Finishing Stained Furniture and Cabinetry

When using a clear finish on fine furniture or custom cabinetry we choose to spray the finish for several reasons. When comparing a brushed finish to a sprayed finish, depending on the products used the difference can be very visable. For example, most lacquers should not be brushed and in fact touching up lacquer finishes is very difficult. The picture on the right is a sprayed on water based lacquer. We spray all our fine furniture and cabinetry with an hvlp turbine sprayer. This type of sprayer allows the operator to spray a fine spray for a glass like finish. Spraying also speeds up the process that if done by brush can take a considerable amount of additional time. Most all of our furniture and custom cabinetry spraying is done in our shop, unless there is ample space and a controlled heat enviroment in the customers home. Any finish when sprayed becomes a hazard in  several different ways when sprayed.  Oil base finishes when sprayed become an explosion hazard,  all pilot lights or any flame needs to be turned off before any spraying can be performed in the home. This becomes inconvenient for the client very quickly. Water base finishes are much safer when sprayed, but with all spraying comes smelly fumes. These are two of the reasons that whenever possible we spray our finishes in our shop to protect our clients health and home. When a clear finish needs to be applied in a clients home we mainly choose to use water base polyurethanes from Zar called Aquazar. Aquazar is a low odor clear finish that comes in several sheens that when brushed it comes as close as we have seen to a sprayed finish. We still occasionally use oil base varnish on trim or pieces that are subject to ultraviolet rays for the extra ultraviolet resistence oil base varnish provides. As always a quality finish and quality application will give the finest results. Preparation work is key to a high quality finish when clear coating any piece or trim work.