Knotty Alder Finishing "Recipe"

[Jim Kaczmark]

Please see attached pictures. My wife would love to have her cabinets finished as shown. As a finishing "newbie" I'd love your suggestions as to the "recipe" to follow that would result in a finish similar to these cabinets. Wood will be knotty alder as is the wood used on the cabinets shown in the pictures. I will have a spray finisher... probably a HVLP system of good quality such as an Accuspray 23 or 24 series. I am planning on using water based finishes (no fire danger, simpler spray booth, etc.). (Any reason to diverge from this assumption?)

If you were faced with this same situation, how would you finish the cabinets. Please include sanding requirements to fit the finish, any sanding sealers, etc., types & how to's of stain / dye, glaze, and finishing will be appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance!
Jim Kaczmark

[Steve Schoene]

It's a bit hard to gauge what dye was applied--not a lot given the natural color of the wood. It may be that just a oil based sealer was applied to wet out the wood and give a richer look than waterborne finishes will give. This could turn out to be as simple as wiping on a coat of BLO. If that's not enough then a dye with a bit of brown in it might be needed, but less is more if you don't need it. A light concentration sprayed on would give the most even color. If an oil is used I would top this with a coat of 2 lb. dewaxed shellac. This can be used to alter the color a bit if needed, using a darker shellac, or to leave it almost untouched if a blonde shellac is used.

However, if this is your first spray experience plan to do a number of experimental and sample projects before you go on to your kitchen cabinets. They are the most valuable part of your house if done right.

After the initial color is set, then it looks like a clear coat was applied to seal the surface. It looks pretty well sealed in your example, so it might take two coats. Over this a dark brown glaze appears to have been applied and wiped off except in the crevices and molded edges. This is a hand step.

Then the final top coat or two, depending on the material and what has gone on underneath. Your samples appear to be a satin finish.

Make sure you have scrap left over to work out your finishing schedule on scrap before touching the actual cabinets. As far as sanding goes, sanding to about 180 or at most 220 would be needed. Make the final sanding by hand, with the same grit as the last ROS sanding. BE CAREFUL to avoid cross grain scratches where stiles and rails cross, and to avoid and ROS squigles. Also make sure edges are evenly eased. You can often see such things on factory cabinets, mostly of low end prices--to me they destroy the look. Between coats sand by hand only using 320 grit paper on a block.

[Jim Kaczmark]

By all means I will be doing much experimenting. I'm even planning on doing trying various finishing schedules before I even begin building my cabinets... will probably begin by planing a few boards, sanding & testing, then do a sample door with the best schedule. As far as color, given the inaccuracies of pictures on the internet, I'm not expecting input on what color of dye, etc. to use, but rather when & how color should be added, if at all.A few questions... what is BLO? (Did a search for it, but the search string is too short to return a valid match.) Also what is meant by "edges evenly eased"?Thanks again,Jim