Photo Club Cabinet – #7 Staining, Spraying Lacquer & Assembly

With nearly all the woodworking operations done (it still needs leveling feet and the trim strips on the moveable shelving) I can move on to finishing the cabinet.  My view of finishing is as a whole separate process from the construction.  A good finish can help a piece that is not quite there and it just enhances a well done one.  On the other hand, a poor finish can really kill the impression of quality regardless how well the piece is designed and constructed.  As such I take my time and make sure I don’t cut any shortcuts.

I started out by recruiting another volunteer from the photo club to give me a hand with the final sanding and staining.  It took the two of us about 4.5 hours to disassemble the piece, steam any dents out, final sand and apply the stain.  

As we sanded the individual parts we inspected them for any dings or dents (there were a few) so I could steam them out like I did in the 4th post.  Because I had sanded the parts down to 150 grit as I built the cabinet we just had to final sand with 220 grit paper, except in a couple of places.  We also did some hand sanding easing any of the routed edges than needed a little help.  Applying the stain was probably the easiest part if you don’t count using a cotton swab to make sure all those blasted holes for the adjustable shelves were stained.

In the end we had the parts laid out on every flat surface in the shop and on a couple of saw horses.  This photo shows most of the shop and in the areas you can’t see there are more parts.

 

Stained Parts All Over the Shop

I will be spraying on the finish the cabinet with it taken apart.  It is much easier for me to spray flat horizontal surfaces versus getting the bifocals in the right plane when doing the undersides of shelves, spraying into corners and spraying vertical surfaces. 

For my finish coats I will be spraying on lacquer using an HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) spray gun and turbine.  This type of spray system does not have a tank of compressed air there is just the turbine that feeds a huge amount of air at a less than 10 psi through a 1” hose to the spray gun. 

HVLP Turbine, Hose and Spray Gun

For this project the finish mix is: 16 ounces of lacquer, 7 ounces of thinner and a capful of Flow Enhancer.  This is how I have things setup for mixing and refilling the gun.

I spray outside when there is no wind or the house blocks it.  At this time of year that’s early in the morning for a couple of hours.  The first day I started spraying I set the turbine in the shop away from where I will be spraying so it will not be sucking any finish into it.  Power is from the outlet where my dust collector goes so I can use the wireless On-Off control.  With that done I set up my spray station which consists of two sawhorses along with a couple 2x4’s and four plastic pyramids to set the parts on.  From start to finish for me to mix the lacquer, spray a coat on 7 pieces; the top, bottom, fixed shelves, divider and doors takes less than half an hour.  Total area covered, about 45 square feet.  Each piece takes me only about a minute to take the part out of the shop to the stand, wipe it down with a tack rag, spray it and carry it back into the shop. 

Spraying Lacquer

The first coat always seems to be a little bit rough with the lacquer spray catching on the oak pores and creating “whiskers” and other imperfections.    The "whiskers" are barely attached and most of them can be brushed off by hand. Once the first coat has cured for a couple of hours or so I can wet sand it with a 1500 grit pad.  For the flat surfaces I use the hook and loop backing to attach the pad to a block.  I wet sand because it generates no dust and the water acts to float away the sanded lacquer bits so they do not aggregate on the sanding pad creating hard “corns” that can scratch the finish.

 

(Top) First Finish Coat Before Wet Sanding -  (Bottom) After Wet Sanding

With the first coat of finish smoothed out I give the parts a second coat and wet sand with a 3200 grit pad just like before.  The second coat is much smoother as the first coat has sealed the wood and once sanded provides a smoother surface for the lacquer to be applied to.  No "whiskers" this time.  

Sanding Pad and Second Coat Wet Sanded  

For most part the wild life around here does not pay a lot of attention to people.  While I have been working in the shop with the garage door open I have had curious roadrunners come up to the opening and look around, a bob cat walk down the driveway which caused the quail to go nuts, some coyotes look in and decide there’s nothing good to eat in there and today while wet sanding one of the doors I happened to look down and there was a lizard not 24 inches away from me looking around.  He was not in a rush just took his time exploring and then went back outside.

Shop Visitor

The third and final coat goes on like the other two except the lacquer mix has a little more thinner in it.  I do wet sand this coat too but it is with a 6000 grit pad.  A pad this fine used on a matte finish really does not leave any visible scratches.  For me its primary use is to remove the inevitable dust nibs and the like so the finish feels smooth and unblemished.  The way I apply a finish is structured so that each layer's imperfections are removed before proceeding on to the next layer.  If I don’t those flaws will just compound.  Think of it as finishing the finish.   All total I used about a gallon and a half of lacquer which sounds like a lot but when you consider that if all the surfaces and coats were spread out the total area would be about 500 square feet.

The photo below was shot at a low angle to highlight any defects in the finish.  This is to show the only variation in a flat smooth surface is the open grain areas in the oak.  No bumps, no ripples, no orange peel or anything else - just a flat smooth surface.  I know you can’t feel the finish through the photo so I will touch it for you.  Ooh, aah – smooth just like glass J.   Total time required for 3 coats of finish was 23 hours including wet sanding between coats and a final rub down.

Finished Surface

Now seemed like a good time to install the leveling feet.  I drilled a pilot hole for the threaded insert and drove it home using a metric allen wrench.  Here is the insert installed and the adjustable foot threaded in.

(Left) Insert for Leveling Foot - (Right) Leveling Foot Installed

The moveable shelves trim strips are small enough that if I tried to spray them with the HVLP gun I would probably blow them off the stand, not the desired result.  Using the airbrush I gave them three coats of finish following the same sequence as the main pieces.

Setup for Spraying Moveable Shelf Edging

When cut on the table saw the melamine edge is really sharp.  I had cut myself twice while moving the shelves around so prior to putting the trim on them I used a fine file to soften all the edges.  My workbench has an adjustable height function so I set it a good working height then glued and pin nailed the trim to the shelf.  The face frame clamp makes sure the trim is aligned flush with the shelf edge.

Applying Moveable Shelf Edging

Cabinet in Place

With some help from club members we carefully assembled the cabinet, minus the doors and delivered it.   Once at it's new home we leveled it which took a lot more time than I expected because the floor had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, anchored it to the wall, installed the doors and put the hardware on.  

With that done another club member could hook up the computer, mixer and all the other electronic equipment.  

The open top area is for "public" use while the club equipment is locked up behind the doors.

I did time this project to see just how long it took.  Not including design time I have a little over 90 hours in it plus another 12 hours of club labor.

What's next?  Well the combination dining/game table I talked about in the first post is still in the design phase but it is moving along.