Has anyone used a glazing tecnique on kitchen cabinets? I was asked to reproduce a finish the customer had seen in a kda brochure, that described the finish as mocha glazing. I’ve never heard of it, let alone tried this. Is this a real finishing tecnique, or something the kitchen cabinet industry has come up with to conceal sapwood and such defects?
Thanks for any help, before I Google..
Replies
It's a very common technique. Used extensively in furniture production since the 30's. Tell me what kind of finishing system you are using and I'll give you a finishing schedule & suggetions for materials.
Micahel R
Thanks Woodwiz, I'll be staining cherry with General Finishes antique cherry oil stain.
I apply all my finishes by hand, no spraying system.
Edited 2/25/2005 10:01 pm ET by benchdog
What I need to know is what kind of sealer and topcoat you are going to be using. Not spraying sure slows things down, but is still doable.
I suspect you're going to want to use an alkyd glaze, but it really does depend on the rest of your finishing system.
Michael R
I'm using oil based General Finishes sealer/stain and oil based polyurethane over it.
Thank you.
My recommendations are similar to Hammer's, with a few exceptions:
Stain your wood. I usually use a dye stain to get a uniform base color, then a wiping stain to bring up the grain. This gives a much more uniform appearance overall. I suspect you will just use a wiping stain. Any "oil based" pigmented stain will do.
Apply a sealer coat based on the recommendation of your finish manufacturer. I suspect you'll have to use topcoat, because most oil-based poly varnishes have poor adhesion to sanding sealers.
Sand the seal coat with 220 fre-cut paper. Apply a thin coat of glaze, making sure you get the glaze into all the low areas in the moldings and panels. Let the glaze set up a bit, then wipe most of it off, leaving color in the low areas, and a slight haze of coor on the flat surfaces. Just a little bit of color will lodge in the sanding scratches from the 220 sandpaper. You could also dry-brush the glaze, depending on the look you are after. You'll want to work with samples until you establish a method that gives you the look you want.
Because you are using polyurethane, you'd best use an alkyd glaze, not a linseed oil based or water based one. Benjamin Moore makes a good one that I have occasionally used. Color it with Universal Tinting Colors (UTC's) available in 2 oz and 16 oz bottles in most paint stores. Artist oils are prohibitively expensive for a job this size. For mocha, I'd start with VanDyke Brown and white. Burnt umber will probably end up too pink when mixed with white, and raw umber is too greenish.
Let the glaze dry at least overnight, then topcoat as usual.
Let me just observe that if you are going to get serious about finishing things for money, especially kitchens, that you really would do better if you learned to spray using fast-drying finishes, especially catalyzed finishes for kitchens. I can finish a kitchen in 1/3 the time using spray materials. This means I can make $500 per day while you would be lucky to make $200.......
There is a potential adhesion problem using oil based poly with glaze. Most oil based polys require a thorough sanding in order for one coat to adhere to another. You generally can't sand a glaze coat without making it look bad, so you'll have to try to get everything done within the recoat window, if your finish has one. This brings up the risk of the brush lifting the glaze if it is not thoroughly set (not necessarily dry) before the second coat goes on. The Benjamin Moore glaze I mentioned is pretty good in this respect, and still has a good working time.
With a painted finish the sequence is prime, sand, paint, glaze and wipe, then clearcoat. This is a pretty simple process made a little harder and much more time consuming by your choice of materials and technique, but it's certainly doable, with patience and attention to detail. Overall, I'd rate it a three on a difficulty scale of ten, ten being the hardest.
Remember, it is vital to your success to work with samples until you are sure of getting the results you want.
Good luck,
Michael R
I'm printing your instructions and will try it tomorrow morning. You have been very thurough, and I thank you very much.
Eventually, I'll set up a spray booth. Kitchen cabinets come twice a year on average, not high valume, but enough to frustrate me time-wise as you've mentioned.
Thanks again!
Glad to help. Remember, it's just one way, not the only way.
And do Samples!!!
M R
Most furinture reproduction companies use roofing tar as an over glaze. The trade name is asphaltium. Check the wood finnishing book by Mike Dressler.
Bear
I've used some glazing for kitchens both for painted and stained finishes. The way I used it was to paint or stain first. You can buy glazing liquid in both oil and water base at the paint store. It is a clear liquid that you add color to. I use artists colors, oil for oil, acrylic for water base. You can also use paint tinting colors. I prefer the oil because it gives you time to work, the water base dries too quickly. You may want some raw umber for a mocha color but that will depend on your idea of mocha. The most common woodworking colors are raw and burnt sienna and raw and burnt umber along with van dyke brown, but there are many other choices you can mix for the color you want.
Mix some of the colorant with the glazing liquid. It's best to measure both so you can repeat the formula. It doesn't take much colorant. You apply the glaze with a rag or brush. Generally you are looking to acentuate the grooves and corners or distressing marks. Apply and rag off what you don't want, leaving some glaze in the crevices as you see fit. You can glaze the whole piece or just certain areas. After the glaze dries, you can top coat as you ordinarily would.
I posted pictures of this kitchen over at breaktime a while ago. It has both painted and stained cabinets with glazing. The pictures aren't very clear but I used venetian red on the green cabinets and van dyke brown on the cherry. The customer wanted the painted cabinets to be distressed somewhat like old worn paint. There is also a picture of a library cabinet. You can see how the glaze was left in the grooves of the pilasters.
Thanks for responding Hammer, now that you've described it, I know what it is. I used this tecnique a couple of times to distress walls. I didn't think it applied to furniture. I thought it had something to do with the final top coat.
I have my artist oil paints, I'll mix some burnt umber with the glaze and apply it over the stained pieces, wait to dry, and top coat. Thank you for the info.
Woodwiz, thank you as well for the help, I understand now what the customer wants, I'll practice this week-end.
You guys are great!
BTW... beautiful work Hammer!
Edited 2/26/2005 9:37 am ET by benchdog
VERY nice painted cabinet!!Gretchen
Thanks Gretchen. The pictures are awful, the cabinets look much better in person, no where near as blotchy. The owner called this week for some additional work, hopefully I'll be able to get some better shots and see how they stood up for over a year of use. My flash wouldn't sync last time and my computer wouldn't download. I lost a lot of pictures of some work I'd like to have had.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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