A very nice property of shellac is that is easy to repair and difficult to screw up. I recently restored a large cupboard that would've been a whole lot of nas

A very nice property of shellac is that is easy to repair and difficult to screw up. I recently restored a large cupboard that would've been a whole lot of nasty chemicals and sanding had it used modern film finish lacquer. Instead, it being shellac, it was a matter of a quick clean up for the worst scratches, followed by applying more shellac coats and blending it in with the old finish. It's also very pleasant to work with on new projects and the results are awesome. With the right kind of wavy grained wood it can have a three dimensional hologram-like chatoyance, almost like a gemstone.