Wood finishing question

[Coytee]

Not necessarily speaker wood...though I guess it might work.

 

Backstory:  On a visit once to the factory, I think I saw some guy finishing Cornwalls or something like that.  I presumed (but don't know for sure) that he was spraying the stain on them.

 

Then again, for all I know, he might have been spraying a clear finish on already stained speakers.

 

Here's why I ask...

 

I have a compressor and a couple gravity fed HVLP (if that's the right acronym) spray guns.

 

I might make some (solid) wood boxes...debating on some walnut or something other.  What I'm wondering is, can I spray the finish onto the wood (urethane) or should that be brushed on??

 

The kitchen cabinets that we've sprayed turned out VERY nice.  Darn near looks like a pro did them.  Makes me wonder if that approach with stain might also look just as nice on solid wood verses using the sponge brush.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[oldtimer]

At least for the stain I would think a hand rubbed effect would be best.

[Coytee]

I was kind of thinking that too....logic being "rubbing it into the wood" (but will admit I'm ignorant of finishing techniques other than painting every exposed surface (wife prefers paint to exposed wood))

 

 

[Bigdnfay1]

With stain, you can brush it on and wipe it off or put some on a rag and work it in. do as many coats as needed to get desired results. Different woods take stain differently. Always spray top coats when possible to avoid brush marks. Many thin coats (sanding lightly in between with 220 or finer grit)is better than one heavy coat. Use a scrap piece to test on for best result(stains,pickling,etc,and finishes).

 

Big D

[dtel]

On 5/23/2018 at 7:45 PM, Coytee said:

Then again, for all I know, he might have been spraying a clear finish on already stained speakers.

I always apply stain by hand with a rag to make sure it's even and as others said reapply if you want it a little darker. I tend to apply and wipe off extra as soon as I have one section covered. It usually says to leave it sit longer but I have found it tend to get sticky sometimes so I would rather reapply than to leave it sit longer.

 

As far as clear if it's small and simple I like to brush, but like the last thing, a large sub I sprayed it. For one thing it was alot to cover and there were parts inside the large ports (1502 sub) that there was no way to do it right and not have drips or runs around the port braces. It was the first time I sprayed polyurethane on something that big. It turned out to be much easier to control spraying. I used a HVLP gun like you said, I followed some online instructions that said to thin the poly to make it spray better. After a couple of coats I tried it without thinning and it worked just as good or better. 

What I did was put it under a open but cover tractor shed so it would be in the shade and started spraying thin coats. I came back about 20 minutes after the first coat and it was almost dry so I sprayed it again. It was drying fast so I did about 3-4 coats and let it sit for a few hours, then came back and lightly sanded with 220 then wiped it down with a rag dampened with mineral spirits and let that dry. I put probably 4-5 more coats and let it sit for a few hours before moving it to the porch where it could be put on a furniture dolly and rolled inside. 

 

I moved it with forks on a tractor so I didn't have to handle it much at all, when done set it down on the flat dolly and pushed it in, not really applying much pressure until the next day to get in in place off the dolly.

 

It seemed to be about 90% dry but was afraid if the dampness at night would cause a problem so we carefully brought it inside, it was dried but not really hardened. Being it was light coats it seemed to dry fast, I guess this helped, it is satin finish and seems well covered and a tough finish. 

 

You can see the top here, this was satin, glad I didn't use gloss it would have been really shiny. 

 

 

[muel]

On birch I would use sanding sealer prior to stain to keep the color more even.  On walnut I prefer to not stain much... I just love the natural color.  I might go for a little reddish stain.

[twk123]

For stain what I do is first wipe the wood down with mineral spirits and let dry, this will suck out any oils in the wood that will repel the stain or finish. Next sand with 220 grit to knock down any grain that was raised by the mineral spirits. Then apply minwax pre-stain conditioner which will help make the stain more even. For the actual stain, I set a timer for 10 min and use a brush to apply the stain. The trick is to keep going over the section you are staining with the brush so the stain is always wet and never starts to get sticky or dry. Once the timer goes off I wipe with a clean lint free rag. You may want to repeat the stain steps again for a darker look.

 

For a finish, you can use a brush or rag depending on how thick it is. You can always cut an oil finish with mineral spirits to make it easier to wipe on. All finish is actually high gloss but satin and matte have something like little silicon crystals in it to knock down the gloss. As such, its best to use a gloss finish on all the coats then save the matte finish for the last coat. You can also use 0000 steel wool to knock down the gloss to a satin finish.

[dtel]

3 hours ago, twk123 said:

All finish is actually high gloss but satin and matte have something like little silicon crystals in it to knock down the gloss. As such, its best to use a gloss finish on all the coats then save the matte finish for the last coat. You can also use 0000 steel wool to knock down the gloss to a satin finish.

I had no idea, that's good to know but let me ask a question. I like using steel wool but read it can cause a problem with residue particles rusting later,  I have never had that problem but started using brass wool instead ? I have use it between coats on some things I was afraid to over sand and just wanted to rough up and never had a problem ?

 

And I did forget to say about all the edge banding  and sanding I did before before I started to stain, the part I don't like.

[Coytee]

If it helps anyone, I'm thinking of walnut with (what I think is called) figured birch??  

 

A white type wood with some kind of pattern in it?  (don't know that I've ever seen it in real life...  but have seen pictures and think the two might work nicely together.

 

Thinking on making a wooden box for each of my two grand-nieces.  Something that might possibly last them as long as my Grandmothers has lasted me (probably pushing 45 years now)

 

 

[twk123]

2 minutes ago, dtel said:

I had no idea, that's good to know but let me ask a question. I like using steel wool but read it can cause a problem with residue particles rusting later,  I have never had that problem but started using brass wool instead ? I have use it between coats on some things I was afraid to over sand and just wanted to rough up and never had a problem ?

 

And I did forget to say about all the edge banding  and sanding I did before before I started to stain, the part I don't like.

I have head that as well but personally have not had a problem. I always make sure to wipe down my project with some 70% isopropyl alcohol after the steel wool to get any residue. The only real project I did considerable steel wool sanding was on a Ruger 10/22 stock that I put about 15 coats of Tru Oil on and have not had a problem yet.

[JJkizak]

43 minutes ago, twk123 said:

I have head that as well but personally have not had a problem. I always make sure to wipe down my project with some 70% isopropyl alcohol after the steel wool to get any residue. The only real project I did considerable steel wool sanding was on a Ruger 10/22 stock that I put about 15 coats of Tru Oil on and have not had a problem yet.

 

I use 4 ott steel wool all the time on my art projects and vacuum them afterward.

JJK