Expert's Corner — turbine

Orange peel is an irregular or bumpy surface in a sprayed finish caused by spraying a liquid that is too viscous, or thick, with too little air pressure, or by moving the spray gun too fast or holding it too far from the surface. When defined in this manner, the methods for avoiding orange peel are obvious. To reduce or eliminate orange peel, thin the finish or increase air pressure (or both). If you’re using a turbine rather than compressor, you can’t increase air pressure. So thin the finish. Also, arrange lights so you can see how the spray wets...

If you work in a small shop you might think that spraying is out of the question. However, that's not the case. A knock-down spray booth will enable you to spray waterborne finishes easily and safely. Use a Waterborne Finish Waterborne finishes are ideal for the home shop because they don't give off as much volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as solvent-based finishes, so they're safer for your health. As well, they're practically odourless, easy to clean up, and they don't produce explosive vapours - so any fans or other ventilation equipment that you use in the vicinity of the spray...

It seems that one of the topics I get a tremendous amount of emails about is when folks are having issues due to the heat and humidity. A huge number of woodworkers spray their finishes outside and in doing so, are at the mercy of uncontrolled temperatures. Spraying in these conditions can be risky business. Most finishes simply do not like to be force dried. When spraying in direct sunlight the surface of the finish will skim over leaving the underlying finish still soft. The finish can then blister; this is most predominant in solvent base finishes. The surface dries...

Each year, John Darroch, President and CEO of Apollo Sprayers and TheFinishingStore.com, judges the awards for the Excellence in Finishing at the prestigious Design in Wood (or @designinwood) show at the San Diego County Fair. Winners receive gift certificates from TheFinishingStore.com This combined competition and exhibit is a collaboration between the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association and the San Diego County Fair. Woodworkers from all over the world compete for honors in the largest show of its kind anywhere (according to Fine Woodworking magazine). Exquisite furniture, musical instruments, carvings, clocks, children's toys and more — many museum quality — are included. Many...

Inexpensive tack cloths (tack rags) are available from most suppliers of paints and finishes. They are sticky rags meant for picking up dust, often sanding dust, from a surface just before applying a coat of finish. Here are some tips for using them. Limit their use to solvent finishes. They can cause fish-eye and bonding problems with water-based finishes because they leave an oily residue on the surface. Instead of a tack cloth, use a slightly water-dampened cloth to remove the dust when working with water-based finishes. Before using a tack cloth on sanded wood, remove the majority of the...