#155
Wishing You & Yours
Happy Holidays
Joyous & Peaceful New Year
Greetings from Bill Boxer, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Apollo Sprayers International, Inc
Our writer this month, Scott Burt, has summed up everything we try to do in our monthly newsletter. Thank you Scott.
This newsletter community continues to grow because good finishers are always looking for, or at least open to ponder, different ways to raise their game. I enjoy being involved because this bunch (readers, writers and publishers) puts its ear right to the ground and listens to many perspectives on finishing and shares the different angles we all need to glimpse the discipline from.
It is the finisher’s challenge to absorb quality info, retain and apply. And reapply, fine tune and commit to long term memory. And reapply. That’s how habit takes root.
December Special: Free Shipping on All Our Orders Over $100
December 12-December 24, 2014
Essentials for Every Woodworker, Novice or Master Woodworker:
Click to See All Our Products
Great Gift Ideas for the Finisher
December is a great time to make sure your finishing tool chest is well stocked. For the professional or semi-pro, buying tools before the end of the tax year gives you an extra deduction if you need it. If you are a person that’s normally impossible to buy for, you can offer your friends or family a subtle hint in the form of a wish list ranging from Inexpensive to Really Generous.
Here are some items that make really appropriate gifts either from you to yourself (I shouldn’t have!) or for others to give or receive:
ECO-4 Turbine System with E5011 ECO-LOGICAL, ECO-NOMICAL TURBINE SYSTEM
Efficient 4 stage turbine with new dual filter QT™ Quiet Technology in a thoughtfully designed case to allow full ventilation and air filtration for performance and longevity. Expect more power and pressure than other 4 stage turbine systems in its class.
Nour Aqua Glide Plus Nylon Fine Bristle Brush – 2 1/2 in. Angular Sash
Nour AquaGlide Plus Nylon Fine Bristle Brush – 2 1/2 in. Angular Sash HANDMADE QUALITY BRUSHES THAT DELIVER THE BEST FINISH Each AquaGlide brush is individually handmade with detail to quality. This 100%…
Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner-TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF WOOD FINISHING
For more than 18 years, Bob Flexner has been inspiring woodworkers with his writings and teachings on wood finishing. Now, from this best‐selling author comes the long‐awaited and completely updated second edition of “Understanding Wood Finishing” – the most practical, comprehensive book on finishing ever published.
Apollo Filter Stand
Apollo Filter Stand SAVE HOURS IN CLEAN UP AND SPILLAGE The Apollo Filter Stand, an extremely handy and simple device that will save you hours of clean up and keep your workbench clean and free from spills whenever…
Apollo Turbine Blow Off Tool
GENUINE APOLLO TURBINE BLOW OFF TOOL DIRECTS TURBINE AIR TO BLOW YOUR WORK AREA CLEAN This handy tool can replace the air blow off tool that you use with your air compressor. The only difference is that this Air Tool…
EZ-Pro Dual Pack Sander Set START SANDING IN THOSE HARD TO REACH SPOTS
- Patented triangular design
- Perfect for hard‐to‐reach places
- Comfort grip handle for maximum gripping power
- Built for aggressive sanding, yet smooth movement
Finishing Feature Article:
Explain Well
by Scott Burt
My biggest inspiration is my 8 year old son. He has taught me to teach him that it’s not whether you win or lose,
but how you play the game.
And if you play the game well, you win often.
How do we win in the game of fine finishing?
This is a discipline where we tend to drive ourselves to pretty high standards – little room for error.
We start with good habits for efficiency, eliminating all that is irrelevant to the goal – a zen like ritualism in approach. Actually, we don’t start there. That is a level that we work hard to achieve.
First, there is lots of research and trial and error.
Just like you can’t get frustrated with a child for not understanding something that you didn’t explain well enough, you can’t get mad at yourself for not executing a finish you didn’t learn well enough.
