Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 12, 2009 06:21pm | #1

   Poly is a bear to spray.  It dries so slowly that it leaves a mess on all the surrounds.  Unless the over spray is dealt with with properly moving air, it can also settle on still wet surfaces and give a rough surface. 

   If you have the facilities to safely spray solvent lacquer, then you should be able to spray catalyzed lacquer--the main difference being that you have to be more meticulous with gun cleaning before curing has occurred.  That would give you the extra edge on durability you might want, if you are confident of having the safety aspects in hand. 

   It is easier to arrange safe spraying facilites for waterborne finishes, and some of the "designed for spraying" waterborne finishes are getting sufficiently durable, though still short of conversion varnishes and oil based varnishes in that regard, to be thoroughly acceptable for kitchen cabinets. 

   For that matter, varnish can be applied by hand, without runs.  (For one thing, cabinet doors are finished flat, and in general the face frames can be finished while the box is flat on it's back as well.)  It's mostly a matter of applying THIN coats.  Some people prefer thinning varnish to be wiped on.  Since more coats can be applied in a day, it can be done in about the same span of days as brushed on varnish, it is a lot more time actually spent applying the material.   

    

1. 
   cutawooda | Mar 12, 2009 10:13pm | #2

   I have to do inside the boxes, face frames, drawers, doors and drawer fronts.

   I do have a finish room but no explosion proof fan.

   I am contemplating doing the hard areas, (inside the cabinets and drawers boxes) in water based poly. Then doing the rest in satin polyurethane.  Can you see any problems with that?

   I could just spray everything with lacq and my airless but it seems that everything i have done in lacq scratches and looks "cheap" over a period of a year or so. Everything I have done in poly still looks great.

   I have a Binks cups sprayer but I have had a miserable time with lacquer and "dusting". Trying to do inside cabinets leave a dust on the adjacent corner. Never had a great amount of luck with my cup sprayer.  My airless does great but it is a pain to clean up.

   I see why people buy prefinished plywood.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 13, 2009 06:26am | #3

   Yes, prefinished plywood for cabinet boxes makes great economic sense.  You save LOTS of time relative to a minor additional cost. 

   While waterborne finishes shortcomings are often in the realm of protection from household chemicals, many of them are set to perform satisfactorily on the tests of the KCMA (Kitchen cabinet manufacturers association) which probably means OK for most of us.  A very good choice for box interiors, where odor retention makes using an oil based finish a very bad idea.  If you plan the cabinet design so you can spray the boxes and backs separately it would be a good idea to do that. 

   Your overall plan makes sense, I think.  I probably wouldn't spray the varnish, personally I would brush it, except perhaps for the final coat or two where I might go with a wipe on, where the thinner coats may set out of the dust enough faster that major rubbing out could more likely be avoided. 

   Satin finishes are mostly such that either you go with the finish that you get, off the brush or gun, or you might as well finish with gloss and then go through a major rubbing out process to achieve the even satin finish.  If you think you may get into a rubbing out process at the end, then I would avoid the polyurethane varnish, in favor of a traditional resin oil based varnish.  Either alkyd resin or phenolic resin varnishes are easier to rub out than the polyurethane varnsihes. 

1. 
   cutawooda | Mar 13, 2009 07:20am | #4

   I think I will stick to my plan. Water based poly dries quickly and of course the clean up is easy.  I could get three coats on the drawer boxes with my cup sprayer  in no time. I did my own cabinets this way and seems fine. Only difference is that I painted my cabinets, but the process is still the same...still have to get out the brush.

    

   you have been a great help, thank you. I'll post a pic when done.