Using a heat gun to strip paint

A heat gun can be used to strip paint but it is important to know when and how to use it.

Heat gun safety

A heat gun produces hot air that can reach temperatures of up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. This can easily burn the wood or loose items such as curtains and other flammable items in a few seconds. Never aim a heat gun at anything that you are not trying to strip paint from.

A heat gun should not be used around flammable chemicals such as paint thinner, mineral spirits or acetone. You should always use a mask and heat resistance gloves. Also make sure that there is enough ventilation. Always run the gun on the cool setting to cool it down before turning it completely off to save wear and tear on the gun. 

When to use a heat gun

 

A heat gun is effective for stripping paint from large flat surfaces and hard to reach places. It is also a good tool to use if you have a lot of paint to strip such as a room full of painted woodwork, mouldings and doors.

To use a heat gun use the following procedure:

• ·         Keep a distance of about 4 inches from the wood

• ·         Move the gun around constantly. Never keep it stationary in one spot

• ·         Move the gun with one hand and follow with a paint scraper and scrape away the    loosened   paint.

• ·         Keep a container handy to discard the loose paint.

·         Always put a drop cloth or some other covering on the floor to catch loosened paint.

Remember that the hot paint can inflict burn wounds so be sure not to touch it with bare hands.

Finishing the job

When working around windows be very careful as the heat gun can crack and break glass. You will want to hold it further away from the paint or put it on a lower setting. If you are dealing with grooves or ridges, you may need a tool such as an awl to pick away pieces of paint from tiny areas. You may also find you will need to do a 'wash' over the stripped area with mineral spirits to totally clean it after it has cooled down. Do not use heat on wet mineral spirits as it will ignite.

Furniture Refinishing Business Plan

To start a furniture refinishing home business, developing a business plan could significantly improve chances to get the project going on a sound footing. The biggest advantage of a business plan  is that it forces you to think through a process of how you visualize the development of the business. Like with any business, the aim is to grow the business and to make a decent profit. Setting attainable goals will help to achieve those aims.

When compiling a business plan, the following questions should be answered:

Why start a furniture refinishing business?

What will my business do to be different from the rest?

Who is the ideal customer?

What do you want to achieve in the first year?

What steps will you take to attain those goals?

What will it cost?

What will be your pricing strategy?

Why start a furniture refinishing business?

There could be many reasons for starting a business. You could be retired and want to supplement your pension or just to keep busy and earn an icome on the side. Your strategy for the future of the business will depend heavily on what the answer is to these two alternatives. Maybe you know people in the furniture and/or cabinet manufacturing industries and this presents an ideal opportunity to enter into an agreement to provide a refinishing and painting service. Maybe you have a passion for restoring old furniture to their former glory. Whatever the reason, think it though and write it down as a pointer of where you want to go with the business.

What will my business do to be different from the rest?

To compete effectively in the marketplace, your business should have unique selling points (USP’s). Why would people want to use your business when there are others that have been around for a long time? Do you have unique skills or do you use more sophisticated paint techniques? Can you supply a range of products and services that make yours different from the others?

There are some big and established businesses in the refinishing business and if you start out as a small business it will be almost impossible to compete with them That is why I suggest that you start small, keeping your overheads to the minimum. This will enable you to come in at a much lower price and by so doing get your foot in the door. 

Who is the ideal customer?

By identifying the ideal customer, you can focus on your target market and not spend time or money on efforts that will not yield the required results. Having established your target market, a strategy can then be developed to make contact. There could be a number of ways to approach and convince the potential customer to use your services such as personal contact, regular e-mails, phone calls etc. Your program should not be a once off, but should be done on a continuously and regular basis.

What do you want to achieve in the first year?

By setting some goals to be achieved in the next 12 months, you can focus attention and resources to achieve them. Goals need not all be monetary. Aspects such as improving skills and techniques, penetrating a specific target market etc. are just as important.

What steps will you take to achieve those goals?

This is an obvious question to set the process in motion. Programs to consider are things like news paper ads, flyers, radio, internet marketing, e-mails, billboards, post, telephone etc.

Special promotions can be offered from time to time and the aim should be to expand your customer base and increasing sales.

What will it cost?

A budget should be drawn up and expenditure carefully monitored. Returns on the investment should also be established and monitored to see if the programs are meeting their goals.

What will be your pricing strategy?

Be aware of prices that are charged by competitors and  make sure that your prices are competitive. Also consider the possibility to give discounts or other incentives such as free transport to special clients, especially if you want to establish a long term relationship.

If you are serious to start a profitable home business, you will find all the information that you will need in my book "Refinishing Old Furniture - start a home business".

