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Newsletter #127

IWF – Let’s Go on With the Show!

Woodworking shows have traditionally been an excellent way for the woodworker to see the latest tools, equipment and machinery, as well as the classics. It’s also been a good time to meet a company’s representatives in person.  Of course, times have changed and various shows have either reduced their tours or disappeared altogether. Fortunately, the world’s biggest and the best woodworking show, The International Woodworking Fair (IWF,) at the Georgia World Congress in Atlanta GA is alive and going full speed ahead. I’ll be there for Apollo Sprayers in Booth 5465!

The show is 4 days long and it really is enormous and impossible to see it all in one day. Products range from small hand tools to large machinery. Most attendees study the IWF 2012 website, determine some of the booths they wish to visit and then map out their route. They will be tempted by many unexpected stops along the way. We also use it as an opportunity to scout out new and exceptional products to carry on TheFinishingStore.com.

Apollo Sprayers, Intl. will feature our Precision Series HVLP turbines – new Apollo 835VR, a high powered, 3-stage HVLP turbine with the same precision features offered in the 5-stage Apollo 1050VR. Both models offer more controllable, more predictable operation and results, which have the positive benefits of saving energy, time, amount and cost of coatings. 

Visit the Apollo Booth 5465 to see these amazing precision machines, and our award-winning Apollo Spray Guns in action. I am looking forward to seeing you at IWF!

Sr. Vice President and COO


Apollo Sprayers International, Inc.

 

Our New Quality and Customer Service Program Is Supported by New Processes and a New Hire

TheFinishingStore.com and Apollo Sprayers are all part of the same company.  Both businesses are growing fast and we’re proud to be engaged in a smart growth program and with the progress of an intensive systems reorganization undertaken with the Lean Six Sigma Institute (LSSI). This has expanded our manufacturing capabilities, our factory and warehouse facilities and led us to create a new position being filled by David Ifrid as Value Stream Manager.

John Darroch, President and CEO of Apollo and TheFinishingStore.com, said, “This is a very exciting time. Responding to worldwide demand for essential professional HVLP and other finishing equipment in a variety of industries, we have undergone an intensive capacity transformation in the past 7 months. We’re welcoming David Ifrid on board to bring his logistics and Lean Six Sigma experience to help us maintain our forward momentum.

Lean Six Sigma is a fusion of programs developed by Toyota and Motorola that are dedicated to achieving “business and operational excellence.” David Ifrid was born and raised in San Diego and has as over twenty years of management experience in the logistics field, with the past 12 years working with the supply chain giant, Ceva Logistics.  David Ifrid said, “I completed the Lean Six Sigma Training three years ago and was impressed by how much more efficient and organized the business became and the resulting increase in throughput.”

John Darroch said, “As we’ve moved through the LSSI program we’ve incorporated concepts such as kaizen, where we carefully examine every small element in a particular process, finding out how to eliminate waste of both time and effort. You emerge with a streamlined process that greatly improves efficiency and results.”  The kaizen process is backed up by a weekly quality inspection known as the genba walk. Based on the Japanese word for “the real place,” the genba walk takes management to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice shop floor improvement. Darroch describes the effects of these disciplines;  “everyone in the company is directly involved in improving how we organize inventory, how we manufacture, how we ship, how we deal with our supply chain, and how we serve our customers, step by step. It’s logical and very powerful in its effect.”

new-employee.jpgDavid Ifrid is happy to be joining the Apollo team at this important moment.  He looks forward to bringing his past experience and skillsets to support Apollo growth. He said, “After interviewing with John Darroch and the staff, I saw a team that was very committed to growth using Lean Six Sigma.”

We’re pleased to welcome David and to be expanding our abilities to produce and market the highest quality finishing equipment in the world and to give our customers a satisfying experience working with our companies.


Product of the Month: Kleen Again Brush and Gun Cleaner

One of the things that puts woodworkers off finishing is the clean up. Think of those stiff crusty brushes or remember the toxic old products for clean up.  Those days are gone! TheFinishingStore.com continues our commitment to finding non-toxic solutions to old finishing problems.  So now, finishing is not only easier to do, it is incredibly easy to clean up!

