Thank you Glenn! I just spent some time reading up on shellac and am going to try your tutorial method.
Shellac is an animal product, a resin secreted from the Coccus lacca (lac beetle), a scale that feeds on certain trees in India and southern Asia.After hatching, the nifty little bug snoops around for a place to eat, selecting a stem or leaf as its breakfast counter. It has a sharp teensy beak, and it uses that to puncture the tissue of the plant, and settle in for a lifetime of sucking nourishment.
After feeding, the insect secretes a resin, which dries and hardens into a protective covering called lac. The lac is collected, crushed, washed, and dried. After cleaning and heating, it is drawn into thin sheets of finished shellac.
The level of refinement, the timing of harvest, and source of the lac, determine the specification color that comes to you, the happy woodworker.
Something kind of magical about spreading bug juice on a sewing machine too!