Don Stephan
Posts: 825
Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
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Todd:
Fortunately I've never suffered fish eye, but my understanding is that it usually results from silicone contamination of the piece being sprayed. Some furniture polishes contain silicone and can show up on pieces being refinished. I've been told that "fish eye eliminator" is nothing more than silicone, so in essence adding the eliminator to your spray gun is simply contaminating your spray system with silicone, which may or may not be desirable.
You might begin by examining whether you might inadvertently exposed the pieces to silicone if they are new work, as I don't believe white glue would contain silicone.
Sand and spray some new plywood or other test stock to see if you get fish eyes there - if so, it might not be due to silicone contamination but perhaps spray conditions your product doesn't like (ambient temp, temp of the piece being sprayed, or something else altogether).
If the problem is in fact silicone contamination and you would like to avoid adding "fish eye eliminator" to your spray system, you might first try a thin coat or two of dewaxed shellac on your panels - sometimes shellac will seal in the silicone. If you are using solvent based finish you might be able to use regular rather than dewaxed shellac. Also, if you are using solvent finish vinyl sealer might be able to cover over the silicone, don't know.
Even a well honed card scraper might leave scratches that will telegraph through the next coat of finish. Generally I sand with 400 grit sandpaper when needed between coats, and those scratches don't seem to show under the next coat. Your finish should indicate the minimum grit between coats. Sanding back through the new coat to remove the scraper scratches should fix this problem.
If you have a "bump" or drip, next time you might try gently scraping much of the excess away (after drying well) with a razor blade or a box cutter blade that has eased corners - they won't dig in as they are a little higher than the body of the cutting edge.
When the changeover to a new server is completed, Homestead Finishing has an excellent finishing forum you might consider. I have learned buckets and buckets about finishing there.
Good luck.
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