Lemme see some shellaced(sp) bar tape! I am wanting to do this on both the latest Super Course, and Moto Grand Record finds. I have some Bullseye amber, and I'm not afraid to use it, hehe. I saw one example on a search, that was bullseye on tan cork. It was absolutely gorgeous. Also saw a few on
cloth. Anyways, post your pics and give the color of base tape, and how many coats and what type shellac, etc.,,,,BD

Brown and white Tressostar cotton tape. One coat of Zinsser amber shellac. More than one coat will be necessary. This photo is a pretty accurate representation of the colors.

4 coats Zinsser amber on yellow Tressostar cotton. The wrap job could be better

Nice Raleigh, and about my size too! My shipping address is......hehe. Any closeups? Yeah, I was planning on mutiple coats. I like that fine line where there's a nice gloss and noticably darkened finish, but still showing some texture from the wrap.,,,,BD

Bob, that's about the level of shine I was thinking of... Nice!

On mine, the third coat/ fourth coat shade difference seemed to be the biggest jump.

Good to know. I am trying to match an old B.15, and no longer have the orange/brown Tressostar I thought I had. It's not the same as the brown I found readily avalable, it was about the color of Bobs, but before the shellac. It probably would have been perfect. It was in a plastic tub during the Hurricane, and the flood the next morning when the cool front came though. The tub had a hole in it unfortunately, and I just found out this evening. Imagine tresso sitting wet for over a month. I almost cried, lol. What a loss....,,,,BD

May I ask -- why do you put shellac on bar tape?

Here are a few: all had 3 coats, the Zeus has clear shellac over Cinelli yellow cork tape, Torelli has amber shellac over Cinelli yellow cork tape, Specialized Expedition has amber shellac over Cinelli pink cork tape, Colnago has amber shellac over Cinelli tan cork tape, Bianchi has amber shellac over Torelli orange cork tape.

Makes a nice rich finish, and cloth bar tape doesn't hold up long to the enviroment. It starts to dry rot, and
then starts fraying. Personally I like the look and the protection is just a happy coincidence.,,,,BD

The Colnago......wow!

Thats quite a little harem you got going there 'ollo_ollo'

Interesting the differences in color. Very nice. I was wondering how the feel on the bars are when cotton or cork tape is shellaced. Is everything hard and shiny, or is there any kind of pliancy in the feel?

I know nothing about this sort of stuff.

I've been wondering the same thing. Cause I thought shellac was something similar to clear coat and that after a few coats makes a nice hard coating. Can't imagine it being comfortable to ride on. With cloth tape it won't change anything, but, cork tape it should take away the padding effect. Maybe I'd just have to try it. Iuhno. Can't imagine it's easy to remove though.
GR

Shiny but not hard. It still has a cushion feel but doesn't get dirty as fast & it seems to make the cork last longer. Over time it needs touched up, especially where cables run under the tape. Shellac is good for sprucing up old cork tape. Just clean the tape as much as possible, then put a few coats of amber shellac on. It will look much better. I have had bikes with shellac on cotton tape & I think it gives a better grip due to the hardened texture but I prefer cork tape. Don

I did up 3 sets of bars this summer as wel as several sets for other people...I used 4 layers of yellow cloth (hockey tape actually) and 3 lb amber shellac... I tied off the ends with coarse cotton cord.


1957 Peugeot PLX 8 with 4 coats of shellac.


1962 Peugeot with three coats of shellac (on picture)... now has 4.


1940 CCM with 4 coats of shellac

I bet it soaks in shellac like a sponge. I'll have to break out the camera tomorrow. I have one bicycle with Velo Orange amber shellac over their yellow cloth tape. I have about 5 coats on it, and it is no less comfortable than cotton tape, but much more durable.

One thing to consider about touch-up. I applied my shellac outside in the winter, in a bit of a hurry - at night. It was cold, and the initial result was not what I anticipated, and uneven. In desperation, I broke out a high power hair dryer. Slowly, as the shellac heated, the finish came around. I mention this as something to consider when touch-up is necessary. 20 minutes with a hair dryer might save you the mess and hassle of touching up.

Here's the way I ended up doing it, 4 coats of clear shellac with hemp twine:



Here was the original attempt with 8 coats the way Velo Orange recommended - much too shiny and thick, I cut it off with a razor knife and started over:



I touched it up once this summer, just adding another coat after it started to wear to a whitish shade.

Hi, I just did mine after following a lot of threads here on BF, looking at a lot of pics and watching video. This is 2 coats of amber over tan Cinelli tape. I couldn't see the difference between tan and natural at the LBS.

The tape on the blue Torelli is fabulous. When are you going to ditch the black Brooks for a honey?

I'm sold on shellacking bartape. It is very pretty, as you can see on all the images in this thread, but also durable, comfortable, waterproof and ages well. If using Cinelli tan cork tape, it is one of the few things that matches a honey Brooks near perfect.

In my other interest, wooden boatbuilding, I go through a lot of shellac. I buy the dry flakes in one pound bags from Lee Valley Tools and mix my own. The orange variety is the richest in color. Once you have a jar sitting around on the work bench, all kinds of uses pop up!

This handlebar has 1500 miles or so on it:


Jan

I went to get some replacement brown tape, and no dice. I chose yellow, and will shellac to blend in with the paint. I wrapped one side and brushed a coat on. It turned the most beautiful shade of orange. Three more coats will turn it into a close match. I'm loving it already, hehe.,,,,BD

Here's my Zieleman, Blue Tressostar tape with 2 coats shellac.
BTW I couldn't find crystal form, had to buy a pint of clear at big box hardware store.


photo by Cuda2k.

Marty

Looks very nice, as do all the other pics on this thread. But I was wondering if amber shellac coated onto red cork tape would turn it a darker red or maybe a maroon shade. What do you guys think??

Two coats of amber over brown cotton tape, which is over another layer of cotton tape, which is over an innertube wrap.

I have 4 coats on it now, and it's a nearly perfect paint match. So how long does Zinsser(sp?) take to fully cure. I got lucky and the sun finally came out. I had three bikes lined up, haha. Black repaint SC, the 78 PX10, and the 80 Super Course. I pulled the seat post earlier and it's a Raleigh branded, dated D 80. So I guess the G79 crank was a leftover from the previous year. The seat tube was still steel grey inside, and there is wax buildup in every nook and cranny. Somebody took care of it, or tried to anyway.,,,,BD

Still uncompleted, but you get the idea? I am in the middle of changing the derailleurs, and the wheels need cleaned and trued, and, and.....

Looks fabulous. I think I'll try this when my honey B17 comes in the mail. I have to ask though, what's the deal with twine? How does it even work? Do you have apply glue or does the shellac act as an adhesive if you twine it while still drying or something?

I believe it's a styling statement, and also helps to hold it in place kind of like electrical tape does on modern wrap. I may have to twine mine too.....because...

I got the left side done just fine, then started the right side. Someone had rounded out the expander bolt on the right barcon. Arrgh! Thank goodness it's tight at least! So, I wrapped up from the bottom, and shellaced it in place after trimming. I don't know how well it's going to stay in place without a binding of some sort.

I'm going to do the same color on the Grand Record, but I may use one coat of stain first, to darken it a little more for the new Swift.,,,,BD