Which kind of shellac "flakes" do you use for cotton tape? Seed, button, flake, or dewaxed???

[John Phillips]

   Anyone dissolve their own shellac for coating their cotton tape? I was looking for some blonde shellac only to realize I had no idea if I should choose flake, button or seed shellac, let alone dewaxed flake? The blonde flake, non-dewaxed, looked like the best option, but I thought asking you guys for advice would be the smart thing to do before jumping into the deep end.

   Any advice, preferences, experiences and/or recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[Eric Grim]

I use seed lac or button lac, dissolved in denatured alcohol of course, to soak the jute twine on my bars.  Both darken the twine, which is OK with me.  I think it's likely that the blonde lac would not darken the tape as much, but I am confident it will still darken it some.

Eric "Limper" Grim, Spokane

heading out for a short ride with my dog before the rain showers return

[Mat Grewe]

I chose super-blonde dewaxed flakes for some grey handlebar tape, but I cannot recall my reasons for dewaxed...  The color did darken a little even with super-blonde, similar to the tape/twine getting a little wet.  I've also used a mix of amber and garnet flakes on white handlebar tape and it looks quite nice.

In either instance, I recommend a 2:1 cut.  It goes on light and is easier to control the build up of shellac.  I prefer just enough shellac to give some durability to the handlebar tape, but if you want that glassy, thick shellac feel and look, then you could use a lager cut (4:1 or so).  I don't wear gloves and ride frequently in the rain, so a lighter coating works best for me.

Mat

Driftless Wisconsin

[John Phillips]

Thanks, for the advice, all very helpful.

   After reading all the information on the shellac.net website, I decided to go with an amber orange button lac for its durability and resistance to water. I'll be double wrapping my Newbaum's, so I'll be trying a 1 lb cut of the shellac to saturate all the layers.

Thanks again,

John

[Mat Grewe]

Right, the cut is in pounds, not ratios, my bad..  Anyway, I had two layers of Newbaum's (outer layer shellaced a few times over a year or two) that I unwrapped this summer and I found out that the shellac did not saturate through to the bottom layer.  I rode in the rain frequently and it was not compromised in any way so I don't think there is a need to try to saturate that under layer.  My first shellac job I did a 1.5 pound cut, and that was pretty thin, but not overly so and could be good for a first timer.  However, all subsequent times has been with a 2 pound cut.

What color Newbaum's are you thinking?

Oh, if you are double wrapping, you could either do the harlequin pattern, or if you are wrapping normally, try wrapping the under layer in the opposite direction as the outer layer.  It added a nice visual texture to my handlebars.  And since you are shellacing, you don't have to wrap from the hoods up to the tops.  I wrapped towards the brake levers and had everything tucked under them, so no need for twine and the tape didn't have issues with peeling!  This assumes drop bars of course...

Mat

Driftless Wisconsin

[John Phillips]

Hi Mat,

     Funny, I didn't notice you had expressed the cut in a ratio, I just read your meaning and knew what you were talking about. Thanks for sharing your experience with layering Newbaum's and shellac penetration, that's a big help. I'll stick with a 1 lb to 1.5 lb cut for the first few applications to make sure the first layer gets its share of shellac. I've seen twine shellac'ed with a 3 lb cut which didn't penetrate the twine at all and flaked off within a month's use. I'm doing all this on albatross bars with bar end shifters, so I'm planning on taping from shifter to brake lever, then from brake lever toward the stem.

   I have a tan leather saddle, so I'm planning on taping with either copper or burnt orange Newbaum's shellac'ed with amber-caramel Kusmi #1 buttom lac. I almost went with a warm dark brown button lac paired with chocolate Newbaum's, but then I would have convince my wife I needed a a new brown or black Berthoud saddle. That really wouldn't go over too well. ;-)

    I may try your idea of reverse wrapping the bottom layer of Newbaum's, at least between shifters and brake levers, sounds interesting!

Thanks again for all your info,

John

[Mat Grewe]

That ought to turn out beautifully.  Enjoy!

Mat

Driftless Wisconsin