Craftsman - Stickley Projects #14: Spray Finish

From here they look very nice, Paul.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Paul,

You should try a pre-catalyzed lacquer, especially since you have an HVLP. That will keep the fog down. Spraying the lacquer will be a life changing experience and makes finish work enjoyable. If you are spraying in the garage you can open the door for a few minutes after spraying to let the air clear. Wear a mask! The lacquer will dry even a cool shop. Since it dries fast, you don’t have to do it in a hermetically sealed room. It skins over faster and so it does not get contaminates trapped in it. It also is a very repairable finish.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Another benefit to the lacquer: The overspray that is generated will be dry fall. I am sure you have experienced the sticky feeling of the polyurethane overspray. It is sticky on your arms and on the tools. The lacquer dries in the air and lands as dust.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Thanks. I’ve experiemented very little on the finishing side of things.

oil stain, gel stain and poly is about the extent of my experience. I know I need to broaden my horizons and select the finishing process with the same care of grain matching, but I don’t seem to ever get around to it.

That needs to be a ‘08 resolution for crafting growth.

-- Paul, Texas

The pieces look good Paul – what was the sanding sequence and method that you used?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

FINALLY put the knobs on the chests last night. We’ve had a three day interlude of 60s-70s here in the Texas “winter” – it’s supposed to return to cooler temps tomorrow.

I don’t know why, but I got a little nervous about completing this last little step of drilling the holes in the drawer faces to accept the machine screws for the knobs. I let the knobs sit on top the chest for two weeks as a layer a dust settled on everything. Just about put it off and walked out of the shop last night, too – but turned around and did it. Looks pretty good and drawers slide well.

I’ll try to dust things off and set up for pictures and posting those pics this evening.

-- Paul, Texas

oh those last little cuts… the fear of messing it all up at the last minute… be still my heart…

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)