The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

SPRAY AND BRUSH METHODS OF APPLICATION

So much can be said about the use of the spray gun equipment that it is deemed advisable to treat this fully in a separate chapter. A reference to index will give you complete information regarding its use and care.

All first coaters can be used with an air gun and many of them work easier and form a much smoother coat used in this manner. Shellac and lacquer are two of the first coaters that should never be applied with a brush if a spray gun can be used. The reason is obvious—the fast drying of the film does not allow brushing over or lapping of the brush strokes.

SPRAYING SHELLAC OE SUBSTITUTES

In spraying shellac, or substitute shellac and other spirit varnishes, the products should be reduced with C. D. No. 1 alcohol to a right spraying consistency with low pressure, and the nozzle turned down far enough to prevent flooding the surface. Four pounds of shellac gum to the gallon of alcohol is the usual shellac formula, and with this for an example, you should reduce from twenty-five to forty per cent. The air gun should not be held too close to the work or the surface will be flooded. The distance will depend on the pressure and the consistency of the material. The nozzle of the gun may be held anywhere from six to twenty-four inches from the work, de- pending on the work to be done and whether the material is fast drying or not.

"When you have reduced your shellac to the right consistency for spraying and have tried it for results on a separate surface, start spraying your surface. On flat surfaces begin next to you and spray with the grain from the left to right, past the edge, and back from right to left, dropping back each time just far enough to overlap one-third of the last strip. This overlapping must be done to produce a full coverage, as the edge of the spray feathers out and has little covering quality near the edge. The reason for passing over the edge each time is to prevent flooding the surface at this point when stopping to come back again. On perpendicular surfaces it will be best to start at the top and work down, slanting the brush clown so that the sprayed surface will not be splattered by the overspray of the gun.

All removable parts of cabinets or other pieces should be removed and sprayed separately. In case of panels in any piece it is best to spray the panel first, being careful to cover the edges near the frame, and then spray the frame by slanting the gun away from the center and passing the spray all around the edge with the spray blowing away from the covered portion.