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I've jumped in with both feet and bought shellac chips and mixed my own shellac.  It's easier to make than I thought.  I used the advice and instruction from Stew Mac videos and it was a great experience.  It's more labor intensive, but you can have a gorgeous finish built up in 2 days.  I've used shellac in the past, but it was from the can.  It took a lot longer to dry and cure.  The stuff I mixed myself dried completely in an hour and cured within 24 hours.  Nice.  

Give it a shot.  You only have to mix up enough to do the job at hand and the flakes don't go bad as long as you store them in a cool, dry place.  I mixed it with denatured alcohol and it worked great.  You can use everclear, too.  No fumes but it's a lot more expensive.