Expert: Eileen Cronk - 10/4/2009

Question
Hi Eileen Sorry to bother you yet again, but I would like some advice on varnishing.  The cabinets look beautiful with the Jacobean stain, and now I'm a little nervous about the varnishing stage because I don't want to ruin the whole thing and neither one of us have ever varnished anything.  We thought we'd use the Minwax Fast Drying Satin Polyurethane in aerosol for the doors and drawers, and the same thing but in a can that you apply with a brush for the frames.  Will that be ok to use both?  Do I need a special brush?  What does tipping off mean, overlapping?  My hubby is going to do the spraying, he has spray painted but I believe this is a different technique.  He said he thought he was suppossed to start at the left, stop; start at the left, stop...  I thought kind of sweeping, one constant left to right back and forth.  I hope I'm making sense to you :O  Also, do we need to sand between applications?  Your advice is greatly appreciated and invaluable!!  Thank you for walking us through this whole project!!

Answer
Hi Tricia
No need to apologize for more questions.
Its such a pleasure for me to hear you progress with this job and most of all get good results.
It will be fine to use both the spray and brush on polys but personally I would not use spray.
If the doors are off now, its a breeze to brush on the poly while they are lying flat.
This way the poly flows out level and you have no runs.
You need a good hand motion technique to successfully spray poly over a large surface like cupboard doors and a left to right motion then stop as your hubby describes would be correct.
If the nozzle is always pressed as you suggest with a sweeping motion, you will usually get thin/thick areas of finish.
Tipping off is just going over the wet poly with a brush but should not be necessary if properly sprayed.
Using these spray cans is a whole different thing than using a professional spray gun as your hubby knows.
A light sanding is done between applications.
The brush you use to apply your poly is important. Get the best oil based brush the store sells.
I like a 3inch brush. My last poly brush cost $12.00. I have had and used it many times and it was well worth the price.
If I've missed anything let me know and keep me posted with your progress.
Regards
Eileen