan toned Black. • The third coat yields the BLACK with a shadowed hint of a DEEP Blackish-Purple tone.