Tinting and WB finish

I'm getting started building the interior doors for my new home. The doors will be stain grade alder with a brown tint and (probably) finished with Target EM6000 WB lacquer. I will be shooting the finish with a Fuji MPX 30 gun. I did some test runs and have been happy with the results so far.

On the test boards I brushed on two thinned coats of Zinsser clear shellac and sanded with 320. (On the doors I'll be using Sealcoat.) I then sprayed several coats of EM6000 satin which I had tinted with some dark brown water base dye I had on hand. As I said, I was satisfied with the result, but I want to play around with the color a bit more. I bought four bottles of Transtint in 6000 amber and three shades of brown.

My question is will I have better luck using the Transtint in the Sealcoat, or should I add it to the EM6000? I plan to use several base coats of gloss, with a final coat of either satin or semigloss.

You might also consider spraying the Transtint in water or DNA directly onto the bare wood as your first step. That will give you the most depth once all the finishing is done. To your question, I prefer to add Transtint to Sealcoat, and only add it to my finish coats if I need to adjust the color when matching a piece. In any case, I almost always shoot at least two coats of toner. That makes it easier to sneak up on the final hue as well as get uniform coverage everywhere. And I never use toner in my last coat. That is always a clear coat.

John

I also like to get the major color on before I start clear coating. Tinting for toning doesn't bother me, but tinting for major color is like creating your own version of PolyShades with risk that you can over-do it and end up with a major challenge to fix it, up to and including a complete chemical strip back to bare. IMHO, of course, and others might feel differently.

Thanks, guys; my next trial will be with tinted Sealcoat.

I sure do like the way the EM6000 sprays, too. My test boards were shot with a $10 Harbor Freight detail gun and everyone who's seen it says it looks great.