# Furniture refinishing



## 6126 (May 9, 2010)

Scott suggested starting a new thread on furniture refinishing. Heres a place to post photos, share experience, ask questions, etc. I feel this could be a great opporunity to branch out for winter work. :thumbup:


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## 6126 (May 9, 2010)

My first question......I am going to go ahead and start setting up a spray booth in my shop. Since my budget is limited I am curious on what would be a better choice to get started? An HVLP system or a Pro shot fine finish?


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

I would probably suck it up and go hvlp for that purpose.


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

If you got a hvlp, it would work great for when and if you transition into more interior work in the future. 

A fancy term describing this is "horizontal integration". Being able to utilize the same assets for different types of projects.:thumbsup:


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

VP, what did you use to fill in the corners of that one table you posted a pic of in the other thread?

Looks great.


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## michael tust (Mar 6, 2009)

Good Idea to have a thread on Furniture Refinishing !:thumbsup:



Michael Tust


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

TJ Paint said:


> VP, what did you use to fill in the corners of that one table you posted a pic of in the other thread?
> 
> Looks great.


I clamped it and reshaped it with a RAS115. Its not perfect, but much improved. Looked like a dog had chewed it.


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

Woodland said:


> My first question......I am going to go ahead and start setting up a spray booth in my shop. Since my budget is limited I am curious on what would be a better choice to get started? An HVLP system or a Pro shot fine finish?


Depends on what kind of product you intend on using most of the time.

If you're going to be using lacquers then go with a hvlp. 

If you're going to be using heavy materials like paint, go with the proshot.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

I've been using a Graco syphon cup gun for all my finishes and dye applications. I have different needles and caps that I can change out for the different viscosities. I prefer it over a HVLP set-up because I seem to get a finer furniture quality finish with it. A little more overspray with it but so far my exhaust set-up seems to handle it quite well.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Dye finishes are to die for! The pics I posted in the zone thread were dye.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Yeah, I agree. I've been using the Mohawk dyes for a number of years now. Even started using a base dye coat under stain coats on some of my cabinet jobs to give it all a more consistent finish. Powdered dyes are great for faux finishes.

I find it kind of fun to experiment with the dye finishes. We spend so much time transforming other peoples homes that it's nice to find a piece with solid bones and nice lines that we can re-do for ourselves. Like I said in the other thread, since I've started taking everything, (almost), out for stripping, it's been much more enjoyable.

And another plus is you actually may get to buy some new tools to use....


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have been using TransTint dyes for making spray stains or toners.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

They're a good product also Dean. The main reasons I went the Mohawk route are that most of the factory prefinished cabinets are done with it, so if I have to match something I'm one step closer. The other reason is that the supplier in town is great. I have never had to deal with back-orders, out of stock, etc.

I should probably note that some cabinet mfgs will not give you their ratios or sell you a quantity of stain over a half or quarter pint.....and then they want to charge you something like $30+ for it. I finally gave up dealing with some of them. After awhile you get a good sense of what their dye stain ratio is and what their stain is.


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

Wolfgang said:


> They're a good product also Dean. The main reasons I went the Mohawk route are that most of the factory prefinished cabinets are done with it, so if I have to match something I'm one step closer. The other reason is that the supplier in town is great. I have never had to deal with back-orders, out of stock, etc.
> 
> I should probably note that some cabinet mfgs will not give you their ratios or sell you a quantity of stain over a half or quarter pint.....and then they want to charge you something like $30+ for it. I finally gave up dealing with some of them. After awhile you get a good sense of what their dye stain ratio is and what their stain is.


I'm told Mohawk has some of the best NGR stains - though haven't had an opportunity to try them yet. I like the Microton from MLC personally.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

I guess a lot of it has to do with availability in your particular area. Once I started messing with powdered dyes, I found the availability to be somewhat lacking. So most of it was purchased online. Now it's a little easier to find.

One thing I did experiment with was powdered concrete dyes. They're waterbased, but dissolve and dilute nicely with alcohol. A great availability of colors and most of the concrete/cement places don't mind fronting you a 1/2 cup as most of the time it comes in 10lb+ bags.

Btw: Save yourself some grief and buy your own measuring spoons from the local housewares dept. The wive's usually take a dim view of borrowing the ones they use for cooking. LOL


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

My biggest question Mike would be how you plan to handle stripping. That will be a bigger investment than you realize if you don't plan for it.  

Didn't see you mention it, but its just as important as finishing. It can kill your production, and I had someone I subbed out the big stripping jobs to who was set up for it. For a shop set up I would be using air, but if had the volume to do it would be a shop AAA in my future.


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## Scraper (Nov 22, 2009)

I LOVE this idea. I always have a piece of somebodys furniture sitting in my garage for rainy days / slow times. It is not anything I make a fortune doing but I really enjoy the transformation. Especially trash to treasure items. I have a bad habit of taking before and not after pics, or after and not before pics. But am getting better. here is the last one :


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## 6126 (May 9, 2010)

straight_lines said:


> My biggest question Mike would be how you plan to handle stripping. That will be a bigger investment than you realize if you don't plan for it.
> 
> Didn't see you mention it, but its just as important as finishing. It can kill your production, and I had someone I subbed out the big stripping jobs to who was set up for it. For a shop set up I would be using air, but if had the volume to do it would be a shop AAA in my future.


I would probably sub out the stripping.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

i buy an sell antique furniture an ill tell you theres not much left over if you have to strip an re-finish a piece best to leave that part to the pros


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