On this side of the pond due to the credit crunch a few of the larger kitchen manufacturers have gone bust and I have now been approached by two prospective clients to quote for supply and fitting of bespoke kitchens.
Both potential commissions have 20 cabinets, 20 doors and 12 drawers which is a monumental finishing task. I have considered buying a Fuji Spray system and could accomodate this in my existing workshop if I spray acrylic (water based) varnish, but due to Health & Safety rules could not spray Pre Cat or AC lacquer.
Anyone out there used water based varnish on kitchen units before? The promotional blurb all say “hardwearing” but i wonder whether it can withstand kitchen grease, cleaners etc.
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards
Guy
Replies
Hey Guy,
Here in the states the standard kitchen finish is conversion varnish. If I could not use that, I would use a high solids lacquer. In my opinion a water base finish is not hard enough to hold up to wear and tare of kitchen use/abuse.
John
Thanks for the response. I suspected that and will perhaps have to use the services of a professional spraying company.
Look for a "KCMA Certified" finish. Ask your suppliers.
http://www.kcma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Visitors.Performance
I did one about 9 or 10 years ago now -- worked fine and still looks great. No signs of wear yet.
IIRC, I used my favorite finishing schedule -- a coat of Watco (to avoid the "cold" poly look), let it dry for at least two full days, then poly. I used an HVLP unit for spraying.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
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