Finishing a bunch of chairs

Brent Dowell

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Ok, So, the parawood chairs Sharon ordered have arrived. That's six chairs that need to be finished.

The chair parts all seem to be pretty well sanded, so I'm thinking I just need to hit them with a little 220 to get them ready for finishing.

The question now is what should I use to finish them? Not planning on staining, as the color seems to be a decent match already for the maple table.

I'm thinking that spraying them would probably the best way to get things done.

So what type of finishing schedule would you use and what particular products?
 
Brent would you mind showing a decent close up image of the parawood. I would like to see the grain and its unfinshed color.

Is the seat of those chairs solid or is it a laminated slab made up and cut to seat shape. ?

I would experiment with finish on the underside of the seat to see what change occurs with whatever you put on.

My first thought after most recent experience is to use a sealer of some sort first. I cannot even begin to think about suggesting more than that with my total lack of knowledge and experience.

Following along though. ;)
 
I don't think you need to sand them any further than the factory sanded them.
Id spray with em6000 like jim said, but what do I know.
Id also wait until the table is built and spray them all at once.
 
What kind of temperature requirements are there for spraying these pre-cat waterborne finishes?

Even in winter we can get some decent stretches of 50's day - low 40's overnight.

I suppose I could always create some kind of tent in the garage and heat that up.

I'm assuming since it's waterborne, there's no explosion risk like with solvent borne lacquer?
 
What kind of temperature requirements are there for spraying these pre-cat waterborne finishes?

Even in winter we can get some decent stretches of 50's day - low 40's overnight.

I suppose I could always create some kind of tent in the garage and heat that up.

I'm assuming since it's waterborne, there's no explosion risk like with solvent borne lacquer?

I keep my shop at about 65° daytime, and down to 50° overnight, and waterbornes spray, dry, and cure quite well. And yeah, being water-based, there's no fire or explosion danger. That was why I started using them, but then I found they were just as good, if not better than the solvent-based stuff, so now that's pretty much all I use. The Target products spray quite well from an HVLP gun with a 1.2mm tip. No thinning required.
 
Brent I know them unfinished chairs, I've done a lot of them. If your going to spray them add about 1/10 of maple to the 1st and even 2nd coat of finish. I think you'll like the results. Use cambles mag-namax. I would also use 320 and not 220 to prep. Then finial 2 coats use 3M's maroon pad to burnish the finish between the 2 costs. You'll get a great finish.
 
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Awesome. Looks like I've got some great advice and a direction to go!

If you have any problems, I wouldn't be of much help in the finishing, but folks are always telling me where to go, so I can offer directions if need be :D

Looking forward to how the matching comes out, that is one of many fears I've yet to conquer...no confidence yet, but I need to step up and try spraying sometime soon.....taking notes here :thumb:
 
I'm pretty sure Spraying is the answer here.

Only glitch might be getting the finishing materials (waterborne) delivered in winter.

Not sure I can stand another delay when I'm oh so close!
 
Ok, The weather is nice and I've got the EM1000 and EM8000cv and some of the Transtint maple.

Planning on taking some maple I have have and doing some tests with the transtint (a popular subject around here lately).

Just wondering if anybody had any tips on how best to go about this.

My thinking is it makes sense to do it factory style, I.e. take all chairs out of the boxes and do all similar parts at the same time

Assemble everything after finishing.
 
brent the only thing i can see is that you need to pay attention to the glue areas, dont want finish on those.. but if you can leave apart its by far the best way to spray them.. also use some pin boards so you can spray both sides easily.. spray top side last and let it dry.. 2 coats sealer then touch sand it, then 3 coats top coat. as for coloring are you toning the sealer then running a clear coat on that?
 
The nice(?) thing about the chairs is that there is no gluing up. All mechanical fasteners. Not that I couldn't add glue, but with out any kind of mortise, it probably wouldn't be very worthwhile.

I was thinking of adding the dye to the sealer, and just hitting the seal coat with the maroon scotchbrites, so no real sanding on it.

Not going to go for anything very dark, just enough to add a touch of color so that I can make it match the table.

I've got a HF detail gun with a 1.5mm tip.

Does that sound about right?
 
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