thepolyparrot

I imagine that mostly woodworkers use it, but it can be used to dye any shellac. Be sure to get the alcohol-soluble powder, rather than the water-soluble. I think I bought the powder from Lee Valley.

I used liquid shellac and if I remember correctly, I think that I mixed the dye with denatured alcohol and then mixed that into a small amount of liquid shellac. It thinned the shellac a bit, which was good, because to fill chips this deep, I wanted to use many layers of very thin coats to fill them in. I used a fine brush to apply the black shellac, let it dry between layers, and when the black stuff was hardened, I wet sanded that edge to even it out with micro-fine sanding fabrics and blocks, then applied a few coats of clear shellac over the repairs.

The front edge is not perfect, but it's protected from further damage and the machine came out looking just beautiful. I have a photo album in my profile about that 66 if you want to see pictures. Cleaning the innards was just as interesting, but didn't take nearly as long.

I also refinished my everyday machine, a 15-91 and protected it from from further damage with Glenn's method. I still have three works-in-progress which I haven't touched in a few years, but I'll get back to them, eventually.

I was new and I used far many more coats of shellac than were necessary, but it was a good first attempt and I was very happy with it. I gave it to my son-in-law's mother, who had always wanted a machine like her grandmother's.