Replies

1. 
   Dave_Arbuckle | Mar 22, 2001 10:00pm | #1

   *
   Just looked through a bunch of manufacturer websites. Understandably, they are a bit tight-lipped about what finishes they use. Did find this at Habersham ( http://www.habershamdesigns.com/care.html ): "That's because each hand-painted piece is finished in clear acrylic seal coats providing excellent clarity and durability. And, our Connoisseur and Studio finishes consist of a high-solids lacquer that will hold up under most conditions."

   Dave

1. 
   Jed_C. | Mar 23, 2001 04:10pm | #2

   *I'd bet that they use catalyzed lacquer, but don't know that for sure.

1. 
   Steve_Morrissey | Mar 23, 2001 07:34pm | #3

   *Thaks I'll try spraying the surface with lacquer.

1. 
   Ed_Ahern | Mar 24, 2001 04:00am | #4

   *I am almost certain that they use an ordinary water white nitrocellulose semi gloss lacquer. The high gloss on the tops is achieved by the rubbing operation. This involves west sanding with a 40 pound reciprocating air sander (can be done with a smaller sander or by hand with a rubber block). Liquid soap and water can be used as a lubricant using around 360 wet or dry paper on the first pass and around 500 wet or dry paper on the second pass (the finer the final sanding grit, the glossier the finish. The sanding operation is followed by rubbing with 4/0 steel wool for a satin finish. This is followed by compounding for a high gloss finish. Catalyzed lacquer, water based finishes etc. have not yet been able to replace nitrocellulose lacquer for clarity and ease of use, although some of these do excel in durability and chemical resistance.

1. 
   Kim_Carleton_Graves | Mar 25, 2001 08:25pm | #5

   *Hi Stephen,The spray operations I deal with are spraying either polyester or catalyzed lacquer. Polyester is that deep glass-like finish you see on high-end conference tables. You can spray it matt or polish it to a high gloss. It is incredibly durable, but I understand, impossible to repair.Catalyzed lacquer doesn’t have the depth of polyester, but it is almost as durable (much more so than nitrocellulose) and about a third the price of polyester. I’ve never sprayed polyester - only catalyzed lacquer. The later is easy to spray because it builds so quickly – faster than nitrocellulose. No one I know of is still spraying nitrocellulose by default – you have to ask for it if you want it. The turnaround for nitrocellulose is longer because the shops have to wait to get a day's worth of work to batch together. Changing the pot over is big overhead for them and they only want to do it once-in-a-while.To my eye, I like nitrocellulose better for it’s clarity and color than catalyzed. But catalyzed is much tougher. Nitrocellulose is really not indicated for tabletops or other high ware areas with catalyzed available. Polyester looks like plastic to me – maybe because it is. That’s not the kind of work that I do, but for some applications it’s what’s indicated.In case you’re asking because you want to use these finishes yourself be advised that you probably can’t – at least you probably can’t legally. Both finishes are toxic and very flammable. Here in NYC you need permits up the Yazoo and a high-end spray booth with explosion proof everything to use these materials. We rent a booth when we need to spray CAB – we’re going over there this week actually. The guys we rent from dropped $20K in permit fees and construction materials making a legal facility. And that didn’t include their labor building the thing. They were telling us that they had to go take a class given by the fire department in order to get the permit! Best, Kim Carleton GravesCarleton Woodworking

2. 
   Jon_Weisenbach | Mar 26, 2001 01:55am | #6

   *Spraying w. poly with an airless?I've used and airless to spray sanding sealer and lacquer with good results but never tried wb-poly. any tips re: thinning or desired tip size? thanks for the help.Jon

3. 
   Steve_Morrissey | Mar 29, 2001 02:25pm | #7

   *Thanks kim for your help very helpful!