When do I have to put the decals?
 

Hello, I have a singer 99k that came to me in bad shape, this is the picture of it:

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After doing the alcohol test I saw that the final coat is not shellac (neither lacquer, acetone didn´t work) when I tried to strip off that coat I saw that the decals were not decals were painting so I decided to remove all until the paint. Now I have almost sanded (with 600 wet sand ) the whole machine, after that close relation my machine now has a name "Speedy":

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The machine is very smooth now. After reading the amazing post that Glenn did I wonder something, Can I put some coats of shellac after that painting, then decals ant shellac again, or is mandatory to put de decals on the paint directly.

I hope I explained it well. Thanks for all the help this great forum is giving to me. :)

All I know you need a good top coat on top of the decals to protect them. You are free to choose as long as the surface is clean and ready for the top coat. I think Singer spray coated on several layers of shellac, and the decals went on inbetween these. Singer might have used a different lacquer in the late 50s and early 60s. Cellulose types were common for furniture by then. The beige machines are probably enamel paint (like my aluminium 201K). I haven't had my hads on the a late machine with the black and gold finish.

Thank you for your answer, so I can put some coats of shellac before the decals an then more shellac to protect them, doing that way I can practice the shellac stuff before. What happend if I use the brown shellac?

I'm not sure, you might not notice much difference at all. The top coat over the gold bits might need to be the blond variety. Look at this comparison done on wood, it slighly yellowes the result, not much though. Some of the decal sets have a very true metallic shine to them, others are more dull paint like.