Shellac - is two coats enough?
04-25-09 | 09:23 PM
#27
Bottecchia fan
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,520
Likes: 12
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Bikes: 1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo (frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame), 1974 Peugeot UO-8
You said it, it looks really cool. What other reason do you need? 
It does make for a rougher finsh than the bare cloth tape so it's a bit grippier but I can't say that's ever been a problem even with vinyl tape. Since I'm almost always wearing gloves it really doesn't matter. It definately doesn't do anything for shock absorbtion. If anything it's harder though not enough to make any difference. My "practical" bike is my Panasonic PT-3500 and I use black cork tape on it. Wrap it and forget it. For my Bottecchias style is everything. Currently the Giro runs with shellaced black cloth tape. When the other two are on the road, I will probably have white shellaced tape on the Giro, black shellaced tape on the Special, and blue shellaced tape on the Professional. Long live shellac! I'm not sure I'll keep the twine to secure ends of the tape though.
__________________
1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo(frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame),
1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame),
1974 Peugeot UO-8, 1988 Panasonic PT-3500, 2002 Bianchi Veloce, 2004 Bianchi Pista
1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo(frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame),
1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame),
1974 Peugeot UO-8, 1988 Panasonic PT-3500, 2002 Bianchi Veloce, 2004 Bianchi Pista
06-02-09 | 12:29 AM
#28
vintage road bike addict
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: san diego
bottom up or top down?
Hi
I just did some simple shellac re-wraps.
(pics soon)
one bike (paletti) had this crazy white with black splash italian tape,
since the bike is an off-white pearl with light blue airbrush,
white was used with the clear bullseye shellac.
after 2 quick coats, it matched the color of the white nicely,
will do probably 2 more though cause its still a little dry looking.
The other bike (schroder) had the old red wetsuit neoprene rubber sew-up grips.
I decided to keep with the red and after 4 coats it looks pretty slick,
will probably stop at 4 just cause it still has some coarseness to it.
My question is,
Is it more normal to do a bottom up roll with the cloth?
I saw on mkellers did a top down roll.
Just curious thanks.
TP
I just did some simple shellac re-wraps.
(pics soon)
one bike (paletti) had this crazy white with black splash italian tape,
since the bike is an off-white pearl with light blue airbrush,
white was used with the clear bullseye shellac.
after 2 quick coats, it matched the color of the white nicely,
will do probably 2 more though cause its still a little dry looking.
The other bike (schroder) had the old red wetsuit neoprene rubber sew-up grips.
I decided to keep with the red and after 4 coats it looks pretty slick,
will probably stop at 4 just cause it still has some coarseness to it.
My question is,
Is it more normal to do a bottom up roll with the cloth?
I saw on mkellers did a top down roll.
Just curious thanks.
TP
06-02-09 | 12:39 AM
#29
Thread Starter
Rustbelt Rider
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 9,105
Likes: 390
From: Canton, OH
Bikes: 1990 Trek 1420 - 1978 Raleigh Professional - 1973 Schwinn Collegiate - 1974 Schwinn Suburban
I think it's all personal preference. I know some people like to do bottom up and finish the end with decorative tape or twine. I personally like the top down method because I like the clean look of no tape at the top. I guess top down is considered the classic method, from what I gather.
Matt
Matt
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06-02-09 | 12:54 AM
#30
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 795
Likes: 18
From: Chicago, IL
Bikes: Schwinn Voyageur
The first time I did it I used the shellac flakes from Velo Orange and applied their recommended 8 coats. It came out so deep and glossy it looked and inch deep and you could practically see yourself in it. Really NOT the look you want on your handlebars. I stripped it off and redid it with four coats and that was perfect. Two would probably work but not have quite the durability of four.
06-02-09 | 07:46 AM
#31
I Love My Dream
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,075
Likes: 4
thanx for starting this thread.
so i bought some grips from rivbike and put those on my bike and shellaced them. i put about 5 to 6 coats on and it was fine for awhile. then after some time the shellac started to bubble and when those bubbled they would look like pimples and pop then it would leave a big hole in the shellac. i finally sanded down the grips and did the shellac over and it was fine for some time but now it has started again.
i attributed it to the heat and sun here in arizona, i even covered my bike and it did it again.
has this happened to anyone. ill probally sand them down again and recoat it another 5 or 6 times.
so i bought some grips from rivbike and put those on my bike and shellaced them. i put about 5 to 6 coats on and it was fine for awhile. then after some time the shellac started to bubble and when those bubbled they would look like pimples and pop then it would leave a big hole in the shellac. i finally sanded down the grips and did the shellac over and it was fine for some time but now it has started again.
i attributed it to the heat and sun here in arizona, i even covered my bike and it did it again.
has this happened to anyone. ill probally sand them down again and recoat it another 5 or 6 times.
06-02-09 | 07:52 AM
#32
Cat 6
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,522
Likes: 236
From: Mountain Brook, AL
Perich, I think a lot of us prefer doing cotton top down because of the clean look. Newer cork/gel tape is usually done bottom up because the edges won't curl up in use when applied this way. Cotton covered with shellac avoids the edge issue, so we go top down.
06-02-09 | 07:59 AM
#33
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 27,266
Likes: 152
From: YEG
Bikes: See my sig...
I put down 3 layers of cloth before finishing the bars and once done, you have a bar that has good traction, absorbs shocks, is waterproof and durable, and is very easy to keep clean.
And it does look beautiful... especially when one opts for a natural colour.
06-02-09 | 12:38 PM
#35
Shellac stays flexible, so you can wrap cloth over gel tape and then shellac if you like extra padding.
