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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20220730091433/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55073762
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Sat 18 Dec 1937 - The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954)
Page 31 - Handyman in the Home by Hobby
Handyman in the Home by Hobby
How Shellac Is Manufactured
THE shellac of commerce is a resi-
nous material, produced by an
insect, the only resin known to be of
animal origin. To be more accurate,
it is known as lac, but, as it is mar-
keted in the well-known flaky form, it
is more commonly known as shellac.
Lac is the secretion of the lac insect,
scientifically called laccifer lacca. One
of the scale insects to be found on the
twigs of certain trees in India.
The body of the insect contains a dye,
which must not be confused with the
resinous secretion. It was this dye that
was originally sought after, and not the
resin. Lac dye is seldom used now, and
has lost its commercial importance. The
resin is the only product of the insect
that is valued.
It is interesting to note that the word
lakh means 100,000, and has been ap
plied to the secretion of the insects on
account of such myriads swarming to
gether on the trees. References to lac
having been used as early as 1596 in the
preparation of varnishes for wood have
been found.
The lac insect begins life as a minute
creature about 1-40 in. in length. It is
provided with a fine, hair-like tubular
proboscis with which to pierce the soft
structure of the tree and suck out the
vegetable juices.
The insect lives on these juices, and,
during its life, it secretes the resinous
matter. This provides it with a pro
tective covering against its many ene
mies, both insect and bird.
* * *
THE lac insect achieves its life's ob
ject in the propagation of its kind.
After the young emerge from the al
ready dead bodies of the female, the
secretions that provided them with
protection and shelter become the raw
material of the lac industry.
The industry is important in India,
as practically the whole of the world's
supply comes from that country.
The insect is actually a parasite, and,
to prevent the host trees from becom
ing extinct, the industry is carefully
supervised. Trees are selected and
pruned to encourage the growth of
young, tender shoots, which are then
infected with the young insects. Time
for recuperation is given the trees. In
some instances they are fertilised to
.help them along.
When the life cycle of the insect is
complete and the young have emerged,
the old lac-encrusted twigs are
gathered.
The first stage in the process of
manufacture is to remove the lac from
the twigs, this being done with knives,
the product being known as stick-lac.
On being crushed in special mills, the
stick-lac is converted into seed-lac,
which is washed to remove all im
purities.
The next step is to prepare the seed
lac in its various forms for export,
namely, shellac, garnet lac, and button
lac. Of these three, the most import
ant is shellac. It is prepared by melt
ing the seed-lac in long, cylindrical
cloth containers before a charcoal fire,
causing the molten lac to filter through
the cloth on to a stone slab.
By rolling this mass of lac with an
earthenware cylinder, filled with hot
water, it is worked into a sheet of
even thickness. The skllleid nature
workman, holding two corners with
his toes, and gripping the upper edge
with hands and teeth, rapidly stretches
the thick sheet until it becomes very
thin.
On cooling, it is broken into the
small pieces with which we are
familiar.
* * *
A N estimate has been made that half
?£i- of the shellac used today goes into
the manufacture of gramophone records.
The preparation of spirit varnishes and
polishes absorbs a large proportion of
the annual output. French polishing as
a trade is entirely dependent on the
shellac industry, there being no other
product to take its place.
Electrical industries use shellac be
cause of its high insulating properties.
It is also used in the manufacture of
munitions on account of its waterproof
ing qualities and in the making of first
grade sealing waxes.
Although french polishing has
reached a fine art, it still has some
disadvantages. It is quickly marked
by heat and water. However, these de
fects are being taken into account, and
it is expected that in the near future
a polish containing a chemical hardener
will be introduced. This polish would
be used where increased resistance to
water and heat is required.
For polishing light-colored woods a
specially prepared bleached shellac is
available to give a clear finish to the
work.
* * *
BOOT POLISH TIDY
nr*HE illustration shows a handy little
-*- article, easy to make and always
useful. It can be made of % in. ply
wood, but one of the softwoods, as used
for packing cases, would be more suit
able.
An important point when making
boxes of any kind is to work the sides
together, and then the ends, to make
them exactly the same size. The ends
must be right-angular.
When all the pieces are of the cor
rect size they can be cleaned up with
noneHelp
a smoothing plane and glasspapered
in readiness for nailing. Use 1% in.
round head nails, about three to an end.
If they are nailed on the slant a very
serviceable job will result.
Punch the nail-heads below the sur
face and plastic-wood or putty the holes
made. Finish off with glasspaper. A
.stain or varnish would be suitable for
this box.
Some form of grip can be attached
if the tidy is to be fitted in a cupboard
or shelf.
i
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4629064
APA citation
Handyman in the Home by Hobby (1937, December 18).The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), p. 31. Retrieved July 30, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762
MLA citation
"Handyman in the Home by Hobby"The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954) 18 December 1937: 31. Web. 30 Jul 2022 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1937 'Handyman in the Home by Hobby',The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), 18 December, p. 31. , viewed 30 Jul 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762 |title=Handyman in the Home by Hobby |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)]] |volume=26, |issue=1,334 |location=South Australia |date=18 December 1937 |accessdate=30 July 2022 |page=31 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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