Perhaps the speaker was talking about 'spirit varnish'? I believe that
this is a somewhat archaic term for shellac.

-Ezra

Bob Nelson said:
> 
> It's been said in this thread that alcohol won't dissolve varnish. I
> don't really know what I'm talking about here, but I'll throw out the
> possibility that's not completely true. Some time ago, a speaker at a
> PATINA meeting mentioned dissolving varnish with alcohol. No one stood
> up at the time, but another guy and I cornered the speaker later and
> questioned that statement. The speaker then said she was talking about
> some type of varish which I didn't catch the name of. The other guy
> seemed to recognize that name and agreed that alcohol would dissolve it,
> so I didn't pursue it further. Am I ringing any bells here?
>