New Panama help needed.

[jaco]

Do they really just use dissolved shellac? Are you talking the over the counter junk they sell at the big name hardware stores, or the actual shellac flakes that you need to mix yourself to get a certain cut? I am assuming you are talking about the premixed stuff from Home Depot or you would be mentioning the pound of cut for mixing it up(shellac flakes are usually mixed with denatured alcohol to make the finish).

If you haven't guessed, I am an woodworker, and I never use the premixed hardware store shellac due to all the additional chemicals they put in it, which is why I'm wondering about applying to a hat.

I'm talking about to the shellac flakes.
In a hold hatmaker's book I found that the "old school" stiffeners are mainly made of shellac dissolved in pure alchool (98% alchool) with some other "secret" different from one hat maker to another.
I believe (but I never tried it in an expensive hat) that it will work even with shellac only (clear one). I have to search and post the quantity, if you want.
Never use the premixed stuff that you can find as furniture's finisher.