Shellac 3.0 - failing again

So far, no go. What about mixing the shellac with the cotton packing and trying to pack it into pre-formed shapes, say, ice cube trays? These are special Japanese trays Julie brought back from her residency in Japan last autumn.

I very carefully lined some of them in cling film, hoping I'd be able to peel it off of the mixture

Although I've never had a root canal, I somehow felt akin to the endodontist packing a root with gutta percha.

The whole thing was so sticky I ended up using a dusting of pigment as a way to preventing the mixing stick, my fingers and the cling film from being irresistibly attracted to this agglomeration:

When I finally did lift the film out of the trays, the mixture was still so soft that I could squash it between my fingers. I tried to maintain the shape of the ice tray:

Finally, six days later, I've pulled off the cling film and scissor-trimmed the stray fibres:

Not particularly satisfying. The bigger one is still soft, softer than a caramel.