Question
We have used Mohawk wood wiping stains for years, and have recently used the Ultra-Pen stains from Mohawk. I like the quickness that comes from spraying on a finish. However, I have been surprised by the amount of finish that I go through.
I am using a Kremlin Air-Assisted System to apply the stain. What would take a quart of material in a wiping stain, takes gallons of spray. I am wondering if I am doing something wrong. Perhaps I should use a different gun?
Having enough finish material on hand is difficult to estimate, and with the hassles of getting Mohawk products, time delays have occurred. Is there a rule of thumb for coverage? We have tried thinning the material with lacquer thinner to sneak up on the color. Does anyone have a couple of pointers to use in spraying on stains?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor D:
In short, you're using this material wrong. I wouldn’t, under any circumstances, use an AirMix to spray a die stain. This type of a stain is applied using thin moist coats, not flooded on. You want to build the color. Ultra should almost always be diluted for spray application.
I typically use 1:1 with Ultra reducer. I spray this with a 1.3 mm gravity gun choked way down. You should never see liquid dye on the surface for more than a second or two. I've done a complete kitchen with less than two quarts of the stuff.
