If you need water-white, they are not that.
But Platina has very little color.
They have no UV inhibitors. So the wood will change as "normal" photo reaction.
However, JC noted that he uses Zinsser for second fill, over epoxy.
My primary point was "if you like that, try mixing your own from flakes"
Brand new in dated cans, he might or might not notice a difference.
But i think Platina or superblonde will be lighter, and it can be mixed in small batches over night, so it is always fresh.
It does not yellow as fast as epoxy does.
I see Zinsser is finally making that product in de-waxed, so they are paying attention.
It used to be you got a can of Zinsser and it was about 30% (natural) wax if you ever let a can full settle in a glass container.
Wax in shellac reduces hardness makes it dry slower, and reduces water resistance, which it not very high to begin with.
The wax is natural to the product. It is extracted from de-waxed shellac, dyes are added, and it is sold as paste shoe polish. Or at least that is what paste sho polish was within recent memory. You never know these days. Also, by far, the biggest use for shellac itself is coating pills (medicine) and candies.
AFA "Does it turn yellow with age"? I guess it depends on the comparison standard.
In the past it was preferred because it did not yellow like varnish or lacquer. It also does not get sticky from hand oils, or being stored in/near plastic, like lacquer does. & it is incredibly easy to fix.
All that (re?)said
My primary point is not really to sell others unless they are already using canned stuff like JC is, or if they are at a point where they just decide "I'm either using something non-toxic and easy, or i'm quitting". I'll never go full pro or take orders becasue 1.) There's too many other interesting things to build that i am constantly working on, and 2.) even this far along in life i might still go all 2 part deadly car finish on....a bike or airplane. But not on something that is built for indoor use, and mostly for relaxation.
The modern approach to finishing anything is "let's make that permanent" so we never have to do it again.
Except how many examples of "permanent" actually survive 10 years? 20? Not always due to finish failure itself but for a plethora of other causes including wood movement, etc, not to mention actual accidents.
Then fixing permanent can become a major expense and undertaking.
Things with "permanent" type finishes don't look aged, character marked, or patinaed when they get worn.
They look damaged, defective, and worn out.
I certainly have no problem with the "permanent" approach for some things or other peoples choices. For one thing, most people are less accident prone or absent minded than i am, so the risks are lower for them. Perhaps due to those personal life-long defects i tend to looke for repairability in my systems.
smt
