You are in for a real treat this year.
The man many call, “The industry’s go to expert,” Marty Schlosser, is joining the Target Coatings community to provide handy advice, guidance and answers to your wood finishing questions (which you can ask in the comments section below).
Marty probably needs no introduction, but if you don’t already know him, here’s a summary…
Marty has been a furniture designer, maker, and finisher for nearly 50 years. At first, his interest in finishing stemmed from his desire to finish the furniture he created for family and friends.
But as his reputation as a skilled finisher grew, he began getting requests from other woodworkers to finish their work.
This opened the door to a career in production-level spray finishing and expertise that has been sought – and shared — across many publications and live events.
For example, Marty has written extensively for Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement Magazine and conducts twice-annual spray finishing workshops for Fuji Spray in Toronto.
In addition to being a highly sought after “voice” in the woodworking and finishing industry, Marty is also a past-president of the Ottawa Woodworkers Association (and a proud recipient of their Danny Proulx Memorial Award), and the founding member of Kingston Wood Artisans, the local woodworking club in Kingston, Ontario, Canada where he and his wife reside.
Now “retired” from the craft, Marty continues making furniture for his family and friends in his home-based studio workshop. He is always interested in sharing ideas with others about all aspects of woodworking and most especially, wood finishing.
To that point…
If you could ask Marty anything about wood finishing, what would it be?
Post your questions below in the comments section and he’ll share his advice with you in future articles on this blog.
I could use some guidance /suggestions on a finish schedule for a cabinet refinish for 20 year old Hickory cabinets with extreme color fading. If possible I would like to send a email with what TARGET COATINGS products i am using and what steps I am following.
Mike – Thank you for your inquiry. Send email to: info@targetcoatings.com
-JW-
What is the schedule for finishing white lacquer? Under and over will use water based products. Haven’t had good results just using a shellac seal coat. Thoughts please. Thanks
Andy – Thank you for your inquiry. The finishing schedule for priming/finishing with a white lacquer varies based on the substrate you are finishing. To keep it simple for the moment, I like to apply 2 coats of our HSF5000 Primer Surfacer and 2 or 3 coats of our EM6500 Bright White Lacquer when finishing birch, poplar and MDF.
Feel free to contact us at info@targetcoatings.com to learn more.
-JW-
Andy – Thank you for your inquiry and for your patience in waiting on a reply.
Depending on the substrate you are finishing and if it is new construction or a refinishing project, the process is fairly straight-forward.
We need to determine what the substrate is in order to point you in the right direction, i.e. are you finishing oak, MDF, maple, or a prefinished surface?
-JeffW-
Hi Jeff and Marty! I am wondering what advice you have on using water-borne/water-based finishes with walnut. Like many, when I use water-based finishes, I struggle to get that warmth and depth from walnut that you get from oil/solvent-based finishes; instead I often get a bit of a cool blue-ish tinge, especially when the light hits the finish just right. Most recently, I’ve tried the EM8000cv even going so far as to use a light coat of 50/50 mix of Zinsser SealCoat dewaxed shellac and denatured alcohol as a base to try to get some of that warmth before topcoating with the EM8000cv.
I’ve noticed that the blue-ish tinge seems to be more pronounced in the satin sheen EM8000cv than in the gloss sheen of the same product. I love the ease and environmental benefits of water-based finishes and prefer it on some species of woods like maple, but walnut seems to be a challenge. Thanks for any pointers!
“Chris, that’s a great question. Walnut does indeed need some “punching up” to bring out its warm color. Your idea of using a 50/50 mix of Zinsser SealCoat dewaxed shellac and denatured alcohol will do the trick. Just as I do whenever using a product for the first time, I’d recommend you make up test panel of similar grained walnut, or use a seldom visible (underside…) area of the piece as your testing area. Sand to 320 grit, then apply 1 coat of your thinned shellac and wait an hour before checking to see how it looks. If that still doesn’t give you the color and tone you’re after, remember that you may add alcohol-soluble dyes to the shellac. If you decide to go that route, start afresh with a new test. Once you’re happy with how things look with the shellac coat (tinted or otherwise), do your final sanding then apply your topcoats of EM8000cv to your test area. I always go through the entire finishing process on my test areas – including topcoating – because many topcoats will influence the tone which preceding products (in this case, the shellac) have imparted.
