Shellac lessons learned
 

so first off I decided to shellac my new found track bars mostly using this guide http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009...ape-guide.html

harder than I thought

I wrapped my bars, (if you buy that stuff, buy 3 rolls, or 2 if you really wanna stretch it to fit) with the white cotton tape hoping to get a nice yellow-orange color in the end. I got my small can of shellac (It was either 7 or 8 ounces) and was ready to go. the first night I did a coat, waited 2 hours and did more. let it sit overnight, woke up to find a lot of it soaked into the tape. I did another 3-4 layers until it had that nice glossy finish like in the picture. it sat outside on my balcony for probably 16 or so hours till I headed to work in the morning.

So im heading to work bikes fun for about a minute when the shellac starts to literally melt. Keep in mind it was a nice 115 degree day in AZ. Get to work, its in air conditioning and it all hardens up again for the most part, much better than it was outside.

This isn't a me whining post, stuff like this happens lesson learned. But if you want to shellac your tape

1. if you live somewhere it gets mega hot outside (AZ or 100+ degrees regularly) dont put too many coats on. I would say the majority of the bars are at 3ish coats right now, no more glossy. like the cotton is just at its absorbent max.

2. If you do amber shellac it will probably turn out brown no matter what if you use store bought shellac, the white tape was brown by the 2nd coat. I would highly advise just buying the clear stuff and get a nice color. mine ended up being a dark brown and it looks leathery

3. I probably did put too much on that guide says 6-8 ounces I believe I probably did about 4 ounces and it was still too much.

Im probably gonna pick goo balls off my handlebars for the next few days but im sure it will still look nice. Also if your looking for nice not too extreme track bars the nashbar ones are nice and I think they are like 20 bucks or less

Shellac always looks really uncomfortable. Pretty, but uncomfortable.

its not that comfortable, but I like the grip way more than foam. however Im probably gonna switch it out soon if it doesnt get its attitude in order

pics?

i shellac standard natural cork wrap.
looks great, and is comfy

my lesson's learned from shellac:

1. don't do it.
2. it's uncomfortable
3. it's a pita and messy to remove

Here's a pic from my old bike

Left half is 6 month old, before I reshellaced (right side has just been done)

Tape is grass green cloth tape

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/921/1001382e.jpg

Brush doesn't matter too much for a project like this, as long as bristles aren't coming off on it. Don't do it too thick, you can always add more later. Just try to cover everything

Shellac is durable, looks great, and has pretty good grip, but if you shellac cloth tape, it has no give. As long as you don't count on your soft, cushy cork tape to absorb the road buzz for you, you should be fine.


I've never had it melt on me though, and it gets damned hot here.

Ethyl alcohol will disolve shellac and can be used to clean it up. It is best to buy shellac flakes and disolve them in alcohol as you need it. Pre mixed shellac has a shelf life, so if it will not harden, it is to old and should be tossed. I wonder what the acutal temperature of the steel was at around 150 F as that is what the melting point is supose to be, that or the shellac was over 6 months old.

I wouldnt doubt if the can of shellac was old, the whole shellac shelf had a nice dust layer on it.

last night I had my bike flipped over working on my wheels and when I flipped it back up the top part of the bars moved around quite a bite and it pushed itself into a couple lumps. super over it.

Dunno if I'm too crazy about shellac bars

My personal opinion, chances are your schellac may have performed poorly because it wasn't cured.

I always wanted to know... Did people actually shellac and wrap stuff with twine back in the day or is this a new phenomenon? I saw a kickstand somewhere on line that was wrapped with twine and shellaced. When will the madness end?

Don't give up on the shellac. You got bad stuff.

Get the flakes and mix it yourself. Guaranteed freshie.

i will add to this shelac silliness...

ive done it on red tape, came out looking a nice deep maroon. its obviously not cushy, but some like a harder bar. stays in place well, but still removable. pretty good grip. water proof-ish. durable. i like it on cloth tape but not so fond of it on natural cork.

maybe you got a bad can, or its just a thick brand....they stuff i bought from home depot was real thin. kind of soaked into the cloth. just two coats for me, and no melting or anything like that.

me gusta.

Pics of botched shellac?

I build reproduction antique furniture and use different grades of shellac because they are an authentic period finish. Shellac is also easily repaired because it will always dissolve and bond with previous layers of shellac, but it's a weak finish compared to lacquer or polyurethane. Yes, as others have said, it has a shelf-life once mixed, I use flakes to be safe. Humidity can play a role during curing and I avoid applying shellac if it's humid. Shellac can also be completely non-toxic and is used as a coating in the food industry.

I also wonder if it's possible that the shellac reacted with some adhesive/solvent in the tape itself?

My question is, other than tradition, why use shellac as a preferred finish on bar tape anyway? I'd think polyurethane would be more flexible and durable in the UV light and moisture, although it might take longer to dry. Even acrylic lacquer (designed as a synthetic shellac) is more durable than shellac and dries fast too. You can even tint lacquer with dye and make it any shade you'd like. Has anyone tried polyurethane or lacquer on their bar tape?

This. Shellac-ed tape looks really pretty with brown leather saddles, but I would never do it myself because I like cheap, squishy cork tape. :)

And this.

wakka wakka http://narcoagent.files.wordpress.co...ac01.jpg?w=500

more to the point, as far as comfiness goes on the cloth tape, i've been putting a layer of cheap, squishy cork underneath and wrapping the cloth on top.

This. I actually thought the same thing although I just kept using shellac on my old bars because I still had lots of it leftover. If I remember correctly shellac is not even recommended for outdoor applications.

It does look nice, but if you look at the picture I posted previously, you can see how it wears out over time. However, that may be one of the reasons its popular, because it gives a vintage look.