# best way to spray doors?



## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

Does anyone have an easy way to spray cabinet doors? I am going to spray the doors for my kitchen cabinets. There are a bunch of them and I'm looking for the best way to spray them and the best way to store them to dry? I have seen the hooks you screw to them but I would need a bunch of them. Guess I'm seeing if anyone made something so you can spray the whole door at one time. Thought about setting up two long 2x4's on sawhorses and driving some 3" screw up threw them so the doors can sit on the points of the screws. Then I would spray the back of the door and then flip it over and spray the fronts. You would only see 4 little dimples in the finish on the back of the door from the screws which I could live with. Then I was wondering if someone has a way to store the doors while they dry? Does anyone have some homemade or bought ways to spray doors and store them while they dry? Thank you


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

What are you spraying them with?


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## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

I'm going to be spraying an oil based primer and oil based paint on them using a HVLP. The HVLP is one I hook up to my air compressor and has a can on the bottom for the paint. Primer says it takes 2 hours before re coating. Thanks


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## Rob (Oct 31, 2006)

I use a drying rack. Pretty easy and cheap to build. Couldn't keep shop without it.


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## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

Rob that is nice! Does the conduit leave a noticable mark or don't you put wet stuff touching the conduit? I thought maybe I could spray both sides of the door and then put in the drying rack.


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## Rob (Oct 31, 2006)

Well, I usually don't spray much except lacquer, as it dries so fast and is forgiving. I will prime all the undersides first, let them dry face down and then flip over for the faces. If anything is going to stick, I prefer it to be on the underside.
I then apply the topcoat in the same manner. I'll give 3 coats to the underside or backs, let them dry completely and move on to the fronts when I'm sure nothing is going to stick to the conduit.
Before I made this rig, I tried to use sawhorses with 2x's and drywall screws and do everything all at once. It never (ever) failed, I would grab where I shouldn't...leave a thumb print, etc, etc.
If you are going to use oil, my suggestion would be to use a rack like this and be patient...or...switch to lacquer or shellac.


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## Jim Tank (Apr 28, 2009)

I use 3/8 dowels 8" long drilled verticle into 4" square 3/4" ply bases to set doors on while spraying. It gets door up away from bench top to eliminate overspray bouncing up, and won't kick up debris. Three works good and you can adjust positioning for diffo size doors. Also you won't absentmindedly sit on the points later after the paint dries. If you are new to this I strongly recommend cutting up 5 pieces of plywood 15x24 or so and practice several times before shooting the real thinsgs, pay attention to build up, and coverages on edges where paint has a tendency to flow from corners. Light sanding to knock down outside edge corners will almost double the final thickness of the finish there. Good luck.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would recommend using a waterbased polyurethane, or a lacquer, as both dry very fast. Using an oil base has many disadvantages, like runs, and a long dry time which will allow anything to land on it.
If you have the room, you can hang the doors. The bottom edge of the base doors, and the top edge of the top doors don't ever get seen.

Use a small "eye" hook or "open eye" and hang them up and you can spray the whole door at once. You can suspend a 2x4's in rows to hang from. I use lengths of jack chain and open up the links on the ends for as quick "attachment"


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## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks for the help guys. I am new to HVLP spraying. It's actually for my moms kitchen. She wanted to paint her cabinets and asked if I could help her out. She is set on what she wants, it's just up to me to try and do it! I went to habitate restore and bought some used cabinet doors to practice on before shooting the real ones. Jim, your dowel stands are a good idea but since there is so many doors I am looking to set them aside once sprayed so I can keep going. I came up with a stand last night after seeing Rob's stand, something similar but different. I'll post pictures if it works good. Cabinetman, it would be nice to hang them but I don't have the room. Thanks,


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## Rick Mosher (Feb 26, 2009)

Make one of these. I like wheels on mine but you can get by without if you aren't using it every day.


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## Jim Tank (Apr 28, 2009)

Ponch.... move the door to the drying rack when you're done so you only have to make three doweled stands. Don't spray lacquer products if you don't have ventilation to push fumes into open windows of your neighbors house.


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## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks guys. I ended up building a stand yesterday. I think it is going to work good but have to wait for some good weather to find out. Pretty simple design, trying to keep it simple and cheap. I plan on making a "bed" out of 8' long 1x3" boards and have some 3" drywall screws sticking up threw them. Set 3-4 doors on the screws face down and spray the backs, flip them over and spray the fronts. Pick the whole "bed" up and carry it over to the drying rack. I made room for 12 "beds" so if I get 4 doors on each one it will hold 48 doors at once. Just need to get some wheels to finish it up. That way I can spray both sides at once and only have 4 little dimples from the screw tips on the back of the door. In theory this sounds great but I'll have to see how it goes! I've never sprayed before so I'm sure there is going to be some learning curve and issue's to deal with but you have to start somewhere! Thanks again for all your ideas and help.


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## Rob (Oct 31, 2006)

Good job. That will do the trick.


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## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks Rob, and thanks for the pic that gave me a place to start. It's nothing special but had most of the materials already so it was cheap and only took me about an hour to throw together. I'll see how it looks and maybe make some improvements as needed!


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