In this video, I sit down with Melanie from Glaze Craft Windows to talk about a simple but helpful step in historic window restoration: sealing your sash rabbets with shellac.  I also point out how my favorite bicycle company, Rivendell Bikes, uses Shellac for their bicycles!

What is Shellac?

Shellac is a natural resin dissolved in alcohol, used as a fast-drying wood sealer. In window restoration, it’s applied to the rabbets — the grooves where the glass sits inside the sash. 

It’s made from a resin secreted by the lac bug (Kerria lacca), which lives on certain trees in India and Southeast Asia. The bugs produce this resin to protect themselves and their eggs. People scrape it off the tree branches, clean it, and process it into flakes or liquid form.  When dissolved in alcohol, it becomes the shellac finish we use for wood sealing and historic window restoration (and you can use it to make cool wraps on your bicycle handlebars, popularized by my favorite bike company, Rivendell Bikes!).

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Why Use Shellac on Historic Windows?

The main purpose of shellac in this step is to prevent the wood from soaking up the oils in your glazing compound. If the wood absorbs too much oil, it can pull it out of the putty over time, causing the glaze to dry out and fail prematurely.

When I restored my own windows for the first time, I didn’t shellac the rabbets — partly because I didn’t see it in the original installation from over 100 years ago, and partly because I didn’t know about the practice at the time. Now that I do, and I recommend it as a best practice for anyone doing restoration work.  Especially because it only takes a few moments to do it.

Did you know you can also use it to seal the handlebars of your bike?  Grant Petersen of Rivendell bikes has popularized this technique.  More on that below!

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Where to Buy Shellac

You can find shellac at most hardware and woodworking stores, or order it online. One source I like is Rivendell Bicycle Works, which carries a great option for this type of work.

Here are some links on where to find it: 

Newbaum’s Shellac – Rivendell Bicycle Works https://www.rivbike.com/products/newbaum-shellack-kit

Earth & Flax – Shellac Flakes https://www.earthandflax.com/product-page/shellac-flakes

Brouns & Co. – Shellac Knotting Primer https://linseedoilpaint.com/product/primers/shellac-knotting-primer/

One thing nice about the Rivendell Shellac (Newbaum’s) and the Brouns & Co. shellac is it’s already pre-mixed.

How to Apply Shellac to Rabbets

1. Load a brush with shellac.

2. Apply a thin, even coat to the rabbet.

3. Let it dry completely.

4. Continue with your glass installation and glazing process as outlined in the master courses.

This step takes only about five minutes but will improve the longevity of your restoration.

 

*Pics and copyright from Brouns & Co. and Rivendell. 

A note on Rivendell Bikes and Grant Petersen (and Shellac!)

If you’re the type of person that is into historic restoration, especially a DIY person, you might enjoy learning more about Grant Petersen.  A personal hero of mine, Petersen started Rivendell bikes in the late 90s after his former employer Japan’s Bridgestone bikes, stopped distributing in the US after 1994 (some of Petersen’s Bridgestone bikes are also now highly collectable).  He was revolutionary and he created Rivendell as almost an “anti-ethos” to the bike industry, and his legacy continues today.  Rather than speed and mass production, he emphasizes a contemplative approach to bike building, and purposely creates bikes that will last a lifetime, that are easy to repair, etc. 

He’s also a design genius, so his experimentations with bike angles, etc., have created some of the most lovely riding bikes.  Based out of Walnut Creek, California, the Rivendell team actually test their bikes on the nearby Mt. Diablo, experimenting and taking sub-24 hour bike camping trips into the hills. 

In addition, Petersen is an excellent copywriter, and some of his catalogues were a true art form.  I especially enjoy the three mid-1990s Bridgestone catalogues in which Petersen had a heavy hand in creating (and were inspired by the very early Patagonia catalogues, brought forth by Yvon Chouinard in the late 1960s and 70s).  He has since also authored two books, both of which are great.  One about bike riding in general, and the other about eating the right types of foods and movement.

I encourage everyone to check out his company Rivendell and their bikes!  And maybe take a look at some of his old catalogues, linked below.   

As to using shellac on a bicycle, I’m not sure if Petersen came up with the idea of shellacking handlebars himself, but either way it was a great idea.  I’m fortunate to have two Rivendells, and I used Petersen’s process to shellac one of my bike’s handlebars, and they’ve stayed true for almost ten years now.  Brilliant.

An Article on Grant Petersen: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/23/the-art-of-taking-it-slow

Rivendell Website: rivbike.com

Petersen’s Bridgestone Catalogues: 

• 1992 Bridgestone Catalogue:  https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1992/1992.pdf 
• 1993 Bridgestone Catalogue: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1993/index.htm
• 1994 Bridgestone Catalogue: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1994/index.htm

*Thank you to the Sheldon Brown website for keeping all of these preserved!

Petersen’s books:

• Eat Bacon, Don’t Jog: Get Strong. Get Lean. No Bullshit (Find it on Amazon)

• Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike (Find it on Amazon)

Rivendell’s Grant Petersen.  Copyright the New Yorker.