Vegan shellac alternative?

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Oakbear
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Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Oakbear »

Hi all.
Not looking to debate the ethics, but wondered if anyone had suggestions for a non animal based product to replace shellac for that final sealing coat?
Thanks!
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sandahlpipe
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by sandahlpipe »

Vegan or not, don't ingest finishes...

Seriously, though, you're going to have to give more details as to what you're after. There are many different kinds of wood finishes ranging from oils to varnish and polyurethane. Some are safe to use on pipes and some are not. Oil based finishes will not harden as much as shellac, varnish, or polyurethane finishes. There are also many blends that combine different products for finishing. Bob Flexner's book on understanding wood finishing is worth reading. I doubt you're going to get people to give up their finishing process on the forum as it's usually proprietary, but it's best to experiment on your own and do your research to make sure you're using good quality finishes and above all, finishes that are safe.
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baweaverpipes
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by baweaverpipes »

Shellac is not animal based. It comes from the female lac, a bug!
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Ratimus
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Ratimus »

Bruce, I've known vegans who wouldn't even eat honey or wear silk.
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LatakiaLover
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by LatakiaLover »

Oakbear wrote:Hi all.
Not looking to debate the ethics, but wondered if anyone had suggestions for a non animal based product to replace shellac for that final sealing coat?
I'm confused.

How are ethics involved? Shellac is to lac bugs (yes, that's their actual name) what honey is to bees. They aren't ground up or anything, people just scrape the gunk the bugs excrete off the plants that they live on.

Wait. Is it because the gunk collectors don't pay the bugs, or are hurting their feelings somehow?

I'm pretty sure even the Jains would be OK with lac bug excretion collection, and they're pretty hardcore about such things:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism
Last edited by LatakiaLover on Thu Aug 06, 2015 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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baweaverpipes
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by baweaverpipes »

Ratimus wrote:Bruce, I've known vegans who wouldn't even eat honey or wear silk.
Here's some worthless information, it takes 113 silk cocoons to make a silk tie!
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Sasquatch
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Sasquatch »

Anyway, the answer is, water carried urethane finishes seem to stand up to pipe usage, as do some acrylics, gum arabic, and Danish oil.

What doesn't work is Turtle Wax, silicone based grout sealers, Grape Crush, or chocolate chips.
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by LatakiaLover »

baweaverpipes wrote:
Ratimus wrote:Bruce, I've known vegans who wouldn't even eat honey or wear silk.
Here's some worthless information, it takes 113 silk cocoons to make a silk tie!
In 1978 it took 306:

:lol:

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Ratimus
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Ratimus »

baweaverpipes wrote:
Ratimus wrote:Bruce, I've known vegans who wouldn't even eat honey or wear silk.
Here's some worthless information, it takes 113 silk cocoons to make a silk tie!
Not worthless at all. I've been wanting a custom made silk tie and have undergone a quest of exploitation, Cruella DeVille style, to brutally and barbarically harvest the excretions of the silk worm. Now I will finally know when to end my bloody crusade.
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finster
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by finster »

Mr. Dibos, you look great in that tie :lol: !
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PremalChheda
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by PremalChheda »

Oakbear wrote:Hi all.
Not looking to debate the ethics, but wondered if anyone had suggestions for a non animal based product to replace shellac for that final sealing coat?
Thanks!
Lacquer, plant based drying oils, other synthetic sealers, etc..

Do some searching and reading on wood finishing, and you will find thousands of alternatives.
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by LatakiaLover »

finster wrote:Mr. Dibos, you look great in that tie :lol: !
No, silly PF person, that's not me. :lol:


THIS is me. Taken just last year, in fact: 8)

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W.Pastuch
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by W.Pastuch »

The famous "smell my armpit" pose! :lol:

I'm sorry, but I would probably die of laughter if someone asked me to make a pipe without shellac because it's not vegan.
I'm pretty sure the first person to make organic/vegan/gluten free pipes will make a shitload of money. I won't do it because as we all know baby seal fur is so good for polishing.
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mightysmurf8201
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by mightysmurf8201 »

W.Pastuch wrote:

I'm pretty sure the first person to make organic/vegan/gluten free pipes will make a shitload of money.
I call dibs!!!
#shellaclivesmatter

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W.Pastuch
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by W.Pastuch »

Good luck dealing with that clientele ;)
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PremalChheda
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by PremalChheda »

Well, my pipes are out. There is Premal DNA on each one.
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by LatakiaLover »

PremalChheda wrote:Well, my pipes are out. There is Premal DNA on each one.
Don't forget that though briar isn't an animal product, harvesting it causes untold billions of bacteria, insects, and so forth to be disrupted and/or starve, and up the food chain the Swath of Death goes.

All of us here on PF rally need to re-think this whole being alive thing... it's insensitive to other life-forms at best, and murderous to them at worst.

Dammit. I was having a nice day. :(
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Ratimus
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Ratimus »

All of us here on PF rally need to re-think this whole being alive thing... it's insensitive to other life-forms at best, and murderous to them at worst.
For what it's worth, George, you weren't the first to think of that: http://www.vhemt.org/
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oklahoma red
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by oklahoma red »

I've been told that the fur from Yeti gonads, when properly processed, makes a pipe finish to die for (which stands a high chance of happening during the collection process). Just ask Sas how many have tried and failed.
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Alden
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Re: Vegan shellac alternative?

Post by Alden »

Yeti gonads are a myth.
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