Finishing with shellac takes a bit of practice, but is doable as a DIY project.

The most important part is starting with fresh shellac. That means the best way is to buy shellac flakes, denatured alcohol, and containers(I use quart Mason jars with two piece ---canning---lids) and dissolving the flakes in the alcohol.

There are also several different colors of shellac, but yours is most likely orange shellac---as opposed to blond shellac.

The concentration of shellac to the base alcohol is referred to a a cut. One pound up to three pound cuts are the average. One pound of flakes dissolved in one gallon of alcohol yields a one pound cut.

Three pound cuts are used for finishing.

One pound cuts are often used as wash or conditioning coats for staining/dying the wood.

The good---or bad, decided by the problems encountered---is that shellac never cures. A fresh coat partially dissolves the old coat---which is why the alcohol partially dissolved the hall finish.

That means adding coats can be problematic after two coats.

The other option would be standard varnish(not polyurethane varnish). It is more easily applied, can be built up if needed, and is more easily removed/repaired than poly.

When I refinished my fir trim I used a coat of tung oil based varnish.

Thanks for the input.

I just did a test area with some Formby's tung oil varnish, low gloss. I like it, but would like a more red/orange slight tint to it. Any way to tint the varnish to achieve this?

You can add an oil-based stain to color the varnish, or use a concentrated dye like TransTint. Beware that without spray equipment it is quite difficult to achieve an even finish with colored varnishes (polyurethane or tung), brush marks tend to be very obvious. Coloring first with an alcohol or water-based dye and then using a clear finish often is easier.

Shellac is also good, and dries much faster which means less chance for dust to embed itself into your work. For some reason it seems to be easier to get a uniform color when using a darker shellac, for me anyway. You can choose an orange, garnet or even darker shellac to achieve a vintage look. Making up your own fresh from flakes is the way to go.

Use real shellac.

It is not all that hard to use (just make sure you get a GOOD brush).

'badger hair' (actually hog hair) is good.

You want a reasonably thick brush so it will hold enough shellac to flow it out well.

Shellac dries VERY quickly, ad sticks to itself very well.

About the only problem you can have is 'blushing' if the humidity is high.

The correct grade of shellac (probably 'orange') is all you need.