A refinishing question

[Spencer Hochstetler]

First of all, greetings. I recognize a number of names on this forum from others that I've lurked in... I almost feel "at home".

I am going to refinish some cabinets that were installed in 1967. I have spraying equipment and I've shot conversion varnish before. I loved it - short time to recoat; short time to get on with my day... I'm a chemist and I don't mind handling catalyzed finishes and the "hassled" that goes along with them. Because I'd rather do this job right the first time, I'm hoping to tap some experience here rather than learn the hard way of what works and what doesn't.

I want my refinish job to be durable and I want to get it done in short order, that is I'd love to use a pigmented (white) conversion varnish or catalyzed lacquer. My main question will be asked after I describe what I've done to identify what finish is on the cabinets currently.

The finish is original and is a clear coat of some sort. I've done the ethanol and lacquer thinner test to see what kind of finish I have. Ethanol didn't do anything whatsoever to the finish after about a 15 minute soak, so it isn't shellac (I really didn't think it was anyway, but...). The lacquer thinner took several minutes of soaking before I started to see some cloudiness in the solvent (dissolving finish) and the finish started to get a little gummy. After about 10 seconds (before I observed the cloudiness, I rubbed the solvent treated area with a paper towel and the finish didn't really seem to come off or feel soft yet. i.e. I've read that in a "few seconds" a lacquer (non-catalyzed) will dissolve. So I'm guessing I have either a catalyzed lacquer or a conversion varnish.

Would you agree with my assessment or is more information needed?

Assuming that I have a crosslinked lacquer or varnish, what is the best (read fastest and good primer) for a white conversion varnish or a catalyzed lacquer? I've thought about TSPing everything, spraying oil-based Kilz, then topcoating with a conversion varnish, but I've spoken to one manufacturer of conversion varnish that advised against doing that because the solvent in the conversion varnish would re-dissolve the Kilz and things would not be pretty. Ideally, I could TSP, prime, and topcoat. I just don't know what the best primer would be that would be compatible with the existing finish and a modern conversion finish. And I don't want to have to sand everything to bare wood! :eek:

Any ideas of how to best go from whatever finish is there to a white catalyzed finish?

[Todd Burch]

Hi Spencer. I would clean the cabinets good - TSP would work just fine, or even Naptha to get the grease off. Then I would scuff sand with 220, then I would shoot white (pre)catalyzed lacquer and be done. I would not mess with a primer, and I would test one door/drawer front to be sure there would be no adverse reaction with the old finish. I concur with your tests.

Todd

[tod evans]

i agree with what todd said. tod

[edit] oh-yeah, welcome spencer!

[Spencer Hochstetler]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll give that a shot (no pun intended). I guess I can let one door dry for a day and see if it rubs off or peels easily. Anything thing else that I might be cognizant of in my evaluation of the test door (aside from visually obvious things like crinkling, peeling, or beading)?

[Phil Phelps]

on the intended project, you can undercoat with Bin pigmented shellac. It will go over just about anything without lifting the surface. It dries to a white, hard finish, quickly. You can then use alkyd, lacquer, shellac, or latex as a finish.