I Really Dislike Finishing

[tablesawtom]

Get agravity feed Hluv gun and spray. The down side is an air compressor but it is a good reason to get one. I spray stain. If you sprairy it on lightly and keep going over it until just wet you can control a lot of blotching that way. I wipe with a bounty paper towel. Spreed out the paper to let dry or put it in a jar of water.

I use Seal Coat sanding sealer shellac for the sanding sealer. It adds enough amber color so it can be top coated with any water based poly without adhision problems. And it makes it look like an oil based product. First coat of seal coat dries almost instantly. Apply 2nd coat second coat in maybe 15 minutes. Let second coat dry 1 hour and sand. apply first coat water based poly. 1-2 hours sand and apply second coat.

If you get a fast drying stain you can be done in a day.

Tom

[a1gutterman]

[quote="dusty"]Putting a finish on any wood working project is defineately my least favorite part. I dislike it so much that the TV stand and skate case that I posted a while back is yet to be finished.

My wife made that point a couple days ago]
There is nothing like being in the shop, alone or with a young apprentice, measuring and cutting, fitting and glueing. Then comes what I consider the tedious part...sanding. Sometimes pieces are sanded before glueing, but in either case, sanding is the part that I like the least. The finishing part, for me, is better then the sanding part.

[scollins]

Could you elaborate on that ?
Which would you recommend ?
Thanks.

I bought a small Cobalt gravity feed from Lowes. I have friends that are constantly looking for a "better" equipment solution when better technique makes the most difference. If I had $1ooo+ for a trubine sprayer I would have one, but for the moment I'll make do with what I can. I don't think there will be much argument with the pics I attached.

Shellac sealer sprayed
Gel stain
Oil based stain sprayed
3 coats of GF Enduro water based top coat after solvents have evaporated from oil based stains

[camerio]

I bought a small Cobalt gravity feed from Lowes. I have friends that are constantly looking for a "better" equipment solution when better technique makes the most difference. If I had $1ooo+ for a trubine sprayer I would have one, but for the moment I'll make do with what I can. I don't think there will be much argument with the pics I attached.

Shellac sealer sprayed
Gel stain
Oil based stain sprayed
3 coats of GF Enduro water based top coat after solvents have evaporated from oil based stains

Thanks for your answer. We do not have Lowes store in our area but I may search at others.

[fjimp]

For most of my adult life I hated finishing. Then we moved into a rent house while our new home was being completed. There were no finished surfaces in this house. We only lived there a couple of months. Each day we attempted to clean different areas of the place and found the rough unsealed surfaces impossible to work with. Some years later we met a family that owned that house after we moved out. I asked if the prior owner had ever gotten around to finishing wood surfaces. The fellow grinned and said no but that was okay because he had bought the place at a substantial discount and then invested several years finishing and in some cases replacing surfaces. He was very proud of his work and his wife amazed at the difference. I recent years I have learned to take a deep breath and approach finishing one baby step at a time. I enjoy the finished projects so much the finishing process is far less objectionable. Besides my brides smiles make it all worthwhile. Jim

[jm51]

So it's not just me.

I dislike all finishing, including sanding. I'm a technician by nature and am happier to be repairing stuff. (At least you know it worked once.) When it comes to making stuff look pretty, I'm lost.

When I quote on commissions, I break it down to material costs, cutting, gluing and finishing. Once they realise how much of the final price is finishing, they get keen to do that part themselves.

Works quite well, someone can get say a bespoke book case for £40 above material price, all glued up and their involvement is with sandpaper, stain and varnish plus the original design. It's like they made it, I just cut and glued it for them.