Comments on: Losing my Neanderthal Union Card

By: aschaffter

aschaffter — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:43:43 +0000

I noticed the shadows were really getting long at the end of the video. There is a real danger spraying or doing any type of finishing outside late in the day in the Fall. As the Sun gets lower, temps start to plummet, air can’t hold as much moisture and painted surfaces attract the moisture and actually get damp.

I was painting a small homebuilt two seat aircraft outside one Fall. I was using DuPont IMRON, a rather expensive urethane automotive and aircraft paint. When I was done, I had a beautiful, high gloss, wet look finish I was going for. But, due to the dropping temps and humidity, it quickly turned to an orange peel finish!!

By: Alfred Poor

Alfred Poor — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:16:44 +0000

Great video — an inspiration! And thanks for pointing us to the Free Music Archive; that’s a great resource. I do have one question about the music track you used, however. It appears to be licensed under an “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.” I don’t see any of the required attribution information on the video (or in your column), and it would seem to me that this is a commercial application. Did you make some separate arrangement to use this music in your video?

Alfred Poor

By: sapfmgateway

sapfmgateway — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:00:34 +0000

Chris needs to stop saying things like “chicken fried bacon” in his blogs…it make is really hard to think or even care about woodworking or anything else. Forget about spray finishes, tell me more about the CFB. No I mean seriously…

By: The Patriot Woodworker

The Patriot Woodworker — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:58:55 +0000

I would venture to say milk paints and shellac. I love the ease of spray finishing to. One caveat, and a very small one at that, sometimes brush marks are kind of, well, neat to see in a piece, just one more sliver of proof, and indicator of hand made, completely.
Chris do you thin out your water base before spray and how much?

By: B Jackson

B Jackson — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:54:34 +0000

Out of curiosity:
1. Were milk paint or any kind of finish wiped on rather than brushed on during the 17th / 18th / 19th centuries? I too have had trouble with brush marks until I started using rags to apply thinned shellac or varnish to my projects with some nice results. Side benefits: no need for sprayers or masks.
2. Rather than sandpaper, I use a card scraper between coats, again with good results. What did craftspeople of old use?

By: Bill Lattanzio

Bill Lattanzio — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:42:24 +0000

Say what you will about Chris Schwarz, but the man has a mean recipe for grits. Nobody can take that away from him.

By: St.J

St.J — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:18:03 +0000

The earplugs hanging infront of your dovetail saw show just how far from the true path you have fallen.
Bit and brace making a ghastly din?
Smoothing plane screaming?
Or was the whole thing built with CNC and the pretty tools are for show?
Notice we only ever see three walls of this workshop. What’s on the fourth wall Chris?
Next from Lost Art Press: Rediscovering SketchUp 6: A guide for the arcane draftsperson.

Love the blog
St.J

By: Christopher Fitch

Christopher Fitch — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:15:18 +0000

One question: Do you find that you have a dust/finish quality issue when spraying outside? In other words, do you end up with a higher number of finish flaws?

By: David Keller

David Keller — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:28:30 +0000

Chris – No doubt, solvent-based finishes do require a respirator. But also realize that most water-based finishes do as well, including traditional milk paint. The reason for this is that the solvent carrier in the finish is rarely the part that does the harm to your lungs – it’s the finish itself.

In the case of traditional milk paint, it’s made of casein (the milk part), a pigment, and calcined lime. Lime is an alkaline substance that will definitely burn your lungs and sinuses, and you don’t want to inhale any significant amount of it. Not only is the primary burn problematic, if you inhale enough of it, the fluid loss from the burned tissue can cause a case of chemical pneumonia and a potentially fatal alergic reaction.

Use a respirator – they’re $20 at the local BORG, and it’s a lot cheaper than a trip to the hospital.

By: Christopher Fitch

Christopher Fitch — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:41:34 +0000

Another excellent book on spray finishing is Jeff Jewitt’s “Spray Finishing Made Simple”

http://www.amazon.com/Spray-Finishing-Simple-Step—Step/dp/1600850928/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320338455&sr=8-1

He includes a DVD as well.