cabinet finishing time

[Chris McLeester]

Is there any way to speed up the finishing process? I'm making a set of painted cabinets and bookshelves. The pieces take up most of my garage and basement (and every sawhorse/makeshift table I can make). I chose to finish them before assembly (joints taped).

I'm first rolling on Benjamin Moore Fresh Start oil-based primer. This seems to take about 3-5 days to cure to be able to sand. Then I'm spraying on a their "advance" product. This is at least a day to sanding. So, I'm talking about 10+ days of waiting while I can't really do much else.

How do pro shops handle this? I built the boxes in shelves in less than a day of work...so I know someone must have solved this problem already...that kind of bottleneck seems crazy.

[Prashun Patel]

If you don't have to paint, you might look into dyeing and spray finishing with faster drying top coats.

[Jamie Buxton]

Pro shops spray, so that's faster than rollers or brushes. And more importantly they use finishes that cure in an hour or less. Most finishes intended for spraying do cure that quickly. However, spray equipment costs money, and depending on your shop you may need a booth too. So it the usual trade-off between money and time. Saving time costs money.

[John TenEyck]

I use water borne products. I just sprayed a lab cabinet with BIN pigmented primer, which dries in less than an hour. I primed it twice in half a day and could have gone faster. Then I finished it with General Finishes Enduro White Poly. Same thing, two coats, sanding in between, in half a day. Mounted the drawer fronts the next day. Three days to cure and I delivered it. My advise - forget oil based.

John

[Jim Becker]

Why use the oil-based primer under the Advance, which is a water suspended oil finish? You can use water-based primer under it just fine...which is what I did for my kitchen cabinets a few months ago when I refreshed them. The oil based primer is taking a long time to cure (likely temperature related unless you live in a very warm place) When you apply the Advance (which is a great product, BTW...and sprays beautifully, too) you'll also want your temperature (work space and components) to be in the upper 60sºF at a minimum, or you're going to have a curing issue, too.

[Chris McLeester]

Thanks for all the advice. My garage is about 45 right now (20 or so outside). So that's probably adding to the time. I just moved everything to the basement (probably like 60).

Jamie -- what are some finishes that cure in an hour or less? I have an HVLP (best 15 bucks ever spent at Harbor Freight).

Jim -- I was really happy with the Advance as well...and you have to love the soap and water cleanup. I rolled on the oil-based primer because I have to borrow a compressor to use the hvlp. I just used the primer because the folks at the store suggested it for cabinets. Any suggestions on a water-based one to use? I assume Killz isn't the solution.

John -- seems like they sell that primer at my BORG. I'll have to try it out.

[Jim Becker]

That low temperature in the garage is a serious issue to finish curing. It's super important to be in the range that the manufacturer lists for optimal results. 60ºF will be better but still not ideal. See if you can raise the temp in the basement with space heaters or something to get closer to 70º F. I've worked at 65ºF with water borne, but that's really pushing things...

I used the SW high adhesion primer under the Advance, tinted grey as appropriate for an undercoat to the color I was using. I will admit to using a Krylon spray bomb can of grey primer on the doors which were sprayed in the shop with the Advance while I brushed the advance on the face frames and end panels in the kitchen. Try to buy your paint products from the BM and SW paint stores, rather than the BORG. BIN and Kilz are good for certain situations, but a good "regular" primer is just fine when you don't actually need the unique properties of the shellac-based primers.

[Jamie Buxton]

..Jamie -- what are some finishes that cure in an hour or less? ...

My current favorite is General Finishes Enduro Clear Poly. It is a waterborne, and I spray it with an HVLP. In my shop it cures enough to take another coat in twenty minutes or less. I generally shoot two coats, wait a couple hours, sand enough to knock down the fuzzies, and spray two more coats.
Traditional nitrocellulose lacquer cures faster, but you have to deal with nasty solvents. And in my town, the stuff is tightly regulated.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Not sure where you are located. I have a pellet stove to heat the shop. I switched to General water based finish and paint. I use Minwax stain and wait a few hours for that to dry then I can get a cota an hour using eendurovar or milk paint product with scuff sanding. Sometimes I brush sometimes I spray.

General endurovar isn't cheap but well worth it.

Hope that helps

QuinnI

[John TenEyck]

SW's water borne primer works really well, but BIN pigmented shellac primer has a much lower viscosity so it can be sprayed w/o thinning. It dries very quickly and it sands beautifully, too. Oh, and it costs less. Clean up is not difficult either. Drain out the gun and dunk everything in ammonia for a few minutes followed by soapy water.

You also can use it at much lower temps. than water borne products. The OP could prime his parts in his garage and would only need to use the basement to apply the water borne paint.

John