Polyurethane in a spray can question..........

nanoguy · #1 09/08/2007, 01:14 AM

Anyone have any experiences or opinions with polyurethane sold in spray cans? Can you get a good finish using these products? Since I have a lot of past experience working with airbrush painting and spray painting model cars I thought I might be able to get a better finish with the cans then brushing it on my DIY stand project.

commabc · #2 09/08/2007, 02:56 PM

i just bought some, i'll let you know here in a little bit after i try it.

Blue04 · #3 09/08/2007, 03:43 PM

I have used it on some woodworking products and i wasnot impressed. Cant beat a brushed on polyurethane look. Used 2 cans of the spray stuff on a ladder shelf i built and it was still not enough to give it a gloss to it. Cheaper to buy the can for $9 0r $10 and get a good finish as apposed to spending the $5-$6 for a can.

salth2owannabe · #4 09/08/2007, 06:22 PM

You may also look at the wipe-on poly, it works pretty well. A little thicker finish then spray can and no brush marks. It comes in the various glosses and Norm (New Yankee workshop) uses it often. I've used it a bunch also but I'm a no body.
Another option is to find a freind with an HVLP sprayer.

eederise · #5 09/09/2007, 03:03 PM

Just put three coats on my stand and canopy. I am not happy with the results. Used four cans and it barely shines. You would think that it would give you an even, smooth finish, but what I got was rough and very uneven; and there were little stringy things all over. I guess that the cloud of spray that it produces dries in the air and then gets pushed onto the wood as you are spraying it. Had to sand everthing down and I'm going to use the brush on stuff to finish it. I would say that unless you have an environment with tightly controlled humidity and temperature like a painting booth, stay away from the spray. HTH

nanoguy · #6 09/09/2007, 03:07 PM

Thanks for the info everyone. I just picked up a can to test it out on a scrap piece of stained wood to see what kind of results I can get. I will post the results as soon as I'm done.

nanoguy · #7 09/10/2007, 07:53 PM

I just finished testing on a piece of scrap wood and the results I got were fairly good. I first sprayed a light coat, let it dry, and lightly sanded it down with 600 grit sand paper, cleaned it off and sprayed again. I did a total of 3 coats and sanded in between each coat. I think the key here is to spray light coats first then goe a little heavier on the final coats.