Regarding your “blue-ish tinge”, this is usually an indication that the coats you applied were too heavy. With our EM8000cv, each coat should be 3 mils wet (meaning, right after applying the coat). You may confirm this by using a wet film thickness gage right after you’ve applied a coat. Here’s a video which describes how to use the gage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwIhWu25O2s Your local paint supplier should carry wet film thickness gages. If your wet mil thickness checks after each coat show that you’re applying the correct thickness and you’re still getting a “blue-ish tinge”, it is more than likely you are not waiting long enough between coats to allow the preceding coat to dry properly before laying down another one.
Let me know how things work out and if you have any other questions or comments, please feel free to get back in touch.
All the best with your finishing! Marty with Target Coatings.”
-PS – @ Chris: Thank you for your patience in waiting on our reply. We are experiencing a technical glitch with the Moderator status on our blog page. We hope to have it fixed today. Please stay tuned!.. -JeffW-
I have red oak cabinets from the late 80’s. How do I determine what the finish is? I want to refinish the cabinets with a white lacquer. I would prefer a water borne application.
Any recommendations would be welcomed.
Uque – Thank you for your inquiry, and for your patience for waiting on my reply :)
There are several ways to determine what the existing finish is, mainly by testing with an array of reagent chemicals that will create a reaction on the cured film. This type of testing is best left to a trained refinishing professional that has access to these dangerous chemicals.
Here is a reply to a similar questions based on applying a new white lacquer finish over an existing paint. I think you will gain a good starting point with the following:
Yes, EM6500 Pigmented Lacquer will bond to properly cleaned and prepared paint, whether it is latex or oil-based in design.
Ensure that you clean the surface to remove any contamination with a mild pH all purpose cleaner, then rinse with a solution of water and denatured alcohol mix 1:1 to remove all residue. Once this is complete you can scuff sand the existing painted surface to remove defects using a fine sandpaper schedule (400-grit is acceptable), followed again by the water/dna wipe-down. From this point you can proceed to apply the EM6500.
Feel free to contact us directly if you have any further questions. :)
A decade ago we happened upon an old warehoused lot of solid Borneo ironwood floor planks. Apparently it was surplus from an older upper Midwest casino project. At the time we had four major rooms needing wood flooring. Over time there’s been some shrinkage here and there and squeaking. The floors are the most beautiful we’ve ever had but we’re clueless as to a good treatment strategy, and certainly don’t want to do something disastrous. We’ve done a lot of web searching but finding experts who have truly intimate expert knowledge of such woods seems impossible. We’d love to treat these floors in a way that assures them a long and lovely life.
When spraying a water based finish, EM6000 in particular, what should the freshly sprayed finish look like? I read we should spray light coats. When I spray light it looks like a bunch of tiny droplets, when I spray heavy it looks glossy like the top of a puddle. The light example can dry to orange peel. The heavy (7mil) risks runs. What should I be aiming for? Is there a video or puctorial?
Rick,
EM6000 Production Lacquer should have a uniform wet film formation without heavy droplets or pooling.
If you observe these effects I recommend that you review the needle/nozzle/cap size on your spray gun as well as adjust the fluid volume on your gun when the trigger is pulled.
The optimum tip set for EM6000 ranges from 1.3mm to 1.6mm, depending on the gun design.
In regards to orange-peel effect, this is an indication of poor atomization due to the air pressure not being within range of the tip/cap size.
I recommend that you apply each wet coat at 2mils wet, not to exceed 4mils.
Feel free to contact my office directly if you haver any questions.
-JeffW-