The wood finishing industry of today

Hi,

My name is Greg Saunders and I am the field Rep for Annex Paint and Lacquer in Reseda California. I have had this Blog running for several years and have given it less attention these last few years but with that being said, I’ll be spending some more time posting articles and reviews that you can have access to.

The California Wood finisher is a unique and rare creature whose technology, materials and operating climate are changing on him all the time ( as if running a business isn’t hard enough) I have started this blog to log the various changes and developments in the wood finishing industry and to document all of the tips and tricks I have come to learn over the years.  Your input is welcome, Ask a question and I will get you an answer. If I don’t know the answer I have the names and numbers of chemists, the AQMD reps and Manufactures in my phone book I’ll  get the information and publish it for all to have.

 Specifically I service the wood finishing industry, cabinet and furniture shops, large and small in the southern California.  We sell and deliver several different brands of Lacquer, Pre catalyzed lacquer, Conversion varnishes, polyurethanes, polyesters, and stains in both water base materials as well as nitrocellulose based materials. We carry CIC, Gemini, Pinnacle, Vanderbilt, Express Old masters stains and a host of others. If we don’t have a product you are looking for it we can often get it for you. We custom match and tint stains and Lacquers as well we  provide Free delivery and on site assistance to our customers.  

Wood working and finishing is a passion of mine and I enjoy what I do. for this reason I have gotten this blog going to share tips tricks and useful information to my customers and all those that are wood workers whether  professional or Hobbyists.  

Visit our new on line catalog, we are building it as we go you are welcome to place orders and leave comments : www.annexpaint.com

California is a unique  region for the wood finisher, we have the strictest regulations in the union such that most of the major national manufactures don’t have much reality on how to apply their own Low VOC materials that are specifically manufactured for this region.

Going green is becoming a reality as the quality of water-based products comes around to the lacquer standards. While the various authorities a talking about tightening even further the regulations on the allowable standards for VOC compliance.  Spraying Water based materials is a different kettle of fish requiring a certain amount of education and the proper equipment. I will be featuring information on how to use these new materials as well as what I am finding  when these newer materials are applied in the fields

Add all of the above factors together with the current economy and we find our selves in challenging times.  In future posts I’ll be discussing the various products I come across and how they perform. I welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.

Best,

Greg Saunders

ANNEX PAINT
818-344-3000

CIC Waterbase polyurethane

Cic is bring back there 2K ( two component) waterbased polyurethane, and we have it in stock in clear satin gloss and white satin.

This stuff is really tough and stands up to the elements a around 130 a kit isn’t what would use in your drawer boxes but it is great to counter tops, exterior furniture, hand railings and commercial applications.

This product was used to clear coat some signage used on a mountain trail some years ago by yours truly, I didn’t think much of it at the time as I had to get some lot markers out on a property, Two years later, I had to do the same thing,  I found my old markers from 2 years earlier and  they looked brand new!!  see the following.

The product,while simple has to be mixed correctly and I put together a short video on the matter. the key is to mix the activator  slowly under agitation. Adding it too fast will cause it to “shock” the material and create a reaction whereby it foams up and turns into a gelatinous un-useable mess. here is the video:

 

IF you have questions about the materials you are welcome to contact Annex paint at http://www.annexpaint.com

best,

Greg

 

Cardinal Clear Polyester Grain Filler

Here is a little back yard video of sanding down the Cardinal polyester base coat, which follows the earlier video of the spraying of the product. As you can see it sands phenomenally well. This product is used when need a Clear, full grain fill,  super flat finish. Table tops, conference, tables doors etc.

There is a famous recording artist  living in the Hollywood hills whose kitchen is all done in a High Gloss super high polished white polyester/polyurethane coating. a little bright for my tastes but the customer got what she paid for and loved it.

There was a similar coating made by Ellis/Pinnacle that I have demonstrated earlier on this blog, sadly that company was bought out by Axalta and they did away with the polyester coatings ( and a number of other favorites coatings of mine) and so for the last few months I have been on the search for a replacement product and company. Cardinal Paint, a local company has answered my prayers for such a product. This product and others can be bought at http://www.annexpaint.com If the product you are looking for is not on the site you can contact me directly at Info@annexpaint.com

thanks for watching

Annexgreg

waterbase polyurethane on cabinets

Eric Reason was on the search for a good 2K ( 2 component ) water based polyurethane for cabinetry, CIC had discontinued theirs due to lack of volume sales We have other possibilities in the works but in the mean time I got to thinking of something else that I sell that might do the job and that was the Monopole Permashield 200, It is a phenomenal 2k product for concrete and has been used as an anti-graffiti product for years, in fact the big brother of the Permashiled 200, Permshield Premium which  is one of the top, if not the top water based anti graffiti coating  in the country.

