Shellac mixture for transfer

[Kingsolomon]

Was wondering if anyone could help.
  Have a bag of shellac , was told to heat metho and dissolve it( didnt get measurments or timeframe for heating).Did a quick search and found they could be soaked overnight in metho ( done that ) but doesn't seem to dissolve so much . So should I heat it ? And about how much metho should I use for say three grams ? I've put about 30 ml with it , but still see wings floating about , or is this ok?  I remember looking at his solution but seemed much smaller particles than what I  have.
    Any tips appreciated .
Thanks

[metalartz]

It takes time to dissolve,  may take a few days for large pieces.

I would not heat the alcohol, it has a low vapor pressure and will just evaporate.  Try putting it in a sealed jar in the sun to get it warm, shake it often. It will help if you crush the shellac into a powder or small bits first.

[lithicbeads]

Shellac can explode with hollywood type effects ( I have done it ) so careful.

[Kingsolomon]

Thanks , I was concerned about heating . It's in a jar now so will see in a couple of days .

[Eu_citzen]

What is your goal with the shellac? A kind of dopwax? Or....?

I've never heard of using it for transfer, I use super glue all the way.

[gemfeller]

The only use I've heard of for using dissolved shellac in transfers is to strengthen the bond of regular dop wax to the stone.  Dissolved shellac, painted onto the stone and allowed to dry, makes the bond stronger.  I made my solution out of a few chips of high-strength faceter's dop wax in denatured alcohol. Shellac in the wax dissolved leaving a little residue in the bottom of the container.  I used only the clear alcohol with shellac and my transfer dopping was much stronger using that method.  Let the alcohol solution dry completely before re-dopping.

I much prefer using 5-min epoxy.  I mix mine on little torn sheets of aluminum foil using a flat toothpick.  After gluing the transfer I set the block aside along with the left-over epoxy on the foil.  That's my "control."  When epoxy on the foil has truly hardened (it often takes much longer than 5 min.) I know the transfer epoxy is also hardened. 

I use heat to easily separate the original dop.  I grasp the new dop with my fingers around the stone to detect any heating, and gently hold the old dop with pliers a couple of inches from the stone.  I use an alcohol lamp to heat the old dop about an inch away from the glue bond while very gently exerting pressure on it with the pliers.  It usually takes only a few seconds for the old join to loosen and no heat reaches the new join.  After cutting the table I use the same method to remove the stone by holding the dop with pliers and placing a soft folded cloth next to the alcohol lamp.  I heat the dop and push the stone away from the glue joint with tweezers, letting it fall gently onto the cloth.  Any residual epoxy left on the stone and dops is removed overnight in an acetone bath. 

[Helene]

That makes sense.  I used shellac to hold stones for faceting, long ago.  Strong bond.  Got to be careful the hot shellac will give you a bad burn if it drips on your skin.  I know 

[Kingsolomon]

It takes time to dissolve,  may take a few days for large pieces.

I would not heat the alcohol, it has a low vapor pressure and will just evaporate.  Try putting it in a sealed jar in the sun to get it warm, shake it often. It will help if you crush the shellac into a powder or small bits first.

Mixture worked fine ...thanks again...:)

[Kingsolomon]

What is your goal with the shellac? A kind of dopwax? Or....?

I've never heard of using it for transfer, I use super glue all the way.

Was showed how to use this by dipping stone in mixture before transferring ( apparently helps especially in colder temps, its winter here) then use wax as normal , dries quick , but stays quite sticky...

[Eu_citzen]

What is your goal with the shellac? A kind of dopwax? Or....?

I've never heard of using it for transfer, I use super glue all the way.

Was showed how to use this by dipping stone in mixture before transferring ( apparently helps especially in colder temps, its winter here) then use wax as normal , dries quick , but stays quite sticky...

Interesting, I made my own wax (for cabbing) using shellac. I never had much luck dopping with wax when faceting.