In the old days, you could pretty much pull out the sprayer on spray day and make it all fly. That was a different day. Products were more forgiving, open times lasted longer than a summer vacation, and the only thing that really ever changed was the piece you were spraying.
The Triumph of Transfer Efficiency
Sprayers have gotten better over the years. The features, quality of components, systemic nature and performance have advanced immensely. HVLP and air assisted continue to be the benchmarks for most finishers who don’t have time to mess around and want great results that are predictable and duplicable. The machine is rarely the problem, if it’s the right one for your tasks, especially if you set it up for success.
HVLP and air assisted come with a higher cost of entry than airless, but a more hassle free pro level experience. The bottom line is that we can’t get things to lay down like glass when the room is full of mist becoming dry dust, in finish.
So, research, due diligence and self-training, supplemented by learning from other like-minded folks is how we all test our systems for relevance. Remember, failure to adapt is one of the leading causes of finish issues.
This newsletter community continues to grow because good finishers are always looking for, or at least open to ponder, different ways to raise their game. I enjoy being involved because this bunch (readers, writers and publishers) puts its ear right to the ground and listens to many perspectives on finishing and shares the different angles we all need to glimpse the discipline from.
It is the finisher’s challenge to absorb quality info, retain and apply. And reapply, fine tune and commit to long term memory. And reapply. That’s how habit takes root.
The good news is that once something becomes habit, it’s taken over by muscle memory and becomes pleasingly mindless. You don’t have to think much to put your shoes and socks on in the morning, and you shouldn’t have to think much to lay down a good finish either.
If you find yourself having to think too much on finish day, something may be amiss in your program.
Products are the Biggest Moving Target
As above, finding the right products to run in your spray system and gearing yourself to perceive everything in the finishing environment is the nutshell from which to baseline yourself.
If your weakness is creating space for finishing, figure out how to better organize the workshop, and create that dust free finishing shrine. Finishing is a ground up operation. And it is best when portable, not stationary. Caster everything and dedicate a vac and fan.
Once the environment is controlled, half your potential problems are eliminated. Patience and determination make it possible to zero out all other mental interference and focus on getting your finishes right.
At that point, product becomes the biggest variable, so we try to control that too, by choosing products that are user friendly -or, manipulating non-friendly ones to be friendlier.
Consider your Angle
We get a lot of questions through our topcoatreview.com site about sprayers and spraying. It is by far the most popular category.
There are FAQ’s that look like this:
• I have an old single stage HVLP that I haven’t used in years. I want to spray latex primer, will this work?
• I want to spray tinted lacquers, what sprayer should I get.
No matter what stage finish program development you are in, it is mostly a game of haves and wants.
• What do you have for resources?
• What do you want to achieve?
• What do you need to do to bridge the gap between those two things?
These are some points to ponder as you continue to build your finish program. The best finishers never look at any part of the finish game as a chore or inconvenience – just opportunity and challenge. There’s no reward in finish results otherwise.
Explain to yourself why you are doing each step, every time, and explain well so that it becomes habit.
Have a great Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.
Finishing Tip by Bob Flexner
Wood Prep and the Look of a Finish
The way you prepare the wood for finishing, whether by sanding as most do, or by scraping or planing as some do, has no affect on the way the wood will look with the finish applied. Different finishes add more or less color to the wood, but if you aren’t staining the wood, the way you prepare it has no impact on the appearance under any single finish.
Nor does the grit to which you sand the wood make any difference for the appearance with the finish applied. You can sand to 120 grit or to 600 grit and you won’t see any difference after you have applied the finish.
This is somewhat counter-intuitive because the wood is glossier (shinier) when scraped, planed or sanded to a finer grit.
The way you prepare the wood does make a difference if you apply a stain, however. You should prepare all the wood exactly the same, meaning for most of us, sanding to the same final grit.
TAKE A BREAK AND HAVE SOME FUN
See how many words you can find. Look for words horizontally and vertically,
top down, or bottom up. You can print this page, including the puzzle, work offline,
and then highlight words as you find them.