Greene & Greene End Table - #26 Finishing & Installing Pegs Part 1

As mentioned before the finish is lacquer or really a nitrocellulose satin lacquer.  It is the finish I use on most of my projects and is applied using the airbrush or a HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) commercial spray gun.  This type of lacquer has to be sprayed, a brushed or wipe-on method is not an option.  Here is my typical set-up for mixing.  The can on the left is the lacquer, next to it is the thinner.  The two plastic bottles in front of the can of thinner have thinner in them.  Smaller intermediate containers are easier to use when measuring versus trying to pour without spilling directly from the gallon can.  To the right of the thinner is the flow enhancer.  Flow enhancer reduces bubbling and blushing caused by the effects of high heat and humidity during application by slowing the formation of a “skin” keeping the top layer of film open longer.  In front of it are mixed bottles of finish ready to be used.  Here in the desert the mix I use is 2 parts lacquer to one part thinner and a capful of flow enhancer per 24 ounces of mix.  Last the circular gray disk in the center front is the 8,000 grit abrasive pad I will use for final wet sanding/polishing once the final coat of finish has cured.

The HVLP system consists of a three-stage fan turbine that puts out only about 6 pounds of air pressure but a whole lot of volume and a spray gun.  The turbine is in contrast to the tank type compressor I use for the air brush.  It can easily generate 100 pounds of pressure per square inch but at a much lower volume.  The airbrush needs very little volume and a regulator/filter limits the pressure to about 20 pounds.  The photo below shows the turbine, hose and sprayer.  For comparison setting on the turbine is the airbrush and its hose which goes to the tank type air compressor.  The HVLP needs a much large hose due to the volume of air needed.

Here is the setup for spraying the base which is mostly done with the airbrush.  It sets on some painter’s triangles to hold the piece up off the carboard covered MDF.  To help keep the base in place I drilled small holes in the bottom the legs that the triangle points set in.  The carboard below is sacrificial so when it gets overloaded with lacquer overspray it can be replaced.  Under the MDF is a 12” diameter lazy-susan.  It allows me to stand in one spot and rotate the base to easily spray all sides. 

The top and drawer bottom are set on more of the painter’s triangles and sprayed with the HVLP system.  Here is the underside of the top with two coats of lacquer applied.  It needs to be wet sanded to remove any dust nibs prior to spraying on the final coat.  I do it first and the top’s exposed face last just in case the first sprayed surface gets dinged while setting on the painter’s triangles while the second surface gets sprayed.  

After the second coat all the airbrush sprayed surfaces get a light sanding with 320 grit paper and the HVLP sprayed ones get wet sanded with an 1,800-grit pad.  The finer pad can be used on the HVLP sprayed areas since the finish is smoother.  It’s not because the HVLP does a better job but because they are large flat pieces like the top or drawer parts that can be sprayed out in the open one at a time.  By contrast the base has all sorts of intersecting parts including some pieces that are close together.  It’s a real challenge to get the inside and outside sprayed working around all the obstructions.  With the early coats while I work my way around the base as one part is being sprayed the overspray lands on pieces beyond them creating a slightly rough surface.  The third coat still had the same problem although not near as bad.  I think that’s because the already finished surface is smoother than raw wood so the overspray does not stick as much.  Once the third coat has cured for a few days, I still had to wet sand every surface with an 8,000-grit pad.  This pad is so fine it really only takes off just the dust nibs or overspray leaving a really smooth matt finish surface.  The overspray comes off easily because it’s almost dry by the time it hits the surface and does not really bond to the previous coats.  You can’t tell by looking if it’s before or after the sanding but you sure can by touching.  The photo shows the spray bottle and circular pad used.

Removing all the temporary plugs comes next.  I started by running a screw part way into the plug then using a pair of pliers to pull the plug out like shown in the photos below. 

Early on I accidently ran the screw in too far and its tip hit the screw behind the plug used to lock the joints together.  The removal screw couldn’t go into the already installed screw so it just spun around on it but the plug kept getting pulled up the screw with end result the plug just backed out of the hole.  It was not planned but sure made the plug removal a lot easier and faster.

Next is installing all the various sized plugs.  Once glue is applied the plugs will be inserted into the mortise using a clamp to apply gradual even pressure.  To consistently set them so the same amount of the plug is exposed a spacer the thickness they stand out is used.  Each size of plug has a different exposure so three different thickness spacers are required.  The photo below shows them.  Two are a consistent thickness but the one on the right is tapered at the same rate as the leg taper.  That’s for the plugs that go into the tapered face of the leg.  Once the square pegs are installed into the legs, I will modify this spacer for the rectangular pegs that go into the mortises for the lower rails.

Next Up – Installing Pegs & Fitting Shelf