qt Zinsser 704 Amber Zinsser, Bulls Eye 3LB Shellac

Worked well for restoration of floor.

Easy to apply, dries quickly, and looks stunning on my pine armoire. Better than expected.

I have a terra cotta tile floor that apparently had been given a protective coating of some sort when installed. Some of the tiles had a lighter pattern, and at some point I started seeing areas that did not match the rest, with a white pattern showing instead of a dull mustard-colored pattern.. I tried finding matching touch-up paint, but had no luck, so when a good hard look convinced me that a later of protective coating had simply peeled off I looked for a tinted product to use on the bad areas to make them blend again. This amber-toned shellac proved to be the perfect answer. It took several coats, because the old coating had darkened with time, but the problem areas now match and blend in again.

I did the interior of a 3 season room off the back of our house in tongue & groove pine - and coated it with shellac. It's beautiful. Shellac is easy to apply and shows off the texture to the wood. BUT, shellac darkens over time when it's exposed to light. After 10+ years, we finally got around to putting in different door and replacing a window. The difference between raw wood w/ shellac and the new wood trim was dramatic. By using this amber blend, the new trim fits in perfectly. Of course, I can never change any pictures that were on the walls - that contrast is impossible to hide. But I was delighted to find that I could replace trim around components and have the end result look seamless.

I mix my own too, (denatured alcohol and flakes) but often I just coat something with shellac when I don't take the time to mix up for a higher quality. I keep a can of shellac open on the bench, with a brush in the shellac. I keep that can with a plastic bag enclosing it. That way when I am done using it, I close the plastic bag around the handle of the brush, sealing it all in, and put a rubber band around that. It works great. Maybe after a few months, I might add a little ethanol, but often not. I like the Amber color often too. For a nice final coat, if I want it to be really perfect, I do a simple french polish with 2 lb cut mix from scratch.

Follow-up (19 July, 2017);I had another project that requires this shellac, and my experiences were much more positive this time around. However, the reasons are mainly because I actually got the right accompanying tools, of the proper quality, to make everything go relatively well.First off, despite having multiple grits of sandpaper that were even finer than what was suggested to use between coats of shellac, I went and got what they specified - 220 grit. I also got a "high quality" brush - something that can be used with stains, oil-based finishes, and so on. I also went with an angled tip - these seem to be par for the course with a lot of projects that *might* involve something like shellac. Also, despite having numerous types of thinners and cleaners, I got a can of denatured alcohol - this was also explicitly referenced in the directions for cleanup.While the results weren't perfect, they're actually pretty good. I really chalk up any shortcomings to my (still) limited experience using this stuff. Anyway - I think I mentioned it initially, but one of the big benefits of shellac is that if you mess something up, it's easy to sand it off and try again. It's also just an hour between coats, so the time lost can be minimized, too....As I mentioned previously, I'm primarily using this shellac on guitar necks. While many other users may not be using it on the same thing, something worth noting is that even though you can put it over top something like a poly or acrylic clearcoat, I would advise you to thoroughly sand off the clear first, unless you're doing something that is flat/horizontal, with no vertical cutouts/holes, etc. If you don't the shellac is likely to drip/sag/run down any vertical or rounded surface. Even though it doesn't stain the grain, I think the shellac tends to hold best if it's making good contact with the wood. Beyond clearcoats, some wood is also grain filled, so just be advised that you may have not sanded it all off - the grain fill will cause the same phenomenon as if there were clear finish on the wood - the shellac might drip/sag/be blotchy/etc.Original review (6 June 2017):This review might be best taken with a grain of salt or two. First of all, I want to highlight the big pluses - this stuff has a nice amber color to it, and you can actually sand it off or re-work it. Also, you can put on subsequent coats to tweak just how deep you want the amber effect. Also, you can put this on top of just about anything (seriously).Now - where my aggravations come in is with my specific projects that I use this for (guitar necks). Other than one success story (a spot repair roughly 2"X2"), I'm having a tough time getting this stuff to go on evenly, and w/o having to deal with clumps and drips. If I was just varnishing floors or tables, I'd probably have no issues. Part of it is probably simply a matter of me learning how to work with this stuff, so thank goodness it can be removed. I just want to highlight that for some projects, there's a bit of a learning curve. I've done a bunch of woodworking projects using Minwax or similar stains, and they went easy and fast - something to think about if you don't really want or need the amber color....Another thing to consider is that I've heard that some applications might need some kind of more durable clearcoating on top. That's just something to keep in mind - some folks like an all-in-one finishing product.My last complaint might not apply to others, but this can is friggin' BIG if you're just doing little projects here and there. The issue may not be obvious, but if you don't get the lid on tightly, you might find that the contents of the can have turned to a thick, unusable goo. For me, it's kind of a mental value lost thing - you finally have a project for this stuff, only to find that 80% of it is unusable...and if you really want to finish it with this particular stuff, you'll have to order another 1-qt can...I wanted to point out that it doesn't seem to be just Amazon that only stocks this stuff in the big 1-qt size. I initially passed on buying this from Home Depot because that's the only size they have it in, too.

Perfect for ak stocks

Easy to apply looks nice on guitars