Lacquer work is Sri Lanka handicraft is from the Kandyan provinces. Lac is a resin secreted from the bark of certain trees that have been infested with the Lac beetle. The resin is scraped from the bark, melted and strained. While the Lac is soft, pigment is beaten in to produce the desired colour and left to dry. Lac is applied in two different techniques. The method called spool-work is practiced with applying a stick of Lac to the object fixed onto a spindle of a lathe machine. The resulting friction caused by the revolving objects melts the Lac making it seep into the grain making a glossy coating on the object. Ornaments, walking sticks, book-ends, ash trays letter-openers, wooden handles etc are decorated with Lacquer work. The method called nail work is practiced by using a thumbnail to fashion the thread of Lac. In addition to these traditional methods, today, Lacquer work is produced by an inferior method: painting the object and then covering it with layers of varnish.