My shop is one stall in the garage and it's getting chilly here in Wisconsin, just as I'm about ready to finish my rolling kitchen cart. I plan on using a diluted oil-based poly for one of those "you can't make a mistake with this" finishes. The garage has a forced air heater and I'm not happy about letting the finish cure with a lot of air moving stuff around.
So ... what's the minimum temperature at which I can safely apply this finish. Figure it's getting down to the upper 40s in the garage at night.
Thanks,
Larry
PS: SWMBO asked me to stain this the same ugly off gray color as the kitchen cabinets. What a terrible thing to do to walnut and hard maple!
The application temperature range is usually printed on the can. If not check the manufacturers website. Art PS. Keep that cart for your shop and make her one out of plywood!
If it is gettimg below about 55 your finish will stall in the drying process and maybe never dry correctly. Poly takes a good 12 hours even when using a wiping method. However, after a few hours it will be dry enough to bring inside or run a heater. Wiping poly will only catch nibs for an hour or two at most. It will skin over pretty quick but isn't actually dry.
Sorry you are so closed minded. One can extract the unique value from a whole host of techniques and materials if they have any talent. There is more to life than pure tung oil on hand planed and scraped unstained cherry.
I hope you at least -sealed- the project with shellac or lacquer before painting to allow a later reversal, when they came to their senses or the next owner bought it.
Condolences on your smart idea to go along.
-- The problem with borrowing money from China is that thirty minutes later, you feel broke again. --Steve Bridges as Obama
Nope. Don't give a crap anymore. I don't have your energy and enthusiasm to beat the snot out of someone that I want to sell a job to these days. I don't stand on principle unless it is mine. My ego and checkbook learned long ago that the customer should get what they want, and my role is as a service provider. I am there to facilitate their wishes, not push my agenda.
Besides, how many people have refinished a kitchen full of cabinets? Not repainting, NOT putting a new top coat of clear on the wood, NOT a scuff sand then top coat, but a real honest stripping to bare wood and a real refinish? Have you? Have you ever taken a kitchen full of cabinets apart, **chemically stripped all components to bare wood**, cleaned every nook and cranny with little brass brushes, sanded out all the imperfections and started over with your finishing routine? Conditioned and colored the stained and discolored areas, filled in the tiny checks and cracks, worked over the wear marks cabinets get so you can make the cabinets look as close to new as possibile?
Nonsense. Unless you are a weekend warrior with plenty of time on your hands OR you are happy with a crappy end product, refinishing of kitchen cabinets isn't practical. It is almost completely impractical for a professional finisher. I don't mind stripping a large vanity, or certain piece, but a whole kitchen full of cabinets with all the drawers, doors, rails and stiles that have to be stripped in place, and all the protective precautions you must have when working in someone's house? Seriously?
It is a much better value to replace doors, and paint or veneer the stiles and rails once you pass just a few doors.
I am not the ancient craftsman that toils away in the darkness, eschewing powered tools, using ancient methods to further my art.
Nope. I am a businessman. I left the world of the proud, ancient craftsman that did things his way (only) years ago. I learned in the mid seventies how to build cabinets and fixtures, then large entry doors, and later learned framing, deck building, etc. I left the world of the ancient craftsman of doing things >>my way>knowing that all is well inside
On 11/16/2011 12:41 PM, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ...
And, so were they. (Some were captured contractors, certainly, but even there it's certain a lack of performance would result in another willing set of hands to take the slot).
As another saying goes, "Farming w/o a profit motive is gardening."
Don't hold back Robert, tell us how you really feel!! ;-)
Right on brother, I know exactly of what you speak. I can't tell you the number of times I have had to "make do" and have it work out just fine. And I have done a whole bunch of jobs for far less than some starry eyed purists.
The customer is always right. It is just that simple. That what contracts are for. If the customer is unhappy, you just pull out the contract. But if the customer wants a room done in hot pink, you do it in hot pink. Besides, most customers won't admit they made a mistake anyway. Give them what they want. You will get in less trouble that way and you won't lose the job.
The only exception to that rule is if it becomes a safety issue. I won't do something that is dangerous. Not only because I wouldn't do such a thing, but for liability issues. But taste??? People like all kinds of things. Strange things. Bizarre things. AND THEY PAY MONEY to have somebody make these weird items for them!
One thing I do though, is try to steer people towards simpler solutions if possible. I just let them know if they want that insanely complicated finish on the project, it will double the price. That usually calms them down and makes my life simpler. But I will do what they want if they me pay enough.
I remember the wise words of an old timer who told me this, "There are two kinds of workers at what I do. There are working craftsman and there are starving artists. I like to eat. So you can guess which one I am".
------------------------------------- Only comment I'll make is that winter temps in Wisconsin are considerably different than they are in San Antonio, at some 6-800 miles lower latitude.
Don't think you will be able to achieve your described thermal profile after a week of ZERO temps typical several times during WI winters.
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