Anybody Spraying Poly??

[Steve Frederick]

I've used rattle-cans of Minwax poly with good results. As y'all know, I'll need a better method! Lot's to cover, and cans get pricey!
Any advice for a spray finish for the interior of The Rondack?
I have a new gravity feed gun.
Thanx!

[Keith B]

Hi Steve - I've always sprayed poly on all my cabinets, trim, etc. I have a little detail gun I use, like 4-10oz. I typically have the fluid open quite a bit to lay down a nice coat and I always start on edges then blend flat spots in to prevent ridges from developing. After 24-48 hours I lightly sand w/ 000 steel wool and hit it again w/ a light coat. I found the detail gun to work great because you don't have so much poly in it that it dries in the canister..I'm constantly "shaking" the gun to keep it fluid. After I'm done I spray about 4 cups of thinner through it and completely disassemble the gun for clean up - and I highly recommend a water seperator by the regulator and another small in-line one by the gun - they're cheap. I just bought an HVLP gun so I'm anxious to see if it does even a better job (thinking about going w/ a painted TD).. good luck and have fun.

[Hamcan]

Steve, you may want to have a look at lacquer. It sprays really well and cures in minutes rather than hours for poly.

I didn't use it on my tear as most of the wood finishing was done in fairly cool weather inside the shop with a brush. However I have used it for a lot of wood working projects in the past, found it easy to use. Sprayed outside [no ventilation in shop] with an HLVP gun. You have to be very careful about moisture as with all sprayed finishes. Do not spay indoors unless you have a dedicated spay booth.

Lacquer has a bad rep these days as less durable than poly but I have furniture projects that are 25 yrs. old that look as good as new and it is very easy to spot repair [new lacquer blends into old seamlessly]

Lots of info online for lacquer finishing. I would recommend buying a pint and doing some test panels.

The visual results are far superior to poly imo.

Regards, JG

[doug hodder]

Steve....I've had really good luck with the Varathane 1000 professional material (black can). To thin it to run through a gun I use xylol. It's really durable. I don't know if it's a Calif. VOC thing, but was unable to locate a gallon for this tear...I'm using some water based stuff and brushing it on. Also, if anyone hasn't tried it...I had a bad experience with rattle cans of the Varathane outdoor water based urethane...It didn't break up the material enough for a good spray and the can tends to want to spit blobs of material when stopped. The finish was pretty marginal...I don't know if it was a bad can, but elected not to buy another to find out...others experience may vary....Doug

[madjack]

Steve, we spray a lot of poly around the shop...mostly MinWax ClearShield on outdoor Adirondak furniture...we have had very good results withit...it does have a slight amber cast toit when it sets...we usually thin 10-15% with whatever solvent is handy...the Xylol is probably the cat's meow for thinning...we also use a water clear, water based arylic urethane for indoor stuff, thinning using water at about the same % rates...these have beed done with a regular paint gun...if using a HVLP gun, thinning as much is not needed...we use techniques similar to what Keith described.........
madjack

[asianflava]

I brushed the galley because I wanted a thick layer of polyurethane. I sprayed the inside because trying to brush it on upside down was a test of my paitence.

With Madjack's help, I sprayed Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane with a cheapo $12 cup gun from HF. I thinned it slightly with laquer thinner. I don't remember where the confusion came from but I had two options to thin it. One was mineral spirits the other was laquer thinner. I decided to use laquer thinner because it dries cleaner. Mineral spirits leaves an oily residue and I was afraid it would mess it up.

[tonyj]

I sprayed my poly (matte finish) for the inside sheets with a HF $100 HVLP setup. I found some woodworking recommendations that quoted up to 50% thinning with turpentine or mineral spirits. I thinned to somewhere between 20-25. It dried within about 20 minutes and I sprayed on three coats in a little over an hour with no sanding in between coats. No problems so far.

[rbeemer]

Steve,

I have an apollo 300 HVLP system and shooting Shellac and poly is no problem though you do need to thin them. Also practice on some scrap pieces to get the correct amount for your coat on the sprayer. If this is for the inside, I might reccomend shellac because it dries faster and you can thin it with rubbing alcohol. THe fast drying lets me put on multiple thin coats. It dries in about 15-20 minutes then I can steel wool and apply the next coat. It fully cures in 24 hours. Also shellac is kid/dog friendly since it is non toxic even when wet. The shiny coating on most jelly beans is shellac

The world according to Rick

[Joanne]

Hi Steve,

I've sprayed the whole interior of the Dawg. I have never run a spray gun before this and it was pretty easy. I think the finish turns out great.


I used this gun from Harbor Freight. I tried some stains with poly over them, but liked the clear poly best.




I'm very happy with the interior. The nice thing about the latex poly is the easy clean-up and minimum odor. Oh, I shot the poly straight out of the can. No thinning or anything.

Joanne

I've used rattle-cans of Minwax poly with good results. As y'all know, I'll need a better method! Lot's to cover, and cans get pricey!
Any advice for a spray finish for the interior of The Rondack?
I have a new gravity feed gun.
Thanx!

[Keith B]

My new HVLP gun is VERY similar to Joanne's...except, mine was a kit that came w/ a small and a large gun...HF#94572, $60...but again, I haven't used the HVLP one yet so I can't comment on performance, but it came w/ 2 nozzels too, one for thick (primers, etc.) and a smaller one for topcoats.

[Steve Frederick]

Hey Joanne!

That's the same on I have! I picked up a moisture filter, and will 'speriment this week on some of the huge pile of ply scrap!
Rick, I'll try a test of shellac also! I remember that my dad used it on a lot of his projects, many are still around, over fifty years-old!
About shellac, Phyll wants a semi gloss finish..is it possible?

[toypusher]

Steve,

You can get a 'flattening agent' that will reduce the sheen of the finish. Might take some experimenting, but should be doable!

[Steve Frederick]

Steve,

You can get a 'flattening agent'

Will it work on my stomach??

[toypusher]

Steve,

You can get a 'flattening agent'

Will it work on my stomach??

If that were possible, I think somebody would be RICH by now!!!

[Joanne]

Hi Steve,

Everything is so dry in Vegas that I don't have a moisture filter (I probably should anyway) and didn't seem to have any problems.

If you remember Sumner and his pop-up teardrop from the early days of this list, he has a couple of web pages that tell how to adjust this gun. I didn't have a clue and his site got me up and going.

Here's the link: Sumner's Spray Gun Page

On everything that I sprayed I used three coats, sanding between them. As you might guess, the first coat is more of a sealer. Sanding after the first coat really gets things smoothed out. I was really surprised how the cheap Home Depot birch ply came alive after a couple of coats of the poly.

Joanne

Hey Joanne!

That's the same on I have! I picked up a moisture filter, and will 'speriment this week on some of the huge pile of ply scrap!
Rick, I'll try a test of shellac also! I remember that my dad used it on a lot of his projects, many are still around, over fifty years-old!
About shellac, Phyll wants a semi gloss finish..is it possible?