The top sections were the worst. They've been in shade under the 19" thick wall/jamb for 48 years, and no telling how many layers of varnish on them. This one took an hour, and a half. The next section down took a half hour. I tried Citristrip, to see what it would do, but it only took the dirt off, which wasn't much help.
The EM8000 came just before lunch, but I'm going to wait for the Halcyon which comes on Friday.
Last edited by Tom M King; 02-21-2022 at 12:42 PM.
I had splurged a while back, and spent 15 bucks on an offbrand sandpaper cutter for the sandpaper toolbox. The time it saves now has paid for it just in the aggravation load lessening for this job.
70 degrees tomorrow, which was the goal for getting them sprayed when I started this, but they can lay in the back of the garage until the next good day after the Halcyon comes. It's a pretty good sized garage at 25 x 30.
After this season, I'm going to need to take that awful linoleum tile up, and put an epoxy coating on the floor. It's not old enough to have asbestos in it. There are a couple of boxes of leftovers in those cabinets, and it looks like it's from the 1990's. We were here then, but I wasn't paying any attention to what was going on with this house.
On the next to last section, the shaft to the Sand-O-Flex broke. I've had that thing since the 1970's. Ordered it out of an ad from the old FFW. I can't find one online, so will have to make one. This job really would have taken forever without it. I'm not going to take time tomorrow to machine one, so will have to scrape the molded parts of the last panel.
The 1/4" shaft is not inserted in that 5/8" diameter piece that fits up in the head. It's all one piece. When I machine one, I'm going to make the shaft 3/8 instead of 1/4". I think the 2500 rpm drill I run that on is a 3/8, but if it's a 1/2, I'll make it 1/2". I've had it too long to remember.
I tested a spot with the EM8000. It looks like nice stuff, but probably too clear for these mixed species doors anyway. The Halcyon is supposed to be Amber, so hopefully it will be more like an old marine varnish.
It soaks in a lot, which is making me think again about putting sanding sealer on these doors. It looks like they may have had some on them to start with. There is something between the old varnish, and wood that soaked in the wood a little that seems like it could be.
I'll call Jamestown Distributors, and see if they think it would be okay to use the 8000 as a sealer under the Halcyon. I ordered two gallons of each, but the way the 8000 soaked in, I expect the Halcyon will do about the same thing, and the first gallon is just going to soak in, and hide.
They missed the weather report, and today is no day for spraying anyway. I tackled that last section with hand scraping the molded edges of the stiles and rails.
Having an Ovolo is a Really bad idea for anything that will have to be stripped at some point.
I dug down in my Scrape toolbox, and found a LV detail scraper. This is the first time I used it, and it really paid off this morning. The Sand-O-Flex made quick work out of the dtetails, but one thing I was able to do with the little scraper was change the profile of the little cove grooves. I didn't have anything to fit them, but the square cutter for the Detail Scraper made quick work out of changing the profile to a V.
No matter how many tools you have, sometimes you have to improvise. A small welding wire brush made a good backer for sandpaper to sand the rounded part of the Ovolo. The Detail Scraper tool care of the little flats at the top.
I had another tool in the mechanic shop that works great for the curved tapered edges of the raised panels. 240 is the finest grit I have for the 2" disks, and cut really faster than ideal. I hit the ovolo with it here, testing, but will hold a wide putty knife in that groove to guard it.
Too much dodging rain showers to really get anything done this morning, but it looks like they will pass by this afternoon.
Jamestown Distributors said that the Halcyon will bond fine to the cured EM8000, just to sand it will 220. Since I have the 8000 anyway, and the wood soaks it up so well, I'm going to use that for the base coat, so the Halcyon couple of gallons will allow me to put more coats on. I'm pretty sure the first gallon, at least, would have disappeared.
I sanded the test area that I put on yesterday of the EM8000. Sure enough, it sands just like the old solvent based conversion varnishes we used to know. It powders up nicely.
Sometimes dumb luck is as good as any. I fell like it's going to be a good combination.
I have them ready to spray, but today was no day for it. I have everything ready to lay out, and go though.
I learned how to control the little die grinder with two hands. It's variable speed, so that helped.
The little Detail Scraper was a lifesaver. I even went back over the other sections, and changed the profile of all those little coves, and cleaned out some corners that the Sand-O-Flex couldn't get into. I did all the doors with the square insert, and it's still as sharp as when I started.
I hope I don't ever decide to redo these again. The goal would be to make some that aren't mixed species, and are easy to strip. There is no good reason to have an ovolo, or curved tapered sides to the raised panels. I would make more like the old window sash, and doors that I repair, or reproduce - mortise & tenon with no glue, and pegs. Just knock the pegs out, and take it apart. with square edges on the stiles and rails, a block plane would make quick work of getting one ready for the next coating. I can't see where flat tapers on raised panels look any worse.
I ordered some Lust varnish for the entry doors. All the panels are carved, but they're okay. I just need to sand the flat stiles, and rails, and recoat them. I won't spray those double doors.
Everything is here now, waiting. All the finish, and the tips I ordered came yesterday. Right now, it looks like next week will have a good several days to do the spraying outside.
I'm going to try to make a video to show how the different tips work. First, I will only be spraying the EM8000, so the first video will only be about that. I'll let that finish cure for at least a week before I spray the finish coats of Halcyon. I'm going to have some help handling the sections both times, so they will take the videos.
There was probably a total of 12 to 14 hours in prepping the doors, but they've been done for a while and just waiting. I have fans going in that garage to keep moisture from condensing on anything with the door openings wide open, and everything seems to be keeping okay.
I'm set up to spray after lunch. We're going to try shooting a video of setting pressure for several different tip sizes, and the spraying of the first panel. After that first panel, the recording will stop. Shooting videos really slows me up from getting work done. We're going to try to get several coats of the EM8000 on this afternoon. I'll let them cure in the garage for a week or so, then sand with 220, and spray the Halcyon.
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