How to spray paint furniture

Painted furniture has become a popular trend and by using the right tools, paints and other materials and paint techniques, you can give new life to a piece of furniture. Spray painting furniture is by far the best way to go about it because it is much quicker than painting with a brush or a roller and the end result so much more rewarding. Whether a beginner or a more experienced furniture painter, in “How to Spray Paint Furniture” you will find a detailed guide on aspects such as the best tools and equipment for spray painting, what types of paint to use, how to prepare wood for painting, the basics of the technique of spray painting etc. There is also a section dealing with the best approach to paint different types of wood surfaces such as hardwood, laminated wood and MDF (medium density fiber) and how to spray chalk paint and milk paint. You will find many useful practical tips and suggestions to get you started to become a master spray painter. Whether you are just starting out by using an ordinary spray can or using a handheld sprayer or want to progress to a more professional level of using a spray gun with a compressor – this book covers all the necessary aspects to get you there. Spray painting can be mastered with relative ease and your projects can achieve a new level of sophistication in no time.

How to mix paint for spraying furniture

Spray painting requires that the paint be accurately mixed so that you get the correct consistency – not too thick and not too thin. Most paint manufacturers give an indication of the ratio of solvent to the paint volume required. As a rule of thumb, 10% solvent is usually sufficient. However, some water based paints are non-drip and comes as a thick liquid that will require a bigger ratio – up to 15%. 

Mixing cups and empty yogurt container

Mixing cups are available in the paint trade. These are ideal for accurately measuring the paint mix. Different sizes are available but the 1 liter cups are the most practical. A spray painter’s ruler is also a handy measurement and mixing tool. 

Most paints used for spray painting must be filtered to get rid of small particles. Paint strainers of various grid sizes are available but the medium mesh size is preferable. Clean paint prevents clogging of nozzles and air holes on the paint gun. Paper strainers can be cleaned and used two or three times before discarding. Reusable paint strainers are also available. 

You could make your own reusable paint strainer by using the 20 liter paint straining mesh that can be bought from your paint dealer and cutting it to fit over a used yogurt container as shown in the picture. Here is what you do:

• cut about 5 cm off the top of an empty yougurt container

  

  Home made reusable paint strainer

• use the top part to insert in another empty container to hold the straining mesh that you have cut out from the 20 L straining mesh
• fit the mesh over the empty container and then press the 5 cm top lid to insert the mesh into the empty container
• Pour the paint and then remove and wash the straining mesh with the required solvent (water or turpentine) to use again.

Best spray gun for spraying furniture

A spray gun is the only tool that will give you a professional finish. It will give a really smooth finish whereas brushes and rollers always leave marks. There is a great variety and types of spray guns for spray painting jobs but the question is - what type of gun is most suitable for spraying furniture? Unlike spraying flat metal surfaces, wood present a very different character and not any spray gun will do the job properly. Keep in mind that wood is often sprayed with conventional household paints and water based paints are preferred because they are environmental friendly, but they are also thick and although it can usually be thinned with water about 10% it still remains thick substance.  

There are mainly two common types of spray guns used in finishing:

• Conventional (low volume/high pressure) spray guns work with compressed air and blast the finish onto the wood at 3 – 5.0 bar. The gun’s air consumption is 4 – 7 cubic feet per minute (cfm). A high pressure gun will generally give a smoother finish than a HVLP gun.

• HVLP (high volume/low pressure) spray guns work with either compressed air or turbine air and lay the finish onto the wood softly at 2.5 – 3.5 bars.  Air consumption is rated at 4 – 6 CFM. These guns create much less overspray.  

Conventional Spray Guns (LVHP)

Conventional spray guns have been used for a long time. They provide excellent control of the liquid material that reaches the surface.  But they have one serious drawback - they are only about 20 to 30 percent efficient.  This means that well over half of the material you're spraying is wasted - it goes into the air.

High Volume Low Pressure Spray Guns (HVLP)

 HVLP spray guns were developed more than 30 years ago but are only recently becoming popular.  HVLP guns can work with either compressed air or continuous air supplied by a turbine.  Either way, the result is a low pressure spray that creates very little overspray.  HVLP guns are 65 to 90 percent efficient, which means that most of the material you're spraying ends up on the wood.    There are two advantages to using a turbine over a compressor with an HVLP spray gun: 

• A turbine passes a high volume of air directly to the gun at about 4 psi.  A compressor generates much higher pressure at lower volume.  In order to raise the volume enough to operate the HVLP gun, the high-pressure air must be sent through a regulator.  This transforms the high pressure to high volume and low pressure.  It takes a large, expensive 3- to 5-horsepower compressor to adequately supply an HVLP gun, compared to a small, inexpensive turbine.

• Turbines warm and dry the air, which speeds curing and helps reduce blushing (a moisture-related, off-white color that appears as some finishes cure).  

The small DIY electric guns are becoming popular but if you want to get a professional finish, forget about them –I think it is just a waste of time and money. I would suggest that you buy a suitable compressor and a HVLP gun with a 1.8 or 2.0 mm nozzle. To do touch up work a smaller gun with a 1.0 mm nozzle will also be needed. To spray sealers and varnish, a 1.4 mm nozzle will do a good job. Spray Painting Tools can be bought on the internet.