More finishing questions/ramblings

[Renata]

I gave up on Verizon and resubscribed to newsguy, so hopefully I'll be a more regular visitor again.

Now, onto the kitchen.

The gremlin living in my basement is finding a whole rash of ways to make my life miserable. Mainly dealing with the finishing, but let's not forget the drill press (which I haven't yet checked out the new replacement headstock for run-out).

And, I'm finding that I probably should've set up my shop a bit differently, at least for this operation. Stuff like storing the wood not in the tool room would've made a big difference (though another location was problematic as well).

Plus, I really did put out of my mind how much work building cabinets and redoing a kitchen entails.

OK, here's my situation.

I'm using Hydrocote Resithane and an Apollo HVLP. Thought I had it figured out, but no-oo. If it's not one thing, it's another. In fact, the gremlin (maybe he has his friends along to help him? ) has been a busy little beaver finding new annoyances after I address the old ones.

Oh, BTW, apparently Dial liquid soap contains silicone. DAMHIK.

At least I think it does since I've been adding a bit to the water I use to spray thru to clean the gun, after which I spray thru either paint thinner or lacquer thinner.

Also, seems like no matter how clean I think the room is, some little particle finds it's way to my doors when the finish is wet.

Now I read that Hood (the people I bought the hydrocote from) has a handy little instruction sheet for this product that they DIDN'T include with my order. Can't find it on their website either. Gotta give them a call... Though, I must say, otherwise I'm quite pleased with their service. The stuff arrived in a day! 5 gallons pus another gallon of gloss and ONE day shipping (I mean it was from practically next door, Jersey not being too far from MD), but I was still impressed.

Anyway, I guess what I'm looking for is some general practical advice and hints of any sort from those of you who regularly spray your finishes so I can have doors on my cabinets instead of curtains;-) Plus, am I cleaning the gun appropriately? Etc.

My plan is to do a coat of satin, a coat of gloss, finishing w/a coat of satin. Should I lightly sand the gloss coat or leave it alone? I actually have the gloss coat sprayed, but it needs to be stripped due to the fisheye.

I better stop for now.

Thanx in (obviously) advance Renata

[cselby]

A shift in gun cleaning may be the 1st way to go. Make a trip to an automotive paint supply house and ask the best (and low cost) way to clean the gun based on the stuff your spraying. The generic product is called "gun wash". Most of these people don't recommend laquer thinner as it's 'too' aggresive and it's residue can cause issues in the work. You can leave the gun wash in the gun after use but it should be cleared out before re-use. Clean the gun just before using again with alcohol to remove resides.

Befoe spraying, wash the parts (the work) down with alcohol and wipe off with a clean rag and keep turning the rag. Even laquer thinner leaves a reside. This assumes you have not already applied an alcohol finishing material like shellac.

These are the things I do before painting automotive finishes on my work. Same should apply to oil stains, alkyd paints, and urethanes, using the appropriate gun cleaners for the material being sprayed.

Pete

[B A R R Y]

I don't use the same brands as you, but they should act very similar to the ML Campbell Ultrastar I use. All of the following applies specifically to my experiences with WB lacquer, and may be different than NC lacquer.

- If water doesn't clean as fast as you like, use a dash of ammonia in the water. Rinse it all with SLX to chase away extra water.

- I typically do satin cabinets with one coat of sanding sealer, and two coats of satin. I don't see a difference in a finish of this thickness in using gloss for only an inside coat. If you have to rub off some orange peel, or some other defect, you may cut into the gloss, ending up with weird spots.

- Clean all of your equipment with SLX denatured alcohol to lose the soap residue.

- I usually lightly scuff the second to last coat with nonstearated (or _specific_ tested OK by me stearated (Norton 3x and Mirka)) 400 grit and a hard felt block. The dust is removed with clean, lint-free cloth that is very slightly dampened to help retain the dust.

- Make sure the finish itself is at least 70F for proper flow out. I'll often place a gallon can in a bowl of hot water before spraying in my

60F shop.

- Spray full, wet coats. Do not spray tack or dust coats with WB.

- Use a window fan on low to clear the area of mist

- Do not add water, or anything not made specifically for the specific waterborne finish. Setup the the HVLP gun properly to spray as the manufacturer intended (check your finish's docs)

- Set some halogen tripod lights to shine across the work to better see the coat you're laying down.

- Let screw-ups DRY before dealing with them, unlike solvent lacquers. Drips are best fixed with a sharp card scraper.

- It is very possible to over build a finish and make it ugly and less durable. Check the mfg's docs for suggested coating and build level tips.

[nospambob]