{"title":"On the Workbench","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA small selection pulled out and set within arm's reach.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat's on the workbench changes with the work. These are the grades and tools we've reached for most often this past month — a dark dewaxed, a button lac that's been moving, a seedlac the bench keeps coming back to, the brush set most practitioners settle on. Not the bestsellers. The shop's own picks, refreshed when the work shifts. If you're new here, this is a fair place to start. If you've been here before, you already know what's worth a second look.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dewaxed-garnet-shellac-flake","title":"Dewaxed Garnet Shellac Flake","description":"\u003cp\u003eDewaxed garnet shellac flake. Deep red-amber. The darkest of the dewaxed spectrum that still reads as a finishing shellac rather than a coloring agent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDewaxed flake is a 20th-century industrial development — the wax that occurs naturally in the lac is removed through controlled solvent and filtration steps. The result is a shellac that lays down clearer, takes higher topcoats more reliably, and dissolves cleanly without the cloudiness wax-containing grades produce in solution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGarnet is the dewaxed grade for restoration work where amber is not deep enough — for the patina of older walnut, mahogany, and aged hardwoods. The film carries warmth that pale grades cannot. Used carefully, it brings out the figure of the wood instead of obscuring it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328553546021,"sku":"SHL-DE-GARNET-1LB","price":63.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328553578789,"sku":"SHL-DE-GARNET-HLF","price":33.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328553611557,"sku":"SHL-DE-GARNET-QTR","price":18.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/dewaxed-garnet-shellac-flake-hero.jpg?v=1779970411"},{"product_id":"dewaxed-amber-shellac-flake","title":"Dewaxed Amber Shellac Flake","description":"\u003cp\u003eDewaxed amber shellac flake. The classic warm mid-tone dewaxed grade — orange-amber when dissolved, depth without the deep red of garnet. The grade most often called for in general finishing work where shellac should add character without dominating it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDewaxed flake is a 20th-century industrial development — the wax that occurs naturally in the lac is removed through controlled solvent and filtration steps. The result is a shellac that lays down clearer, takes higher topcoats more reliably, and dissolves cleanly without the cloudiness wax-containing grades produce in solution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmber is the working middle of the dewaxed range. Walnut, oak, and other hardwoods accept it cleanly. It is the grade most general finishers reach for when the project calls for shellac and no specific color decision has been made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328553808165,"sku":"SHL-DE-AMBER-1LB","price":65.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328553840933,"sku":"SHL-DE-AMBER-HLF","price":34.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328553873701,"sku":"SHL-DE-AMBER-QTR","price":18.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/dewaxed-amber-shellac-flake-hero.jpg?v=1779970418"},{"product_id":"kusmi-1-button-lac","title":"Kusmi #1 Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe historically authentic form of shellac. Wax-containing, cottage-produced, period-correct for French polishing and conservation work. From the highest grade our partners select for us each season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercial shellac sold today is a 20th-century industrial product — dewaxed, processed by methods that did not exist when classical finishing texts were written. Button lac is what shellac was for most of its working history, including all of the period those texts cover. The buttons are still produced by hand in small cottage operations, weighed and packed one bag at a time. There is no industrial substitute.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMixing notes: see the \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/pound-cut-chart\"\u003epound cut chart\u003c\/a\u003e for dry weight per gallon, quart, and pint at the common working cuts.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe carry the Kusmi #1 grade specifically because it comes from the Kusum tree itself and undergoes a hand-refining process that preserves the natural wax structure. The result reads warm honey in alcohol, builds with a few well-laid passes, and rubs out the way the old texts describe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328554594597,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-1LB","price":67.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328554627365,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-HLF","price":35.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328554660133,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-QTR","price":19.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/kusmi-1-button-lac-hero_b57db720-87fd-4cc1-9d3e-fa0eba289aa4.jpg?v=1779970455"},{"product_id":"kusmi-seedlac","title":"Kusmi Seedlac","description":"\u003cp\u003eKusmi seedlac. The raw form of the Kusmi-grade lac — granules that have been screened and washed but not melted into button or stretched into flake. The closest-to-source form for finishers who want to control the refining themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSeedlac is what the cottage producers start with. Working with it is more involved than working with refined button or flake — practitioners typically dissolve, filter, and prepare it themselves — but the reward is a shellac that has not been reduced by industrial processing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Kusmi grade carries through to a warm-toned shellac if the refining is done with care. For finishers who view shellac preparation as part of the craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328554856741,"sku":"SHL-SEED-KUSMI-1LB","price":62.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328554889509,"sku":"SHL-SEED-KUSMI-HLF","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328554922277,"sku":"SHL-SEED-KUSMI-QTR","price":18.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/kusmi-seedlac-hero_023093fe-c149-47af-b685-aa2e2813ffda.jpg?v=1779970468"},{"product_id":"lily-varnishers-brush-set-of-3","title":"Lily Varnisher's Brush — Set of 3","description":"\u003cp\u003eLily Varnisher's brush — set of three. The brushes hand-finishers use for varnishing and shellac application when synthetic foam pads will not do. Three working sizes packaged together for shops setting up a finishing bench.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLily Brushes are hand-tied in Spain by a small operation that has been making finishing brushes for generations. The bristles are squirrel-hair blends — soft enough not to leave marks in the cured film, firm enough to lay shellac and varnish smoothly. The handles are turned wood, finished simply.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe three-size set covers the working range most finishers actually use — small for detail, medium for body work, large for surface-flowing varnish.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lily Brushes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52328560787749,"sku":"ACC-LILYVB-SET3","price":96.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/lily-varnishers-brush-set-of-3-hero.jpg?v=1779970538"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/collections\/collection-on-the-workbench-hero.jpg?v=1779970695","url":"https:\/\/shellac-net.myshopify.com\/collections\/on-the-workbench.oembed","provider":"Shellac.net","version":"1.0","type":"link"}