On Finishing... Brush, Sponge, wipe or combo of them?

[new2woodwrk]

When you apply your finishes to your work, do you use a Brush, a sponge or rag to wipe it on?

I'm not talking about the pre-finish like stain or oil, but the final coating like lacquer or shellac.

I've started to use foam sponges for my final coats and it seems to be working fairly well.

I do have sprayers, but don't see the benefit of using them and getting them caked up with poly etc. - That stuff is too much work to clean for just a little use.

The sponges, I can just toss in water to keep the pliable and throw them out if they get stiff.

I've also used some spray lacquer which works really well, but is too expensive to use on everything

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Edited March 9, 2018 by new2woodwrk

[Dan]

You may have answered your own question. If you are happy with the foam sponges keep using them. No harm in trying other methods. Even the professionals will disagree at times. 

[new2woodwrk]

9 minutes ago, Dan said:

You may have answered your own question. If you are happy with the foam sponges keep using them. No harm in trying other methods. Even the professionals will disagree at times. 

Thanks - always interested in what others with more xp are doing and find works best

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I have said many times on this site my preferred finish for my work and that is dipping in Danish oil wipe it dry and then polish with watco satin polish. If I top coat I will never use poly. Too thick and plastic looking to me. I will spray lacquer. If doing many items I will st up my HVLP sprayer and spray water based lacquer. Clean is a matter of washing container out and running a cup of water through gun followed by some denatured alcohol for drying purposes. The key is doing in batches unless you are making one piece at a time which is a pain in the neck to me then your way is best. 

[dgman]

I do not use poly either. I use spray can semi gloss lacquer. Depending on humidity, I can get two or three light coats in about an hour. I don't sand between coats as the wet lacquer will adhere to the previous coat. Once dry, if there are any dust nibs, I rub them out with a flat piece of brown paper bag. It's like using 5000 grit sand paper without scratching the finsh.

[Bill WIlson]

For scrolled projects, my go to finish is shellac, sprayed on with a HVLP gun.  Shellac is very easy to spray and even easier to clean up.  I will occasionally dip smaller pieces in an oil, but it's difficult to get finish into all the nooks & crannies of most larger fretwork.  This is where shellac excels. It dries extremely fast and is best applied in light coats, so you can hit it from multiple angles without it building up like some other finishes.  Also, clean up between coats isn't even really necessary.  The denatured alcohol in shellac will soften hardened shellac, so I've left shellac sitting in the gun for an hour and had no problems picking it up and using it again.  Sometimes I don't even clean after I'm done using it, just put it away.  When I use it the next time, I just run a little DNA through it and it's ready to spray again, just like it had been put away clean. 

If you want to add some color into the piece, without the separate step of staining, you can mix up shellac flakes that are available in different grades, from a very deep, dark amber to almost water clear.  I use mostly the clear, pre-mixed stuff from Zinnser, which imparts a nice, light amber tint to warm up most woods.  Shellac is just about the ideal finish for me.  I sing it's praises just about every chance I get. 

[new2woodwrk]

On 3/9/2018 at 6:49 PM, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I have said many times on this site my preferred finish for my work and that is dipping in Danish oil wipe it dry and then polish with watco satin polish. If I top coat I will never use poly. Too thick and plastic looking to me. I will spray lacquer. If doing many items I will st up my HVLP sprayer and spray water based lacquer. Clean is a matter of washing container out and running a cup of water through gun followed by some denatured alcohol for drying purposes. The key is doing in batches unless you are making one piece at a time which is a pain in the neck to me then your way is best. 

Yes, I've read your response to this in another thread and have tried it on an entire run of my projects (I had the danish oil, but had to order the wax) -  it's very effective and works well - thanks for the tip!

On 3/9/2018 at 8:57 PM, dgman said:

I do not use poly either. I use spray can semi gloss lacquer. Depending on humidity, I can get two or three light coats in about an hour. I don't sand between coats as the wet lacquer will adhere to the previous coat. Once dry, if there are any dust nibs, I rub them out with a flat piece of brown paper bag. It's like using 5000 grit sand paper without scratching the finsh.

I also am using spray lacquer in the can - semi gloss - and so far I think I like this one best from some of my smaller pieces - but its more expensive than the brush on lacquer and not sure I can maintain that cost

3 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

For scrolled projects, my go to finish is shellac, sprayed on with a HVLP gun.  Shellac is very easy to spray and even easier to clean up.  I will occasionally dip smaller pieces in an oil, but it's difficult to get finish into all the nooks & crannies of most larger fretwork.  This is where shellac excels. It dries extremely fast and is best applied in light coats, so you can hit it from multiple angles without it building up like some other finishes.  Also, clean up between coats isn't even really necessary.  The denatured alcohol in shellac will soften hardened shellac, so I've left shellac sitting in the gun for an hour and had no problems picking it up and using it again.  Sometimes I don't even clean after I'm done using it, just put it away.  When I use it the next time, I just run a little DNA through it and it's ready to spray again, just like it had been put away clean. 

If you want to add some color into the piece, without the separate step of staining, you can mix up shellac flakes that are available in different grades, from a very deep, dark amber to almost water clear.  I use mostly the clear, pre-mixed stuff from Zinnser, which imparts a nice, light amber tint to warm up most woods.  Shellac is just about the ideal finish for me.  I sing it's praises just about every chance I get. 

I have sprayers and have not tried this technique yet, but I really want to - I'm going to find some water based lacquer as mentioned above and try that as well as trying your Shellac technique - it sounds like I can use more of my tools rather than have then collect dust LOL

 

Thanks all for the great suggestions and insight!

 

[spirithorse]

On small projects I use the spray cans and on larger projects I use the same method you use with the cheap sponge brushes.

I really want to find a cheap source of bees wax and try the bees wax and mineral spirits combination and see if I get a finish I like.
God Bless! Spirithorse

[Sparkey]

I also use spray can lacquer. 

[WayneMahler]

On small projects I use spray cans. If I am doing a batch and or larger items I use the hvlp. 

[Scrappile]

Rattle can Deft lacquer for me. Semi-gloss or Satin.   The bonus is the marble after the can is empty!

[tomsteve]

On 3/9/2018 at 5:53 PM, new2woodwrk said:

 

I do have sprayers, but don't see the benefit of using them and getting them caked up with poly etc. - That stuff is too much work to clean for just a little use.

 

i have 3 spray guns. they arent bad to break out on larger projects( like computer desks, kitchen cabinets, tables, vehicles) but i tend to dislike them on smaller stuff. they lay a great finish no matter what( id sure hope my copper tekna would- i paid pretty good money for it1  ). but cleaning them- it got old cleaning after 30 minutes of use.

i bought my first rattle can of lacquer this weekend. dont know why i waited so long.

[Dave Monk]

One of my best investments for my shop is this Titan Flex spray gun. It was expensive but I was using about ten rattle cans a week. It has a turbine in the handle the head and cup removes and I have multiple ones for different colors. I keep one for clear, black, red and white. I use Sherwin Williams pre catalyzed lacquer. It cost me $26 a gallon. The best thing about the system is that I don't clean it up..........add new product when the cup is empty.

[new2woodwrk]

9 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Rattle can Deft lacquer for me. Semi-gloss or Satin.   The bonus is the marble after the can is empty!

Oh? how do you get the marble out?