Kleen-Again easily and safely removes wet or hardened oil and latex paints, stains, urethanes, varnishes and enamels from brushes and spray guns. Made from soybeans, Kleen-Again is biodegradable, environmentally friendly and cleans without odors associated with traditional brush and gun cleaners.

Finishing Feature Article by Charles Neil: Ebonized Finishes

Ebonize is a fancy word for “make it black.”

To be honest, when I read all the concoctions that folks use to achieve a black color on wood, I get a chuckle, it’s amazing.

I think the most popular one is using vinegar and 0000 steel wool. The process is to put the steel wool in a jar of vinegar and allow the acid in the vinegar to rust and eat away the steel wool forming a black liquid.

My experience with this is that it’s inconsistent. READ MORE

Finishing Tip by Bob Flexner: Getting a Do-over – Removing an Application Problem

During application of a finish, whether by rag, brush or spray, there are sometimes problems so severe that you would like to remove what you have just applied and start over. You can do this fairly easily with oil and varnish finishes, with somewhat more difficulty using water-based finishes, and not at all with shellac and lacquer finishes without removing all previous coats down to the wood.

With oil finishes, you may have as long as an hour to remove the finish without damaging the coats below. Use mineral spirits (paint thinner).

With varnish (including polyurethane varnish), you may have 15-to-30 minutes before the finish sets up too much. Use mineral spirits.

With water-based finish, you have to be very quick; you have only a few minutes. But you won’t damage dried coats below as long as you use water.

With each of these cases, wet the rag well—that is, soaking wet—and turn the cloth often.

With shellac and lacquer, you can’t remove the last coat applied without damaging and removing all the coats below. The solution, if you have a problem you want to remove, is to let the finish dry, then sand out the problem.

You could also strip all the finish and start over, of course, just as with any finish.

Finishing Tip by Bob Flexner: Using Shellac for Holdout

Shellac is often recommended as a sealer, with one of the justifications being that it provides “holdout” so fewer coats of finish then need to be applied to get the same overall thickness.

This is correct only if you are applying lacquer over the shellac, as shown in the first accompanying picture. I applied a coat of shellac to the right side of this panel and a coat of nitrocellulose lacquer to the left side. Then I applied a coat of lacquer to the entire panel.

There is a little better build on the right side with the shellac sealer coat.

But using shellac as a sealer coat doesn’t have the same effect with either water-based finish or varnish (including polyurethane varnish). In fact, the opposite is the case. For example, in the second picture, the right side with shellac applied under a coat of water-based finish shows less build than the left side with two coats of water-based finish.

The same is the case with varnish.

The explanation for the different results is that each coat of lacquer dissolves into previous coats of lacquer, which leaves the pores more open and the build appearing thinner. This doesn’t happen with water-based finish or with varnish. They don’t dissolve into themselves.

So applying any finish, including shellac, under lacquer, creates the appearance of greater build.

1-lacquer-over-shellacsmall.jpg

This is correct only if you are applying lacquer over the shellac, as shown in the first accompanying picture. I applied a coat of shellac to the right side of this panel and a coat of nitrocellulose lacquer to the left side. Then I applied a coat of lacquer to the entire panel.

There is a little better build on the right side with the shellac sealer coat.

But using shellac as a sealer coat doesn’t have the same effect with either water-based finish or varnish (including polyurethane varnish). In fact, the opposite is the case. For example, in the second picture, the right side with shellac 2-water-based-over-shellacsmall.jpgapplied under a coat of water-based finish shows less build than the left side with two coats of water-based finish.

The same is the case with varnish.

The explanation for the different results is that each coat of lacquer dissolves into previous coats of lacquer, which leaves the pores more open and the build appearing thinner. This doesn’t happen with water-based finish or with varnish. They don’t dissolve into themselves.

So applying any finish, including shellac, under lacquer, creates the appearance of greater build.