Your favorite water based spray finish?

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I'm a fan of Kem Aqua+, it's been my go to finish since I've discovered it. Sprays beautifully with my Fuji Q5, levels out glass smooth and can be re-coated within half an hour with no sanding in between coats. Kem Aqua surfacer is their line of primer and it works just like their paint. Sands to a nice powder and half an hour for re-coating. I can usually lay down 2 coats of surfacer and 2 finish coats within 3 hours. This includes time spent sanding the surfacer and cleaning up dust before next coat.

[Prashun Patel]

Hoang-
I'm doing a kitchen table project right now. Have you tested Kem Aqua for chemical or liquid resistance?

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Hoang-
I'm doing a kitchen table project right now. Have you tested Kem Aqua for chemical or liquid resistance?

I've never used it on a kitchen table before. I'll be happy to test it out for you though. I have a good bit of left over paint and can rub some house cleaner on it once a day for a few weeks to see how well it holds up.

[Ian Scofield]

I've never used it on a kitchen table before. I'll be happy to test it out for you though. I have a good bit of left over paint and can rub some house cleaner on it once a day for a few weeks to see how well it holds up.

I'd really be interested in the results from this. Just bought my Q5 and so I'm looking to find my go to finish to spray as I have quite a few projects lined up that could benefit from a finish that does have that level of durability / resistance.

[John TenEyck]

I recommended Kem Aqua Plus to a friend based on favorable reviews here by Hoang and another member, and because of its UV package. He sprayed it on hard maple with a 3 or 4 stage Fuji, whatever one gives you about 8 or 9 psi. He could not get a smooth finish no matter what. I figured he just didn't know how to spray very well, so I got the can from him and sprayed a couple of pieces of hard maple with my pressure assisted Qualspray conversion HVLP gun. This gun sprays everything I've tried in it beautifully. Conditions in my shop were ideal at 65 - 70 F and 55% RH. Results were marginal at best in terms of flatness, and really poor for hardness. It was barely hard enough in 2 hours to sand w/o sticking on my 400 grit sandpaper. Even a week later it was not as hard as GF Enduro Clear Poly is in a couple of hours. Maybe it was bad product. I don't know; I've got no track with it to compare it to. I've never had a bad gallon of GF product.

I gave my friend a gallon of Enduro Clear Poly I had and he sprayed some samples. The next day he ordered a 5 gallon pail and is now laying down a beautiful finish with it on his kitchen cabinets. I'm not trying to bad mouth Kem Aqua Plus, just reporting our results.

John

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I recommended Kem Aqua Plus to a friend based on favorable reviews here by Hoang and another member, and because of its UV package. He sprayed it on hard maple with a 3 or 4 stage Fuji, whatever one gives you about 8 or 9 psi. He could not get a smooth finish no matter what. I figured he just didn't know how to spray very well, so I got the can from him and sprayed a couple of pieces of hard maple with my pressure assisted Qualspray conversion HVLP gun. This gun sprays everything I've tried in it beautifully. Conditions in my shop were ideal at 65 - 70 F and 55% RH. Results were marginal at best in terms of flatness, and really poor for hardness. It was barely hard enough in 2 hours to sand w/o sticking on my 400 grit sandpaper. Even a week later it was not as hard as GF Enduro Clear Poly is in a couple of hours. Maybe it was bad product. I don't know; I've got no track with it to compare it to. I've never had a bad gallon of GF product.

I gave my friend a gallon of Enduro Clear Poly I had and he sprayed some samples. The next day he ordered a 5 gallon pail and is now laying down a beautiful finish with it on his kitchen cabinets. I'm not trying to bad mouth Kem Aqua Plus, just reporting our results.

John

That's interesting to hear John. I've never had an issue with KA+ but than again I've only sprayed about 10 gallons of it.

What wet mil thickness are you spraying it at? KA+ recommends 4 wet mil, anymore than that and it will either run or take longer to cure if at all. Less than 3-4 wet mil and it doesn't have enough time to flow out before drying. Fan pattern, fluid rate and air pressure all play an important role in how well KA+ will spray. I also add 10% GF extender in each pot before spraying as well. KA dries extremely fast so the extender is almost a must, I've never sprayed without it so I can't say how it reacts without.

I've read of a few people having issues spraying it over at the FOG (festool forum) but they've always had their issues resolved. There's a guy over there name Tom that sprays about 100 gallons of KA yearly and he knows almost everything about it. He was the one that introduced me to it and has helped me get great results with the product. Although I've never had any issues because I asked all the questions up front and did a good bit of reading on it over at the FOG.

[John TenEyck]

Thanks for the input Hoang. I sprayed 3 - 4 mils. At less than 3 mils and it didn't flow out worth a hoot. At 5+ it looked like a plastic film. So you added GF Extender to get it to flow out well? Ok, I can see how that would help. But how did you get it to dry so quickly? It sure didn't for us. Maybe the temp. was higher and/or the RH lower? And were you satisfied with the hardness? I could scratch it off with my finger nail even a couple of days after spraying. It was incredibly clear, I will say that, even the medium rubbed effect we used.

That's the thing about Enduro Clear Poly; you don't have to add anything to it, or thin it, or even hit a narrow wet mil thickness. It sprays great straight from the can over a pretty wide range of gun conditions, flows out well at both light and heavy coats and dries fast and hard. If you have not yet tried it, I would be very interested in your comments after you do. Hint.

John

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Thanks for the input Hoang. I sprayed 3 - 4 mils. At less than 3 mils and it didn't flow out worth a hoot. At 5+ it looked like a plastic film. So you added GF Extender to get it to flow out well? Ok, I can see how that would help. But how did you get it to dry so quickly? It sure didn't for us. Maybe the temp. was higher and/or the RH lower? And were you satisfied with the hardness? I could scratch it off with my finger nail even a couple of days after spraying. It was incredibly clear, I will say that, even the medium rubbed effect we used.

That's the thing about Enduro Clear Poly; you don't have to add anything to it, or thin it, or even hit a narrow wet mil thickness. It sprays great straight from the can over a pretty wide range of gun conditions, flows out well at both light and heavy coats and dries fast and hard. If you have not yet tried it, I would be very interested in your comments after you do. Hint.

John

Hang on, are we talking about the same product here? Are you referring to KA clear or KA+ white? KA clear is their line of clear coat, KA+ white is the "paint" line and can be tinted to almost any color. The KA+ white tinted to different colors was the only product I've ever sprayed, that and KA surfacer. I've never tried their KA clear before but read it sprays the same as KA+ white.

My shop conditions when spraying is around 70-75 degree with 55% RH. Humidity is controlled by a dehumidifier in my shop, temp is controlled with A/C.

The true test of durability is my built-ins. It's survived the torture of my 2 year old running his toys on it and into it for a few months now without showing signs of wear.

I've never tried GF Enduro clear poly but have to give it a shot next time I need a clear finish. I'm a big fan of GF gel stain and Arm-R-Seal. I just finished a table a few months using GF dye stain plus their high performance clear and really like it. The finish has held up to the abuse of my son banging his toys on it without peeling but the there's dents all over the wood.

[John TenEyck]

Hoang, I think the rest of us are talking about clear coats, although the OP didn't exactly specify.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the clarification, Hoang. Yes, I am talking about the clear coat. My neighbor's installer used it on his bathroom cabinet doors, and I loved how it looked.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

oops!! I've never used the clear so I can't be of any help. Only sprayed the paint line of KA+