In a message dated 12/14/03 8:23:21 PM, heine93@earthlink.net writes:
>Shellac is available in flakes from woodworking shops. Dissolve it in
>denatured alcohol (hardware store) overnight. Should be thin, not
>sirupy.
Easier to use premade from the paint store. Bullseye is easiest to find, I
like Zerung.
>Cover the bike with newspaper, so the inevitable spray and drips
>don't end up on rims, brakes, etc.
>
>Brush a thin layer onto the tape. If you put on too much, it'll
>collect at the bottom.
>
>Let dry. Repeat. Do so until the tape is nicely covered. Too much,
>and it'll be glossy lacquer, too slippery. You should be able to feel
>the structure of the cloth tape.
>
>Take your time - several days to let the coats dry in between. If you
>add layers before the previous layer is dry, the whole mess won't dry
>easily, and it will take even longer.
Unless it's really humid an hour will sufice. Shellac's big advantage as a
sealer is its quick drying time.
>Not much you can do wrong. It's really nice - cool in the summer, and
>nice to touch. But for really long distances (>400 miles), it's too
>hard. For those events, the randonneurs used to put foam underneath
>their bar tape, which then was not shellac'ed.
>
>There is a way to get a rich green, too, and a pale, motley blue
>(which I don't like, because it looks unfinished). I don't know how
>that is done, but can find out. Green was popular in the 1940s on
>black bikes with green pinstriping.
>
It's easy to dye the shellac using powdered fabric dye-dump it in and strain
the mix before applying-or alcohol based ink-expensive but a huge range of
colors. If you want a nice cream color use pigmented shellac over white tape with
a couple of coats of clear over it.
Phil Brown
Didn't rain toay in San Rafael, Calif.