Pro cabinet finishing

[Scott Parks]

For the pros that build cabinets for a living....

What is your method of madness for finishing doors and drawer fronts with spray laquer?

Spray one side, let dry, spray the other? All at once? One coat, two, or more? What do you use for drying racks? How do you set up to do a complete kitchen run of doors?

Thanks,
Scott

[Steve Elias]

I'm not a pro, nor do I play one on television, but when I make kitchen cabinets I use a trick that I learned from a pro. I screw two small hooks into the top edge of each door that goes on the upper cabinets, and twoo hooks in the bottom edge of each door that goes on the bottom cabinets. I then suspend each door, via the small hooks, from a wire coathanger. In this way, I can paint the entire door at once and hang numerous finished doors on a rod in a relatively small space.

Of course, one's ability to spray the doors while they hang vertically depends a lot on the finish used, as well as one's technique. If I need to spray the doors while flat, I will lay them on a board that is pierced with four small finish nails (tips rounded just slightly) and apply the finish before I hang them from coathangers. In this process I always spary the back side first, flip the door, and spray the front side.

Of course, another pro I know simply uses a pro drying rack. He sprays the back side of each door and places the doors one after another on teh drying rack. By the time he finished spraying the back side of all the doors the finsih is usually dry enough that he starts over again with the fron of the first door and repeats the process. FWIW, both of the pros I know run very small two-man shops.

Steve

P.S. I'll try to find a picture of a pro drying rack or a link to one...

This isn't the drying rack I had in mind, but here's a link to something relevant to the discussion: http://www.pivot-pro.com/cabinetpro.php

Here's a link to an image of the style of drying rack mentioned earlier: http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/ShopBuilt_Drying_Racks.html

[Scott Parks]

Thank you, Steve & Shelley.

I'm lazy, and I don't have enough room in my shop to string them up like that, but it looks like my best choice. I haven't gone down the path of building an entire kitchen yet, but... This may be the route I'm headed. Once I decide, it will have to be a quick production run on a 12'x9' "L" shaped kitchen... I'm looking at RTA cabinets from the BORG's because time is a critical factor for this project. Problem is, I'm not satisfied with the quality. When I look at pre-assembled cabs, the price is almost double...

[Phil Phelps]

Especially if you're spraying lacquer. Use 1/4" plywood blocks, about 4"x4", with inch brads through them. Spray the back, then flip it over and spray the face. Lacquer sets up fast and where the back set on the brad point won't be noticed. Been doin' this since '66.

[Jim Becker]

Shelly...consider water borne "lacquer" like TC USL for spraying. Solves both the drying and hazard issues as well as gives you the desirable characteristics of NC lacquer such as the burn-in.

I've used a variation of what Phil describes to spray panels and doors with success.

[Russ Massery]

Another vote for Target Coating USL. I used it on my kicthen cabinets with great results. I built a drying rack, out of 2x2's and dowel rods. Sprayed a coat on all by the time I was done. I was ready for the next coat. Was able to shoot all the doors in a day. Three coats on the back and four on the front. It's great stuff well worth looking into.;)

[Rob Diz]

You can order the Target paint from Homesteadfinishing.com

[Byron Trantham]

I use Target WB lacquer exclusively. All my spraying is done horizontally. I tape all glue-able joints and spray away. No runs, no sags. I usually apply three coats. The first one "raises the grain" and I wait for about four hours and then sand it with 320g. I sand it lightly! The weight of the sanding block is enough to remove those pesky hairs.:D I shoot them again, wait about 30-45 minutes, flip it over and shoot, wait 30-45 minutes shoot and flip. The finish comes out very smooth.

[Steve Clardy]

I've got a 16x16 finish room setup

Roll around table, with a old 32" door for a top, with triangle strips laying on the top.
I have racks attached to one wall to move doors to after spraying.

I fill the roll table with doors, spray one side, move to racks.
I keep repeating this till all doors are first coated one side.
Then do the second side, move to racks.
Then sand enough doors to fill the table, spray one side, go sand some more doors, come back and finish spray the doors on the table, move to racks, on and on.

Better coverage can be had by laying everything down to spray that you can. Less chance of runs.

I don't hang anything up. Takes up too much room. Chance of bumping into things. Takes too much time putting in screw hooks, plus the fact I do not want added holes in the doors.

[Scott Parks]

You can order the Target paint from Homesteadfinishing.com


Go right to the source: targetcoatings dot com

[Rob Diz]

From what I understand Target won't tint their paint, but Jeff Jewitt will at Homestead finishing. FWIW

[Mark J Bachler]

I stain both sides of the doors & drawer fronts, put them in the rack to dry over night. Then I spray the back side with wb polycrylic, put them back in the rack, by the time I've sprayed them all I can flip them & spray the front. Let them dry for an hour or two, sand with 400g & do it all again a time or two. Here's my rack.

[Rob Diz]

Did youi use PVC or dowels in that unit? If pvc, what size did you find worked well and give you sufficient rigidity

I'm looking for a low cost option that could be collapsable, and I hope that PVC could do that for me.

[Mark J Bachler]

Did youi use PVC or dowels in that unit? If pvc, what size did you find worked well and give you sufficient rigidity

I'm looking for a low cost option that could be collapsable, and I hope that PVC could do that for me.

3/4" PVC. It works ok. I'm thinking about filling them with Poly foam (Great Stuff) to stiffin them up for BIG doors.

[Jim Becker]

From what I understand Target won't tint their paint, but Jeff Jewitt will at Homestead finishing. FWIW

Correct. If you want/need tinting, Jeff is the man. (He did mine for the kitchen project) If not, direct from Target is also a good solution.