Anyway, the permashield has never really been marketed to the cabinetry industry so it is and undiscovered product in the industry really.  I Sent a gallon of this product to Eric to test out and the following video is his take on the product.

If you are interested in something like this you can contact me at: greg@annexpaint.com or visit my web site at http://www.annexpaint.com

Eric is a phenomenal cabinet maker and finisher  who always looking to improve his products you can find him on facebook, twitter and at his web site

https://www.ercustomwoodwork.com/

Cabinet finishing with Automotive polyurethane

In addition to playing with my new gopro and evo stabilizer I wanted to post a video of the use of polyurethanes on cabinetry, the automotive grade urethane is the way to go if you want the toughest of finishes that will never yellow. In this video shot in the Thomas Craven Wood finishing studios in Van Nuys California, Tom had a residential customer that wanted the best of the best and commercial grade finish, we are using a PLC automotive urethane that you can buy from Annex paint, (I’ll get that product up on he web site) roughly the materials shown with the reducer were about $150.00. the gallon of material, the quart of activator and the gallon of reducer.  That’s 4 X what you would pay for a similar amount of Pre Cat lacquer  and two to three times  what you would pay for a conversion varnish.  The walnut paneling  had a stain and color treatment which was sealed with a CIC vinyl sealer after which it received the treatment you see in the video.

For note, I didn’t edit out any of the spraying footage to shorten the video length. what you see is three coats of material apply in rapid succession. the length of the video is how long it took to apply.  After spending a few days curing  from that application it is installed.

Another thing to note here, is the application of the “FOG” coat as its called the first of the three applications, as show you are barely covering the surface.

For Reference, the term, “Flash off” is used to refer to letting the faster evaporating solvents evaporate. Solvents in coatings are staged and timed. the faster evaporating solvents allow the materials to flow out nicely and level out. the slower solvents allow the resins to harden properly. like concrete there are stages to drying and curing.

Do you need that much protection in your home? Most likely not.  I would generally recommend this product for and exterior application, front doors, fancy wooden garage doors and the like.  Or in commercial establishments, bar and table tops of restaurant dining tables. A big family with young kids, over worked parents and no maid? might not be a bad Idea… Smuckers Jelly if left on the minimally finished pre-cat cabinet door will soften the finish if left on for  a few days. I was told by a 4 year old authority on the matter that finger painting with Jelly was really fun. who Knew…

Feel free to post comments I’ll try to answer them, you are welcome to email me if you have immediate questions  you can visit the annex web http://www.annexpaint.com site for purchasing these products.

Best,

Greg Saunders
Annex Paint

Does a clear top coat give you better chemical resistance?

Here’s a video from, professional finisher, Eric Reason, in Nashville Tennessee  proving the point that a clear top coat has better chemical resistance than a pigmented top coat.

That’s not too surprising when you consider what’s going on in the coating, a pigmented product starts out as a clear and has colorants and or pigments added to it, by the nature  of colorants they are not hard by themselves and so lessen the over all chemical resistance of the coating.

However what this, does do is give the finisher and additional tool in providing the customer with the protection to his cabinets that he needs and wants at an affordable price. for instance, the tinted water based conversion coating is around $65 a gallon while the regular acrylic tinted water based product is only $44  a gallon,  so you could save 20% on most of the materials and get  the color and look that the customer wants  and then top coat the job with the more expensive and better chemically resistant waterbase conversion clear coat. and for that matter the CIC also has a cross linker that you can add to the product making even more chemically and scuff resistant.

Once again, thanks to Eric for taking the time to share his findings with the community it. we are in a golden age of information, where information is relatively free, uncorrupted  and easy to  access. Cherish it, and spread the wealth.

You can see Eric’s other videos on YouTube or follow him at :

http://www.instagram.com/ericreason
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.ercustomwoodwork.com

Greg Saunders
Annex Paint

CIC solvent conversion varnish v.s. CIC waterborn conversion coating

This is a great video from Eric Reason, Whose permission I have to repost this video comparison of  the CIC waterbase conversion product and  its solvent based alternative.  This is know as destructive testing, the video does a phenomenal job of showing the testing he does to determine which has a greater resistance to solvents. The only thing that I would want to know is how long these board cured before the testing. I love the destructive Rub testing as it shows at what point will  a coating fail.

Something to be mentioned here is that a regular lacquer finish would have been stripped clean down to the bare wood in the 10 rubs of a lacquer thinner or acetone.  by comparison to that these finishes are pretty tough. That being said don’t leave your Kids and a gallon of lacquer thinner alone in your newly finished Kitchen 🙂

You can check out Eric other work at his web site: https://www.ercustomwoodwork.com/
Thanks

Greg

CIC water based Conversion varnish vs. CIC solvent based conversion varnish

I have promised to get back in to blogging and posting things to the blog here. My good friend and fellow wood finishing aficionado Eric Reason has pushed me back in to action.

