Pre-Cat Over Shellac

Clear pre-catalyzed varnish over tinted shellac is an interesting treatment. May 15, 2012

Question
I really like how pre-cat primer works and its availability. Has anyone ever used this under pigmented pre-cat lacquer?

Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor A:
I have in a pinch and it works fine. It's better for spot priming though since being shellac it's not as tough as pre-cat. I prefer undercoat.

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From contributor M:
I spray pre-cat lacquer over BIN all the time for white finishes. However, I do not use white or off white lacquer over the BIN, instead using the BIN as the color coat and the lacquer as the clear coat.

Under all this I spray vinyl sealer to give the wood water protection, then the BIN goes on and gets sanded and another coat of BIN to get the color solid, and finally the clear coat. BIN can be tinted to any of the off-whites, but be careful to make sure your pigment additives break down completely in the shellac. The alcohol base is not the best for dissolving pigments, especially universal tint colors.