Alternative to Dewaxed shellac?

Depends on what you want it to do. I use it as a final finish quite a bit and it does pretty much what I'd want a shellac finish to do. If you want alcohol protection its certainly not what I'd use for a final finish :D For general use its pretty alright.

For the final rub out I often take and dampen a rag with some high proof (or DNA) and then put (literally) 1-2 drops of BLO or similar on the rag and rub out to get a nice gloss. If I think its going to have a lot of fingerprints a final polish with some renaissance wax sometimes happens depending on how motivated I am by the piece.
 
Just some comments for those mixing your own from flake, something I think I am going to do.

I don't know the cost, been twenty years since I needed a gallon but your friendly neighborhood pharmacy can get the purest alcohol you are likely to lay hands on without cooking your own. They call it 99% or 100% grain alcohol. Not denatured. I think you are supposed to have a script but when you are friends with a pharmacist they don't require prescriptions for things like this. Used to mix my own liniment, mostly for the horses, sometimes for me or the wife! Denatured alcohol was a nonstarter for it as was the usual lower percentages.

The pharmacist can also get 99% isopropal alcohol but I think that other one percent is likely to be oil of some kind so I don't know about using it in a finish. Excellent for cleaning electronics and should have worked in my liniment but I was following a recipe that called for the pure grain alcohol. I might look into this. If I could get fairly large bottles it would be cheaper than the grain alcohol if it is just a little water impurity in it.

Hu
 
So...can this shellac be used as a final finish or should it be top coated with polyurethane?

I use shellac as a top coat on items that will not experience a lot of friction wear. Small boxes for jewelry or doo-dads. picture frames, even small wall cabinets (although I do put a bit of varnish where the hand will grip a door or side area) and so forth. I would not use it for salt and pepper shakers, kitchen fixtures or other high wear /frequent duty cycle things. For items that are suitable it is my go-to finish. For wear areas I move to a varnish blend.
 
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