Gloss Black Recommendation

[Ted Sprague]

Hello there, would appreciate some advice for a novice. I'm building a table with a solid cherry top which I intend to finish using a wiping oil, and want a gloss black finish for the aprons and legs, similar to a Steinway piano and relatively durable. The legs and aprons are made out of ash. Any recommendations for the finish and the application process? I do have access to a good HVLP sprayer. Thanks in advance.

[Jim Becker]

What I did for this on a commission piece last year was to build the understructure out of soft maple so I was insured of getting a super smooth wood surface before finishing. I did my color with flat black paint (actually used a spray bomb since the project was small enough for that) sanding lightly with 400 between two coats. I then sprayed a number of clear coats to get a 'deep' finish look to it. While my project called for a satin sheen, it would have worked beautifully just the same with gloss clear coats. To get that final "piano" look, you'll want to buff it out after it fully cures, so don't be in a hurry to "finish the finish".

[Ted Sprague]

thanks Jim! what did you use for the clear coats? Did you use steel wool for the buffing?
Cheers Ted

[Jim Becker]

I use Target Coatings finishing products...that job was likely EM6000. Buffing is done with something far softer than steel wool... A buffing pad/wheel with compound is the tool for that.

[John TenEyck]

You are going to have a devil of a time getting ash to look like a Steinway piano. You will have to fill the grain, maybe twice, and use a high fill primer to get a flat surface to put the paint on. You might want to rethink the look you are after, or make a new base out of maple if you really want that smooth, high gloss look.

John

[Jim Becker]

Good point, John...I missed the reference to Ash. In the project of mine I cited, I did mention I used soft maple precisely because of its smooth, non-porous properties.

[Mike Null]

+2 to John's comment.

Consider automotive enamel and multiple clear coats.

[Ted Sprague]

Got it thanks very much gents. The piano look may have to wait for another project, but I'll try filling the grain on a sample and see how it works. I figured Ash because that's what electric guitar bodies are historically made of. cheers.

[Steve Jenkins]

Unrolled ash sprayed with black lacquer has an interesting look. The pores reflect the light making them look silver

[John TenEyck]

What is "unrolled" ash? Never heard that term.

John

[Steve Jenkins]

What is "unrolled" ash? Never heard that term.

John

Sorry . Didn’t look at auto spell check. Should be unfilled

[Ted Sprague]

sweet - I'll try both ways on a sample and see how it looks. Thanks!

[John TenEyck]

Sorry . Didn’t look at auto spell check. Should be unfilled

That makes more sense. I've painted a lot of red oak black. I suspect ash would look pretty much the same.





John

[Steve Jenkins]

Yep I like the look with the highlites

[Ted Sprague]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. What I did was 3 coats of Target HSF5000 sanded up to 300 grit, then just one coat of EM6600. Really happy with the results. You can still see a little bit of the grain bit it looks really nice (kind of silver as someone said). in between the grain pattern is a fine glossy look. I was going to put clear EM6000 on top of it but decided it was great as is - not even polishing or buffing.

Included some pics unfortunately hard to see the quality of the finish.

One question on the EM6000 - I tried a test spraying and it had a cloudy blue color on top of the black - assume this goes away when it cures?

Again many thanks.