Profile: I am a self taught DIY ' er that have renovated 3 homes, 2 basements, built 1 shed and a outdoor fireplace. I have a wide array of Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Hilti etc and "great tools" make the difference in the quality of the project. Finish work has always been a challenge and frankly my tool selection was average at best. So when I ordered an entire basement of built-in cabinets I felt my Dewalt 5" orbit, mounds of sanding blocks, hand blocks and brushes/rollers was not going to cut it.
Then I found "FOG" thankfully and Festool appeared to be the answer to my finish work. I had been using the Dewalt, hand sanding with considerable time and little progress. So I took the plunge and bought a mini extractor, DTS 400 and RO 90 with 220 and 400 grit paper. Could it really be that good and make that much of a difference?
Then I needed a spray system...I picked up a "returned" Fuji Q3 that had been used very little and a gravity spray gun. Keep in mind never used a hvlp system or a product the likes of the Festool. I am spraying waterborne BM Ipervo and SW Pro-classic. Heard waterborne is tough to spray and needs to be thinned considerably....all blogs basically said between 10-25 percent or just to experiment. Using a quart gravity gun I found "finally" after much trial and error 1) 10 percent Flotrol 2) 12 percent distilled (thanks to a pros advice) water and paint. After calking the doors, drawers and all seams I sealed with water based Bins "All seal".
Then the sanding nightmare...I built a spray booth with leftover poly and four jack stands in the basement and set up saw horses. To avoid dust particles on the freshly painted parts I set up more saw horses in a second room and used the room for all sanding. What a task...dust, wiping down and then moving all back into the booth over and over was ridiculous.
Then Festool! I knocked out all sanded parts in 10 percent of the time it normally took...amazing...parts were 99 percent clean and a simple soap and water wipe off...then off to the spray booth...problem is I have 20 doors and drawers wih limited room in the booth. So I found extarack?..a mobile rack system for drying that solved my space problem.
At first I wanted to spray and progress from 220 up to 400 sanding between coats and finish 3 coats plus the primer. A pro at
Rocklers mentioned that 2 finish coats is all that is needed and to put down a clear coat? Not sure for I heard if the clear coat does not go on good it is not coming off? But I also want that protective coat for nicks and chips? Any thoughts?
Next up is the painting of the builtins...what thinning ratios to prevent drips and at the same time avoid splattering from the hvlp on all vertical surfaces. Sanding issues are solved with the DTS 400 and RO 90, but still detail on corbels and raised panels have to be handled with steel wool.
Questions for the pros?
1. Thoughts on number of coats
2. Mdf is ok after sanding, but looking to get glass finish...should I use spackle?
3. Any feedback for thinning to avoid runs on vertical surfaces
4. Thoughts on clear coat? Waterborne and necessary?
5. Thinking of festool 150/5 sander for large flat surfaces?
Then I found "FOG" thankfully and Festool appeared to be the answer to my finish work. I had been using the Dewalt, hand sanding with considerable time and little progress. So I took the plunge and bought a mini extractor, DTS 400 and RO 90 with 220 and 400 grit paper. Could it really be that good and make that much of a difference?
Then I needed a spray system...I picked up a "returned" Fuji Q3 that had been used very little and a gravity spray gun. Keep in mind never used a hvlp system or a product the likes of the Festool. I am spraying waterborne BM Ipervo and SW Pro-classic. Heard waterborne is tough to spray and needs to be thinned considerably....all blogs basically said between 10-25 percent or just to experiment. Using a quart gravity gun I found "finally" after much trial and error 1) 10 percent Flotrol 2) 12 percent distilled (thanks to a pros advice) water and paint. After calking the doors, drawers and all seams I sealed with water based Bins "All seal".
Then the sanding nightmare...I built a spray booth with leftover poly and four jack stands in the basement and set up saw horses. To avoid dust particles on the freshly painted parts I set up more saw horses in a second room and used the room for all sanding. What a task...dust, wiping down and then moving all back into the booth over and over was ridiculous.
Then Festool! I knocked out all sanded parts in 10 percent of the time it normally took...amazing...parts were 99 percent clean and a simple soap and water wipe off...then off to the spray booth...problem is I have 20 doors and drawers wih limited room in the booth. So I found extarack?..a mobile rack system for drying that solved my space problem.
At first I wanted to spray and progress from 220 up to 400 sanding between coats and finish 3 coats plus the primer. A pro at
Rocklers mentioned that 2 finish coats is all that is needed and to put down a clear coat? Not sure for I heard if the clear coat does not go on good it is not coming off? But I also want that protective coat for nicks and chips? Any thoughts?
Next up is the painting of the builtins...what thinning ratios to prevent drips and at the same time avoid splattering from the hvlp on all vertical surfaces. Sanding issues are solved with the DTS 400 and RO 90, but still detail on corbels and raised panels have to be handled with steel wool.
Questions for the pros?
1. Thoughts on number of coats
2. Mdf is ok after sanding, but looking to get glass finish...should I use spackle?
3. Any feedback for thinning to avoid runs on vertical surfaces
4. Thoughts on clear coat? Waterborne and necessary?
5. Thinking of festool 150/5 sander for large flat surfaces?
