Confessions of a Woodworker

[drw]

I have been retired since 2010; I took up woodworking about two years prior to retirement. During this period I have managed to build a variety of different projects. Compared to when I started, my collection of tools has expanded significantly and my skills have evolved. I feel truly blessed that I found woodworking, it has made my retirement years very, very enjoyable! That said, while I really enjoy the building phase of woodworking, I am not very fond of the finishing processes. As a consequence, I always keep the finishing simple; typically I use wipe on stains and wipe on poly. While I am not fond of finishing, I am really not fond of painting! Unfortunately, my most recent project (craft area) involved quite a bit of spray painting (Earlex 5500). In order to minimize the mess associated with spraying paint, I purchased a tent recommended by JohnnyR, which works very well (Thanks John). While it works well at keeping the "wet" paint confined to the tent area, I noticed I had a lot of fine paint powder throughout the shop. Knowing that I had a lot more painting ahead of me, I had to do something to keep the powder at a minimum! . My solution was to rig a tent around my tent! This was accomplished with rope threaded through eye bolts and painters plastic draped around and over! While not very elegant and not 100% effective, it made a VERY noticeable difference in the amount of paint dust in the shop! However, I must confess that I am still not fond of finishing and I am still REALLY not fond of painting!

The tent (ropes can be seen above)

Disposable finishing room!

Inside view

 

[Graywolf]

It sounds to me like you may want to think about having a separate area for finishing of that nature. Mainly because it’s just messy and there ain’t no way around it. I know it’s another expense, but I’m just brainstorming here. I do like the setup you came up with.

 

[Kelly]

I can identify with your feelings , about finishing in general and especially about painting.
I know this is cheating, but I take most of my stuff to a professional cabinet shop. He uses a sanding sealer or shellac and then 1 or 2 coats of cab acrylic, or other top coat. Depending on the piece, he may do something more. He usually has it back to me in 3 days and charges $110-$175.
Sometimes he fills the pores. Sometimes he uses a glaze and sometimes something else, whatever the job calls for.
I would have to let my shop settle for 2 weeks to get a dust free environment. Then buy the equipment, learn to use it, etc, etc.
I figure I get a great professional grade job and it is worth every penny to me.
As the saying goes, you are only half finished with a project when it is built. The other half is the top coat.
I am a woodworker, not a carpenter or a painter and I make no apologies for it.
BTW, a pro like him is also very good at hiding goofs.

 

[Raymond]

You can also modify your original tent by making a suction vent at the back of your small tent and use a box fan to exhaust the fine spray downwards and outwards through the back. Set it up so that it is blowing out of your shop or through a cheap house filter attached to the box fan.

 

[Bas]

Good solution, and can also be used for clean disposal of bodies, if I remember that show Dexter correctly
Paint is definitely a challenge. With finishes like lacquer, water-based poly etc. the overspray tends to dry before it hits the ground/ surrounding surfaces, but paint is a different animal. Might be worth using tinted lacquer instead of paint and see if that helps. Then again, since you already got your tent tented, if it works...

I actually like finishing. I don't like sanding in between coats, and vacuuming/ cleaning off the dust, but the actual finishing is enjoyable.

 

[Pop Golden]

I finish outside my shop. Yes I know what tricks the weather can do. Still spring, summer & fall offer good weather for finishing.

Pop

 

[JimD]

I do not like sanding or finishing. When I spray it is water borne and typically it is in the driveway or the car garage (without the cars). The shop is too dusty and I don't want to take it out of service, clean it up good, and then get overspray on everything.

I like shellac. I keep a brush in alcohol so I can just open the sheallac, shake out the brush, and put on some shellac. But it is mostly for shop projects and the insides of drawers.

Lately I've been using Osmo. It is expensive but I've done a bed and two nightstands plus the ends of a bunk bed with one little .75l can. You just wipe it on or dab it with a brush. It dries slowly, however, and is VERY prone to picking up dust. It then puts the dust into the hardened surface and refuses to let you sand it back smooth (almost). But the sanding difficulty has convinced me the surface is pretty tough. They only recommend two coats. They also say it is good for a floor finish. They make different finishes, I am using the polyx oil. You can also touch it up by just wiping on a little more.

 

[Oka]

Look up a "Zip Wall" they are spring loaded poles that allow you to make temp enclosures or block off a work area. Then, use 2 fans one as an exhaust and one as a intake set the intake lower on one side and the exhaust higher on the other. The intake fan should be inside a box with a filter on it, this allows the intake air to be dust free. If so inclined you can to the same to the exhaust to capture the paint over spray. This can be set up in less than 10 min and all you really need is tape and 3-6 mil roll plastic. Just re-purpose the tent. You can use the tent as a photo box to shoot nice pictures of your smaller work, just put lights on the outside with a diffuser and then put the piece inside. That way when you take pictures the post editing for really showing off the beauty of your work can really be seen.

 

[Willemjm]

The challenge is keeping the fumes out of your shop with enough air movement.

I just spray outside. Sometimes a few bugs get sprayed also, but a fast clean up with an automotive compound and they are gone.

One day I may build a paint room, but doing that the right way is expensive.

 

[Pop Golden]

Yep! There's always the bug problem. Since I do almost all of my finishing with linseed oil, 2# cut dewexed shellac, and oil based poly I can do a fair amount of touch-up a keep those little rascals out'a my finished project.

Pop