5 simple tips for beginners on varnishes and appliances

Between the big furniture factories and the DIY enthusiasts, there is a growing category of carpenters with their own workshops, who are both entrepreneurs and employees. I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them and discovered that some have left jobs in law, IT, set design or automotive engineering to pursue their passion. They are perfectionists in the woodwork, they try to do everything as well as possible, they do their research and leave nothing to chance.

But when it comes to finishing objects or furniture made with such attention to detail and finesse, some don't always make the best choices. They buy cheap polishes from DIY stores, and if they've given up on the paintbrush, they decide to buy a regular spray gun from there too, thinking that since it's cheap they can buy another one when it starts having problems. They were the ones I had in mind when I decided to write these simple tips.

I want to be very clear from the outset. This is not about everyone in this profession, nor is it a superior approach to the subject. I simply love this new generation, I am impressed by their desire to improve and I want to help by sharing the knowledge I have gained in a lifetime of woodworking, while being aware that I too can learn a lot from them.

The advice I want to give now is not about the actual way of working for a beginner in finishing. It's about finding a serious supplier of materials and application systems that you can rely on whenever you need advice and especially when problems arise. So, in my view, you should:

• use professional products from wood varnish and paint suppliers or their distributors. That way you'll have both products formulated specifically for wood application and the technical support you need to get a quality product. Don't forget! You can make a great product with perfect joints worthy of traditional Japanese carpentrybut if you apply a bad varnish everything is compromised;
• ask for all necessary information and product data sheets or any other documents containing technical data relating to the product;
• ask for the company's technician, introduce yourself, ask for his phone number. It's a good idea when you have questions to ask and clarify everything before you start work. You avoid a lot of hassle and most of all, a lot of lost materials. Every such company has well-trained technicians and it is a shame not to use a service that is provided to you free of charge;
• buy guns and spraying equipment from specialist firms. Tell them what you are going to do with that equipment and advise them. They have every interest in giving you the best solution because they know they're the ones you'll go to if you have problems.
• don't compare the price of professional equipment with the price in the supermarket or DIY stores. Although they look the same, they are not. Always the DIY shop price will be more attractive, but it may not match the performance level of the professional one;
• buy your equipment with the same care you buy your woodworking tools. If you think this way you will find that the approach will be different. If the chisels or equipment used for woodworking are of the highest quality, why would you buy a gun whose quality you are not sure of and risk ruining all the work you have done up to the spraying stage?

You may think these are trivial tips, but it's always the small, insignificant things that get in our way the most. I was talking the other day with Gabriel Mănoiu from Falk Consulting, distributor in Romania of spraying equipment Sames-Kremlin. Their equipment is the best-selling in the country, with guns for both small carpentry workshops and sophisticated installations in large furniture factories.

I asked him to tell me 5 tips he would give to a beginner in spraying. I was expecting some fancy stuff. In fact, I got the simplest and most common sense advice. It all starts with the simple, seemingly trivial things that we often tend to overlook. Here's Gabriel Mănoiu's advice:

• always use the appropriate nozzle on the gun, depending on the material and surface to be finished;
• adjust the pressure and jet opening according to the material used and the surface to be finished;
• hold the gun perpendicular to the surface to be finished and "walk" with it across the surface, do not tilt it;
• spray as much as possible on the surface and as little as possible off the surface. This avoids wastage. Do not, however, go to the other extreme and do not spray outside at all, because you will "miss" the edges. The quantity deposited on the extremities will be less than that in the middle;
• follow the instructions for mixing and diluting the varnish on the product sheet. The surface laydown, material leakage, surface quality often depends on how the material preparation was done and less on the quality and adjustment of the gun.

It's so simple, isn't it? And yet what big problems can arise if they are not taken into account!