Brian Hale
10-03-2004, 6:44 AM
The majority of my finishing experience rests in using Minwax stains on oak and ash followed by HVLP spraying nitrocellulose lacquer. If I may say so, I’m pretty good at it and have sprayed hundreds and hundreds of gallons while I worked as a cabinet maker and on my own.
This latest project will change things….
The customer wants birch colored to look like the traditional cherry you’ll find in a furniture store only he wants the grain of the wood to show through and not quite as dark. OK, so I stain some of the many pieces of scrap I have lying around from the project (don’t ask :rolleyes: ) and find that what I’ve read is true; the wood blotches the stain. Some more reading suggests I should dye the wood and apply a clear film finish. We’re now in uncharted territory.
A little more reading leads me to something completely different; colored/tinted water based finishes. This sounds intriguing.
I’ve read through most of the information on the Target Coatings website and it looks like this is a possible solution. What I need to do is make up a couple samples to mail to the customer and let him choose what he likes and then finish from there.
Have any of you folks gone this route?
How do I get the color I want?
How durable is the finish compared to lacquer?
How do I order? What do I ask for?
Thanks!
Brian :)
Here's a shot of the first of 2 cabinets. 56"h x 36"w x 28"d. It gets a 2" wide face frame and a 1.5" divider across the center. 3 drawers in the top section and 4 in the bottom. Each unit will have a glass panel bookcase on top.
This latest project will change things….
The customer wants birch colored to look like the traditional cherry you’ll find in a furniture store only he wants the grain of the wood to show through and not quite as dark. OK, so I stain some of the many pieces of scrap I have lying around from the project (don’t ask :rolleyes: ) and find that what I’ve read is true; the wood blotches the stain. Some more reading suggests I should dye the wood and apply a clear film finish. We’re now in uncharted territory.
A little more reading leads me to something completely different; colored/tinted water based finishes. This sounds intriguing.
I’ve read through most of the information on the Target Coatings website and it looks like this is a possible solution. What I need to do is make up a couple samples to mail to the customer and let him choose what he likes and then finish from there.
Have any of you folks gone this route?
How do I get the color I want?
How durable is the finish compared to lacquer?
How do I order? What do I ask for?
Thanks!
Brian :)
Here's a shot of the first of 2 cabinets. 56"h x 36"w x 28"d. It gets a 2" wide face frame and a 1.5" divider across the center. 3 drawers in the top section and 4 in the bottom. Each unit will have a glass panel bookcase on top.