I hate finishing

[jhreed]

I want to make finishing short, sweet, and well done. I do not want to use a brush or roller. Will an air brush do what I want? I want to use water based finishes. Latex etc. For chairs, large boxes and smaller items. Want to use in my garage/shop. Do not want overspray on my machine tools or floor. Help!!
James

 

[TracyP]

Without a spray booth, no over spray is kind of a dream. Spray booth with positive ventilation removes the airborne "mist". You can exhaust it outside with a fan but the results will be varied. The only way to achieve a no over spray environment would be to use a downdraft or side draft booth setup. That could get expensive.

 

[Gregory Paolini]

An air brush, like those used to draw/paint pictures, is probobly going to be a little small for projects like chairs.

If you want to go the spray route, have little to no overspray, use waterbased finishes, and keep cost down as much as possible: I'd recomend a few drop cloths/tarps, and a small turbine style HVLP set up. Some of the Earlex systems are coming with multiple tips now too, so you chane change between shellac, then WB Poly, and all the way up to Latex Paints.

You could always just use wipe on finishes too....


Hope this helps
-gp

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I have a completely enclosed finish room w/ positive pressure, and often spray finishes. But my favorite finish is a wiped on oil/varnish blend. I know you said you wanted to use water based, but this finish is virtually fool proof, and gives a nice hand-rubbed appearance. Just something to consider.

Bill

 

[Mike Davis]

I use wipe on oil/varnish. Don't use poly and you won't have layering problems.

I think there are some water based wipe-ons too.

I have used spar varnish for forty years (since I was twelve) and never had a problem with it.

I use poly for hard use items, but really a good marine spar varnish will do as well for most furniture.

Adding oil makes it smooth out and dry slower so you can touch it up if you have a run or a thin spot.

 

[Bas]

I love finishing. I just hate the sanding, cleaning and waiting for things to dry part. :rolf:

I've had good luck spraying WB Poly and shellac with the Earlex 5000. For oil, you'd have to spray outside or just wipe it on. Search for Howard Acheson's post on the diner table wipe method, and invest in some razor blades. You can get a perfectly smooth finish that way.

 

[Gofor]

I have recently become a fan of using Lowes "staining pads". but that was for oil based and using the wipe-on technique. A lot more control, etc. Having never used water-based finishes, don't know if its a player or not, but works very well with oil based.

Go

 

[westisthebest]

I have that earlex and it seems to have less overspray than my other guns, but it didn't spray latex very well. I used all different tips with it. But when I am spraying clear or stain it works outstanding and like it said doesn't seem to waste as much.

 

[kooshball]

You can always go with oil; one coat and no need to worry about film build or dust settling.

I used this product on my walnut bed and so far am very happy with it. It isn't cheap but the time saved by not having to put more than one coat on is more than worth it.

http://www.monocoat.us/products/furniture/furniture-application.php