Spraying Manns Interior Varnish

siggy_7 · 12 Mar 2018

I'm shortly going to be embarking on building a new kitchen. It's going to have inset painted face frame cabinets; I'm planning to build the carcasses myself from birch ply with drawers and a face frame reveals from maple to give a similar finish. I'm planning to use Manns Extra Tough interior varnish for the cabinet and drawer internals, which is a water-based polyurethane varnish suitable for kitchens according to Wood Finishes Direct. Does anyone have experience of spraying this type of finish who can offer guidance? It says in the description that it is sprayable, but gives no advice as to a recommended process for doing so and I can't track down any useful product data sheets (only the safety one). I have a 3hp workshop compressor with the appropriate gubbins for clean, dry filtered air, but I need to buy a spray gun for this and also the Morrells paint I'm planning to use on the face frames. Specific questions:

-I'm planning to use a HVLP gun fed from the compressor. What sort of tip size is suitable for this type of finish?
-Will it need thinning? If so, is it advantageous to use a product like Floetrol or just thin down with water as it's water-based?
-Is it worth using the primer/sealer first, or just spray an extra coat of the varnish?

I have used waterborne varnish on a floor before - it was quite thick stuff unthinned and I can't see it spraying very nicely at all compared to the car paints I'm more used to spraying.

mbartlett99 · 12 Mar 2018

I can't speak to spraying - I'm spectacularly bad at it - but in the next week I'll be rolling/tipping Bonachemi Novia on my carcasses. Their Mega floor varnish is almost like water and is as hard as nails (water borne poly) and Novia has a similar write up but with improved flow. If its any use to you I'll post up the results when I've done a test.

custard · 12 Mar 2018

I thought there was a Floetrol for water based? However, I've never used Floetrol for thinning as such, more to give a smoother result on opaque finishes.

Incidentally, once you get into technical questions about spray products I'd go straight to the manufacturer for guidance, if they can't help then I'd choose another manufacturer!

mbartlett99 · 12 Mar 2018

Some of them do a retarder - wish I'd known when I did the worktops, never varnished so fast in my life! The water based stuff I've used so far has been, well, water like.

siggy_7 · 23 Mar 2018

Thanks for all the advice. I contacted the retailer about my questions, their responses were: They didn't have any specific recommendations for tip size, but apparently 1mm gives good results (that sounds really small to me!), thinning should be with water by at most 10% and not at all for the final coat, and the sealer was recommended.

I've since realised I had 3 litres of water based poly sealer (Junkers PreLak) from my parquet floor project. I'll give that a go as the sealer for the top coats, since I think it should be much of a muchness with Mann's own sealer. I've decided to try a 1.3mm tip, since that is what is commonly used for colour and clear coats with automotive finishes so I can make use of the same setup for cars.

ColeyS1 · 23 Mar 2018

I think the floetrol isn't suitable for clear finishes. I bought a container to try, then noticed it was only really suitable for waterbased paints.

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acewoodturner · 8 Apr 2018

Is the method to find the correct tip size with a certain product not to use a Ford No 3 cup and measuring the time it takes to empty which you will then be able to determine the correct tip. I haven't used it myself though. I spray isp lacquer and use a 1.3mm tip for both basecoat and top coat. It was pure guesswork but it works for me both on small stuff and large items.