Cherry Finish For Poplar - Part 4

Spraying the color:

I’ve decided with the darker cherry color for my table (number C4). Spent the better part of 6 hours spraying my dye and stains to my test board. Holy crap guys/gals this was one aggravating day and an amazing day all rolled up into one. I’ve must of cleaned the spray gun several hundred times (not really but sure felt like it) between all the combination's of dye/stain/water based.

NGR dye and fast drying oil stain pretty much dries instantly. So you don’t have the work time like the box-store hand wiping stuff. I just couldn’t seem to find my color that I matched confidently by hand wiping. I’m telling you guys/gals, this fast drying dye/oil is a whole different animal, light clear and even color.

By dinnertime I knew I was getting close, so had a quick dinner thought about it. Went to the garage… turned the board over filled the gun and sprayed. I was done and nailed the color in no time, just that fast.

In conclusion, the biggest problems you will experience is keeping the coats light and to slow down. When you slop on box-store stain by hand its slopping and mopping hitting it again move! move! move! Spraying is a different move! move! move! Hard to explain…you need to experience it. Once you do…you’ll never want to go back.

My small spray gun is Vaper HVLP detail (touch-up gun) $26.00with a 1.0 fluid needle. Max gun air pressure is 21psi. Just love this little guy. My only complaint is the cup cover (plastic cap) had cracked all around the vent not long after I purchased it. The orange looking thing attached to the gun is a small line dryer. Lets not take a chance of water from the compressor getting in the finish. You can find these at the auto body store, get 2 for I think $20.00The larger spray gun is a Husky HVLP brand (reportedly made by Campbell Hausfeld) Around $79.00ish with a 1.4 fluid needle. Max gun air pressure is 40psi. I’ve sprayed poly with this gun at 10psi… less over spray, works real nice.

PLEASE read your dye and stain cans for proper use, handling and clean up. Dispose all rags/paper towels properly. As we all should know rags/paper towels soiled with dye’s finishes, solvents are a SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION fire hazard. Dispose of properly!
Don’t forget to buy some paint strainers. Who knows what kind of crud is swimming in your dyes/stains waiting to clog up you spray gun. One last thing…be good to your gun keep him clean, even more so, with water based products

Cherry Finish For Poplar - Part 3

You have to be diligent about writing all this stuff down. Believe me after a while you forget. I decided to wipe these dyes and stains to quickly attain color. Didn’t feel like loading the spray gun and all that. So I sanded to 180 and applied the NGR dye directly to the raw wood with a rag.

A) Base of 1 coat Gemini Raw Sienna NGR dye
B) Base of 1 coat Gemini New England Maple NGR dye
C) Base of 2 coats Gemini Equalizer NGR stain

A1) 1 coat of Gemini Heirloom oil stain
A2) 1 coat of Gemini Black Cherry oil stain
B3) 1 coat of General Finishes water base Black Cherry
C4) 1 coat of Gemini Black Cherry oil stain & 1 coat of General Finishes water based Vintage Cherry dye stain
A5) 1 coat of Gemini Red/Brown concentrate water basedmixed 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water. Then anothercoat at 2 parts concentrate to 2 parts water.
A6) 1 coat of General Finishes water based Vintage Cherry dye stain
A7) 1 coat of General Finishes water base Black Cherry

This is what I’m leaning to. We have a small table in the house and decided to match that.

Cherry Finish For Poplar - Part 2

The spray finishes I'll be using are quality professional finishes from Gemini Coatings specifically, NGR (non grain raising) dyes and oils stains, I have a small sample of a water based concentrate to try as well, together with General Finishes water based dye and stain.

This is my practice board. The table top has lots of sapwood and heartwood so I need to play a little. My only concern since my table was previously finished...the dye and stain will react totally different than my fresh practice board but the color should be close. I'm looking for a brownish tone cherry.

My color range is a dark old cherry bed post (pictured to the left) and a lighter cherry board (pictured to the right) Looking forward to using a professional spray on product like Gemini Coatings. So on to the next step which is a little play time experimenting with various finishes looking for that perfect color combination.