I'm relatively new to spraying finishes. I got some pigmented spray lacquer, Target EM6500. I also got some 9000 poly at the recommendation of Target. I added 2-3% of the crosslinker, also at the advice of Target. I followed the directions for mixing the crosslinker into the poly while stirring the poly with a stir stick for about a minute. Jeff at Target said that should be fine (meaning I didn't have to use a drill to mix it).
I sprayed the pigmented lacquer on some MDF and that came out beautifully. I was feeling good.
Onto the poly and things went down hill...
Picture #1 shows that the finish isn't smooth when wet - it has some small holes and lumps in it. What causes this? My spray area isn't operating room clean, but it is pretty good. I made sure everything was clean before I started spraying by wiping down with a damp paper towel. The lumps appear to be like somewhat dried finish - I'm wondering if this is where I didn't fully dissolve the crosslinker. I'm not sure what causes the little crater looking things, as far as I know there is no contaminant on the surface. Maybe I little spec of dust crept in? Thoughts on how I can get a smoother finish?
TargetCoatings-PolyProblem-2-medium.jpg
Picture #2 is a whole different beast. What happened? This was the 2nd coat of poly. I had sanded out the first coat with some 320 sand paper and ultrafine mirlon pad. I think what happened in this picture is I put too much poly on the panel and it somehow made the first layer crack. I touched it and it was definitely the first layer of poly pulling up. My gun settings weren't right and i was putting down about 4 or 5x as much poly as I should have been. I know this because I sprayed about 8oz of poly an 8 sq ft panel! Good grief. So I got that corrected, but could that be the cause of this effect? It sure makes for a cool picture though...
TargetCoatings-PolyProblem-1-medium.jpg
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