Preparation is a huge part of finishing. Failing to prepare the wood will surely lead to a bad finish no matter how good your equipment or coating. Let’s talk first about sanding. You must start with a completely dry piece of wood. If you have stripped it, let it dry...
John
Are Your Spray Guns Ready to Go?
Do you really need to clean your spray gun every time you use it? Do you need to clean it when you go to lunch? What if you are putting it away for a week? Which coatings mean clean “right away”? Here are your answers: Always clean your spray gun! If you are spraying...
Testing Your Finish for Hardness
You can use architect’s pencils to test for finish hardness (scratch resistance). The lead in these pencils is rated from about 6 or 7B, the softest, to 6 or 7H, the hardest. HB is in the middle. You don’t need to buy all these pencils, just the middle five or six,...
What Is An “Off the Gun” Finish?
“Off-the-gun” finish is a widely used phrase among finishers. It means the finish hasn’t been rubbed out. It’s the simplest kind of sprayed finish—spray it on and leave it as is. We have seen the phrase used to mean a poor finish, but this is not a correct usage. An...
How To Color Your Wood
While just about all wood is beautiful, not all the pieces of wood we work with are perfect. Sometimes they need a bit of color. Normally we pick and choose through various stacks of lumber looking to acquire boards that match reasonably well in grain and color....
How To Spray Oil Finishes
One of the questions/concerns we get a lot is how to get the sheen of the finish even, especially satin sheens. The biggest issue seems to be that the sheen is streaked. The issue seems to be getting the flattening agents to lay down evenly. Oil finishes normally go...
Making the Move to Water Base
Good water base coatings have become the norm for many finishers. In the old days it was easy to get a beautiful finish with nitrocellulose lacquer. The coating was very forgiving and offered a wide latitude regarding viscosity – even thinned to 50% or more you still got a terrific finish.
Fear of Failure or Failure to Finish
If you engage in the act of finishing at any kind of level, whether it’s your fulltime business or a once a year project then you understand that the proof is in the pudding when it comes to creating good finishes. When you are spraying the goal is to be able to use...
Understanding Apollo Sprayers HVLP Turbo Spray Finishing Systems
High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) Turbo spray systems are a complete self-contained spray finishing system consisting of three (3) components. A blower motor in an enclosure A spray gun An air hose There is no air compressor involved or needed with an Apollo Sprayers...
Is Your Spray Pattern Heavier on One Side?
A spray pattern, with all the controls on the spray gun wide open, is supposed to be an even, elongated oval shape. If the pattern is heavier on one end, the likely cause is that one or more of the holes in the air cap is plugged up. There is also a chance that the...