gloss finish Kitchen

[Tomyjoiner]

Just finished pricing up my first Gloss Kitchen, not sure ill get it as she wants it doing a bit sooner than i realistically can. But incase i do get it how much of a pain is it to do? I've done a few semi gloss but not full on floss my teething the reflection gloss? do you polish or not? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Tomy

[Meccarroll]

Not tried any High Gloss finishes yet. Was thinking about spraying a kitchen in High gloss (flat surfaces) but now think it may be beyond my current capabilities, more productive to buy in high gloss sheet material and edge it (for me at least). I would imagine you will have to be meticulous in preparing the surface and have super clean environment while spraying and drying.

Hope someone can help give you a few pointers, I'm not up-to that standard yet.

Mark

[Tomyjoiner]

Cheers Mark,Have you tried that new gun yet? you will notice a difference in priming with the 1.8 tip. Unfortunately she got back to me today and is willing to wait, so ill be doing it in the new year, high gloss handleless.

[senior]

It's a pain in the ar*e. Building up layers, flattening off in between coats. Burnishing is essential.

I avoid at all costs now.

[Meccarroll]

Cheers Mark,Have you tried that new gun yet? you will notice a difference in priming with the 1.8 tip. Unfortunately she got back to me today and is willing to wait, so ill be doing it in the new year, high gloss handleless.

If it's high gloss and handleless, is it also flat surfaced too? If it is then If you have a decent panel saw and edge banding capabilities it may save time buying pre-finished sheets. No spraying, no prepping and a saving on the purchase cost of paint and sundries could work out better cost and time wise.

Yes I have tried the Devilbiss FLG5 and very pleased with it. It's much better for the final coat than my Clarke spray gun and I found it very easy to use once set up correctly. I tried the 1.8 tip for both primer and top coat and found it worked well for both. I had a few initial problems with the primer as my compressor was playing up (I loosed some pressure) but when I changed to my back up compressor the primer went on nicely. Very pleased with the advice to buy one.

Cheers Mark

[mw40784]

Gloss kitchen finish is great choice for smaller kitchens because light reflects off gloss surfaces, helping make a room feel brighter and larger.

[podengo]

I also reject any gloss spraying.

Its only realistic with a complete sprayshop isolated from any wood dust with positive pressure.

[lynx]

I would have not cost for a high gloss job without prior experience. There is gloss, then there is high gloss. Let's hope you and the client know
the difference at an early stage. We have got our high gloss down to near perfect but it's very hard to complete and takes one hell of a clean sprayshop and wortshop if connected. Don't think it's a quick process either, triple the time you think it's going to take and then allow extra time of during colder weather.

Just make sure your client know's what's coming. If' they expect 100% wetlook, mirror finish then you are really going to struggle if not sprayed that before and you are not going to get that finish from a standard gloss paint.

[tusses]

I would have not cost for a high gloss job without prior experience. There is gloss, then there is high gloss. Let's hope you and the client know
the difference at an early stage. We have got our high gloss down to near perfect but it's very hard to complete and takes one hell of a clean sprayshop and wortshop if connected. Don't think it's a quick process either, triple the time you think it's going to take and then allow extra time of during colder weather.

Just make sure your client know's what's coming. If' they expect 100% wetlook, mirror finish then you are really going to struggle if not sprayed that before and you are not going to get that finish from a standard gloss paint.

yeah .. that !!! ^^^

[Tomyjoiner]

Thanks for the advice guys, yes i do have a proper booth in a separate part of my workshop with a separate drying room as well. I did a few tester panels and its straight forward enough to spray and polishes up nicely. The client was more than happy with the panel i gave them as she was comparing mine to a howdens gloss door and said mine looked far better so it will do for me. The only down side as said is the extra time in drying and burnishing, however its only a small kitchen with 14 units. Not something i would want to be doing everyday but I've wanted to try gloss for a bit now.

[lynx]

What paint are you spraying by the way?

[Tomyjoiner]

Symphony coatings pu gloss.

[lynx]

Watch the gassing with this coating. Best to add a fair amount of thinners to keep the coating wet and allow to gass off before skinning over. Once mixed up, leave it to mature for 20 minutes or so, this will reduce the amount of tiny bubbles . Don't try and overload the coating either. Will look nice on top but once you start to polish, you will see the tiny pin holes. Thin coats, once you have sprayed a rack, go back and recoat whilst wet, do this 3-4 times. Don't allow the coats to harden between spraying or you will see the layers once polishing. Make sure the PU is fully hardened before you try and machine polish (Better to try and get it good straight off the gun) or it will pull and scratch the surface.

With all gloss top coats, it's all down to the primer. Get it on, and allow to dry for days with heat if possible before starting the top coat. Flatten with a large flat hand sander rather than a ROS. This will give a far better finish to the top coat. Lightly sand with ROS after hand flattening then start appling the top coat.

[Tomyjoiner]

Thanks for the tips, when i did the tester panels i did 1 with not much thinners an the other 1 with quite a bit in, when i cane to polishing the 1 with only a bit of thinners had pinheads in like you say but the thinned 1 worked a treat. Out of interest what do you sand up to before burnishing? I went to 3000 just wondering if 2000 would do? Thanks again for the advice.

[lynx]

We added a fare amount of thinners to that PU, 1/3 paint, 1/3 cat, 1/3 thinners.

I would try and get it good off the gun without machine polishing. It saves so much time. If you do machine polish, make sure you do all the doors, or you will see the difference. We start with 1500-2000 but this takes time to flatten, then up the grades before polishing. If you miss a grade, it'll show once you start to polish. The 3M Trizact disks are good but expensive. Also when polishing, use a slow RPM and work the paste around the panel. If you over heat the panel, it'll show in the paint and you won't get this out.

[senior]

I think you have to machine polish, flattening off between coats is the only way you will get a mirror finish, if you build up layers with out flattening off you will never get a flat finish at the end, it will always have a rippled effect. Just my opinion, every one has their own way, I do know not many companies actively seek high gloss work and there is a reason for this.
Doing a little tester can be very deceptive compared with trying to do a whole kitchen.

[Meccarroll]

Excellent thread this, good info all round.