Bysakhi Dark Button Lac

A darker, characterful button with the wax left in — a warm heritage grade for work that wants the shellac to add color, not disappear. Bysakhi runs deeper than the Kusmi buttons: more of the natural lac dye carried through, a richer amber-to-brown in the jar, and real presence on walnut, mahogany, and aged hardwoods.

Bysakhi takes its name from Baisakh, the month of the spring harvest, traditionally gathered from Palas and Ber trees. Genuine Bysakhi has grown scarce, and much of what's sold under the name today is loosely sourced — which is exactly why ours is worth seeking out. The family we buy from supplies Bysakhi only when they can stand behind the crop; when they can't verify the source, they decline it rather than ship something else under the name. What you get here is the real thing.

Button lac is the historically authentic form of shellac — the one those texts were written around, before dewaxed flake became the industrial default. It is partially dewaxed in the traditional way, squeezed warm through cloth bags, which leaves roughly two to three percent of the natural wax in the structure. The buttons are produced in small cottage operations, weighed and packed one bag at a time.

Mixing notes: see the pound cut chart for dry weight per gallon, quart, and pint at the common working cuts.

Sourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.