gloss finish with SW Emerald Urethane

[stephen wood]

I'm spraying a bathroom cabinet with Sherwin-William Emerald Urethane Gloss. After 8 or so coats it's just not looking as glossy as I thought it would. I'm using an Apollo Eco-5 HVLP turbine. I've been trying various tips 1.3 to 2.0 mm, some thinned 10%. Now I'm using a 1.5 mm with just a small amount of Floetrol. I'm considering spraying a coat of General Finishes water-based poly. Is this a good idea? The cabinet has to be installed by the contractor on Monday.

[John TenEyck]

Eight coats? That would be at least 5 too many if I were spraying it. That suggests that you are spraying incredibly thin coats, which are likely too thin to flow out into a smooth enough film for the gloss to fully develop. Does that sound right? If not, I have no clue. I use a 1.5 mm N/N set on my pressure assisted HVLP conversion gun with 5 psi on the cup and the Emerald Urethane thinned 10%. I overlap passes 50% and it flows out into a smooth wet coat. I've only used satin, however.

Putting a poly over a urethane sounds risky. If you want to try that do it on a scrap sample first and make sure it bonds well.

Installation on Monday is going to be risky as it takes quite a while to cure very hard. Good luck.

John

[stephen wood]

I guess I was being too wimpy. I opened it up and sprayed a heavier coat. Thanks John.