For the last couple of years i have been using either B Moore advance or target coatings em6500 pigmented lacquer for my solid color finishes. I have also been using improper spray equipment ( graco airless cup gun ) i have a fuji mini might 4 on the way Thursday so that issue will hopefully be solved. Anyway back to the finish. My preference has been the target pigmented lacquer mostly for its ease in spraying and the fact that i can do 3 coats in a day. I do find BM advance to spray and level well too but obviously the recoat time is longer.
Generally speaking when my customers ask for a solid color finish i find that they are looking for a very smooth factory type finish or as close to making wood look like sprayed MDF as possible. I generally sand to 320 and again after priming and put a thick built up coat of pigmented lacquer to achieve this. My current customers are looking for something slightly different.
Im making a full height 10' L wall media unit and an L shaped bookcase. Everything is birch and the backs of all cabinets are beaded. Now instead of a super smooth finish they want a white finish with some of the grain texture showing. I went with the birch instead of poplar to give me a better grain pattern to start with and i got a really nice batch from my mill with really distinctive grain patterns. So before i start going with my old standby method and product do any of you guys have suggestions?
I am very far from a skilled finisher, i have been able to get proficient with the old impropper equipment i was using and targets pigmented lacquer, stains and waterborne top coat lacquer. I would love some input from anyone who has thoughts on product and methods.
Thanks