Spraying Behlen's Rock Hard Table Top Varnish

[Albert]

Esteemed colleagues,

Having a wonderful time with the Fuji Q3 HVLP sprayer. Easy to operate and clean, excellent results.

Built some Cherry kitchen cabinets (cherry plywood carcasses)

After applying gel-stain and a coat of shellac and scuff sanding I'm spraying Behlen's Rock Hard onto the cabinets.

After spraying 2 coats of 50% Behlen's (and 50% Behlen's reducer), the cabinets look great. I'll continue to sand lightly between coats.

Just wondering how many coats to apply - assumming the same 50% ratio.

Any of you'all sprayed Behlen's?

Thank you. -Albert

[JGS]

[Albert]

JG,

Because out of the can, Behlen's is too thick to "spray" without cutting by some percentage. Most varnishes and other finishes must be reduced when spraying. Some folks reduce the first coat when brushing a finish.

Too thick a finish may result in "orange peel" effect when sprayed onto a surface.

In fact, this evening I sprayed a 3rd coat of Behlen's which was reduced only by 30%, and I noticed the orange peel effect. Tomorrow, I'll sand lightly and resume applying thinner coats (50% reduced). Air mixture may play a role in orange peel effect, but generally its attributed to excessive thickness of the varnish being sprayed.

-Albert