Also, when working woods with a high tannin content, a spit coat of shellac will prevent you from marring your workpiece with black and blue fingerprints. Top Coat - There is no more beautiful finish for woodwork, than French polish. I've got two great sites to send you to. No musty smell on old furniture. A spit coat takes care of it.
All shellacs imbue some bit of color to wood.
Also a good barrier between incompatible finishes. Tintable - avoid uneven staining by tinting your projects using colored shellac. Gives complete control over how much to tint your project. You can use a nearly infinite combination of the various shellacs to color your project, for example garnet over a seedlac washcoat, then French polish with blonde. Non-toxic when dry.