BUTTON LAC · CHESTNUT HOLLOW
The buttons.
The button line from the fifth-generation refining family that has supplied this bench since 1990 — each one harvest, pressed by hand in one run. Hemanta is the newest: Kusmi #1 taken further, sieved finer, washed three times, pressed warm through cloth. The palest, cleanest golden button we carry. All five buttons →
-
SUPER GOLDEN · MOST SELECTIVE
Hemanta Super Golden Button Lac
Kusmi #1 taken further — one winter harvest, sieved fine, triple-washed, pressed warm through cloth by hand. 100% shellac. The palest, cleanest golden button on the bench.
$139.00 USD/lb · from $44.00 USD
-
JETH HARVEST · GOLDEN
Aruna Super Golden Button Lac
A premium golden button from the Jeth harvest of the kusum tree — Hemanta's warmer sister.
$75.50 USD/lb · from $21.40 USD
-
JETHWA · DARK
Jethwa Dark Button Lac
Dark button from the 2026 Jeth harvest — 100% single harvest, pressed in one run.
$70.35 USD/lb · from $20.10 USD
-
BYSAKHI · DARK
Bysakhi Dark Button Lac
Genuine dark button from the 2026 Bysakhi spring crop, verified at the source.
$69.50 USD/lb · from $19.90 USD
-
MERIT REPAIR STICK · IN STOCK
Merit Shellac Sticks
Hand-poured shellac sticks, from natural resins, made in small batches — the period-correct chemistry that quietly fixes more antique furniture than anything else in the trade. Select sets are on the shelf now, with more colors and sets added as production ramps up.
-
DEWAXED · FRESH STOCK
Dewaxed Super Blonde Shellac Flake
The most-reached-for grade on the bench, back in depth — pale enough to leave the wood alone, with enough build to make a proper shellac film.
$68.65 USD/lb · from $19.70 USD
-
WAX-IN · BLACK
Black Shellac Flake
The deep, near-black shellac for aged finishes and dark figured woods — the lac dye itself, concentrated, with the natural wax left in.
$58.40 USD/lb · from $17.10 USD
The Hollow.
Notes on the material, the people who use it, and the work that doesn't scale.
CRAFT
Super Golden: How the Finest Button Lac in the World Gets Made
Hemanta and Aruna from the tree to the jar — the selection, the triple wash, the hand pressing over a wood fire, and what is not in them.
FROM THE BENCH
Witness Marks
A restorer in Chester County, a fiddle in 1704 varnish, and the question I keep asking myself about the work that doesn't scale.
REFERENCE
Pound Cut Chart
Dry shellac per gallon, quart, and pint at every common cut — the reference to keep at the bench.
Stocking up for a shop, a club or your own bench? See the Buyers Club →