Following is a low Rez video of a spray out and chemical resistance testing on a the CIC solvent based conversion varnish and the CIC water based conversion varnish.

As you will see, the solvent base survived a little better on the various chemical tests than did the water base, AS for which one was easier to apply? we’ll have to have another installment on that …

OK the video will be posted shortly … you now have to have a paid subscription  to upload video. I upgraded to the premium and will have to wait a day for  the upgrade to take place .

Best,

Greg

 

CIC water based conversion coating Showcase By: Eric Reason

Eric is a furniture maker in Nashville Tennessee He contacted me some years ago after seeing my Blog with and interest in trying out the  cic conversion coatings products I had talked about so much. Determined to get good with  water based products he invested the time and patience in to the product and has become a master craftsman with them. Producing a singularly beautiful artistic creation in wood, is not a mater of divine inspiration but instead the result of a lot of hard work study and practice.  Recently he send me some pictures of some custom walnut cases he built and finished with the CIC coating  and I was blown away at the beauty of his creations. I told him I would show off the work and give him a plug.

In his own words, “Since these chests and TV stand were made from un-steamed walnut, I wanted to capture the natural beauty of the wood. Knowing I was going to use the CIC water base conversion top coat, I elected to spray and wipe back a coat of oil which I have found ambers more over time than other finishes. I then finished it up with 3 coats of the CIC water based conversion coating in a satin finish.”

Eric can be contacted for custom furniture work at the following address.

Eric Reason
5013 Meta Dr
Nashville TN 37211
615-498-4895
ericswoodshop@gmail.com

How to buff and polish wood coating effectively

Tom Horvath, Creator and CEO of  Clear Coat solutions Inc. CSI, and Annex Paint and have teamed up to put together a little instructional video on how to buff and polish fine wood furniture with the CSI system.

Normally, we have use other automotive compounds and procedures and while they work well they take quite a bit longer and are more prone to problems.

The CSI system is a Completely new formulation, it is a nano-technology water based product that eliminates the need for  the normal three different compounds that are generally associated with the activity.

The CSI  Cream X product which you can buy on my web site at http://www.annexpaint.com is not greasy and doesn’t dry out like the normal products do.

There are a few things that are very important which are gone over in the video, the DA sander had a very tight orbital pattern, 3/32nd to be exact, that used with the interface pad, gives you and even  scratch pattern with out digging into your coating, The sand papers we have used her have proven to last the longest. As Tom mentions in the video it is all about “Conversion” you are converting the current surface with the 2000 grit paper to a 2000 grit scratch pattern, then the next sanding  level up converts the 3000 grit sand scratch pattern to the 3000. with the sander and these sand papers you can make a 1000 grit jump and that saves you a lot of time, to go from 2000 to 2200 to 2500 to 2800 to 3000 takes time and give you more chance to burn through your clear coat.  The Cream-X product applied with a wool pad converts the scratch pattern even further.  Enjoy the video, and if you have questions you are welcome to contact me. If you are with in 80 miles of Reseda California we may be able to arrange a demonstration at your shop.

Back painting glass using the CIC Mustang adhesion promoter

Adhesion promoters are a very useful tool to have in your belt as a finisher, as you will see in this very informative video by master finisher and good friend Thomas Craven, of Thomas Craven studios in Van Nuys California.

Back painting glass is what we are doing here, the other uses for this product are where you have to paint  rubber or plastic, this product was originally designed for painting plastic bumpers  and parts for the automotive industry ( Rubber bumpers on cars, 30 years ago that was a joke). Another use is painting over plastic laminates. I had a customer that bought some very expensive custom cabinet doors from Italy, they were a laminate that had a custom wave C-N-Ced in to the door, the customer made a mistake and got the wrong color,  we used the adhesion promoter on these and fixed the color.

Tom is using the CIC mustang adhesion promoter to back paint glass that is going to be used as a black splash, this is a cool little technique and is very popular. It has high tech ultra modern look and is easy to do, getting the paint to stick to the Glass is the tricky part.

An adhesion promoter is in essence a spray on glue that bonds to the glass and then bonds to your paint and thereby promoting adhesion, Simple Right?    yes and no.

There are a few key application points that Tom goes over in the video that are very Key, two light  (underline) coats. this is not a coating in itself you just want enough to get so stick.

NEXT POINT, you apply  your paint while the adhesion promoter is still tackie. don’t let it dry and then paint over it you have defeated the purpose.

The CIC mustang is a great product as it sprays out very light and doesn’t clump or clog, when looking at the glass you wouldn’t know that there was anything other than the color coat, and guess what you can get that product and other fine CIC products on my web site at http://www.annexpaint.com. if  you have questions you are welcome to write to me at info@annexpaint.com.

and here’s the video:

 

best,

Greg Saunders