Waterborne Finishing Coatings

UV Problems

No matter what type of UV system you have, big or small it seems everyone runs into the same types of problems or has the same questions. 

So over the coming weeeks the nice people at CureUV are going to educate and compile a how to and FAQ to help you navigate the pitfalls of uv curing.

UV curing systems may seem daunting but they all contain the same basic parts whether they are electronic, magnetic, LED or microwave type.  They will all have a lamp, power supply, reflector of some sort and means of cooling, blower or fans.

All of these have their own unique part to play in the running of your system and all have their own unique set of issues and potential problems to be aware of.  I will tell you this, 99% of the time it is something simple………… We have found over the years of building our own and trouble shooting other manufacturer’s sytems that very rarely is it something catastrophic but more often than not it’s something simple being overlooked.

So our next article will go over in more depth and help educate you in the 4 main types of UV systems and their pros and cons.

If you have any immediate questions or queries feel free to phone us at 1-800-977-7292 or check out our current FAQ page.

Entire Project can be complete in Hours, not Days!

Frequently asked questions:

Q.  I have seen  Waterborne / UV Curable Sealer & Topcoats and 100% Solid UV Curable Topcoats.  What is the difference? 

A:  Waterborne / UV Curable Coatings contain the durability, scratch and chemical resistant properties from the UV cured part of the coating.  Each coating has their specific place for Industrial Finishing needs.  Is great if the manufacturing facility has IR to flash off the water within a few seconds or can wait approximately 15 min to flash naturally.  Then the coating is illuminated with a UV Light sourceto instantly finish the curing process.  Most of these coatings are Self-Sealing Topcoats which also increases production.  One more bonus is that cleaning of equipment is with water!  This Green Technology allows facilities to inexpensively dispose of and provides low VOCs / zero HAPs.  Some facilities do not have IR capabilities and therefore, prefer a 100% solid.

100% Solid UV Self-Sealing Topcoats allows for application then an instant cure with a UV light source.  Any coating that is not used can be reclaimed and reused to provide minimal waste.  Can be disposed of as solid waste when cured.  These coatings are 2 times more scratch and chemical resistant than conventional wood coatings.  There is no flashing of solvents with 100% Solids, so there is no shrinkage or orange peel appearance and reduced labor.  Many more millwork facilities are utilizing this finish for high end production projects like Marine, Private Aircrafts, furniture & hardwood floor finishing availble for in-house or on-site production.

For those that just want to stick to the basics, then look for Waterborne Finishing Coatings (stains, primers, sealers & self-sealing topcoats).  They dry just as fast as a lacquer because they are resin rich with 40% solids.  They are much more scratch resistant and  water / chemical resistant than flammable solvent based coatings.  Clean up is simple with water and allows for decreased disposal costs.  

Have more questions or looking for a specific coating?  Call us (561)243-8442 to speak with a Coating Specialist in your area.

UV Systems & UV Coatings for Prefinishing or Refinishing

Q:  Can hardwood floor re-finishers get the same quality UV finish as the pre-finishing manufacturing facilities?

A:  Absolutely!  The pre-finishing production facilities use a 100% solids UV finish that offers low shrinkage, more coverage per gallon, less applications, less labor with increased production and up time.  The 100% UV coating process actually costs about the same as conventional coatings per square foot because a little goes a long way.  Some manufacturer’s only have a hybrid waterborne / UV cure formula, but with the water flashing , there would still be shrinkage.

This form of green technology is the perfect balance of Performance & Environmental Sustainability.  These products conform to the requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Green Seal and LEED.  It has no VOC’s after instant UV light curing and zero HAPs.  So, weather prefinished or refinished, there will be no chemicals flashing off in your customer’s home or office. 

Despite what most have heard, UV curable coatings can be used for On-Site projects and can be completed in Hours, not Days!  Depending on your finishing preference the best place to get the UV curing systems is SPDI, Inc.  They can manufacture handheld UV systems, large industrial UV systems and everything in between.  They are the only company that work with coating manufacturers that allow for a 100% solids coating to be used outside of a manufacturing facility.

For more information on the types of UV Curable Coatings that could work for you contact a UV Technology & Coatings Specialist (561) 243-8442

Portable handheld UV System

After having great success with our Power-Shots, the 500 and 1100, we took the old design and made it more powerful then stuck wheels on it! Seriously!   We had been looking for a way to come up with a versatile and maneuverable system for quite some time, and now its here! The Power-Shot 2400.

We’ve beefed up the size of the lamp now offering an 8″ cure width and variable power up to 24oo watts. It comes furnished with a safety kit in a rugged case and is completely self contained.

Capable of curing in the UVA and UVB bandwidth with a simple lamp change there is very little the Power-Shot 2400 can’t do, and, do better than anything currently available in it’s class.

We’ve been supplying the flooring industry, kitchen fitters and also the guitar manufacturing markets already and it’s only been available for a couple of months!

Check out these Cure UV videos for a demonstration.

We recently shipped a unit to Bailey Guitars back in my home land, Scotland. They run a small guitar shop on the west coast and also have classes teaching the art of guitar making.  So far, and judging by their pictures, they seem to be really happy with their purchase and getting to grips with all it’s features very quickly.

Coating Specialists can help increase your ROI

Why is it so important that your wood finishing vendor be a business to business company?  Rarely are 2 projects the same and there are thousands of finishing products available! 

Building a friendship with your coating vendor is crucial for success.  If your Coating Specialist knows your preferences of viscosity, sheen, high build, low build, MDF vs exotic species and your spray system, then you increase ROI with fewer hurdles.

Look for a company that offers a full line of Industrial / Professional grade wood finishing coatings that are either solvent based OR green technology; not both.  If a coating manufacturer makes solvent based & green chemistry coatings, then just realize they are totally different chemistries and one of them will be at risk for being low quality.

Green chemistry coatings are either UV Curable 100% solids or Waterborne.  There are many companies that are manufacturing Waterbased coatings now, but few have mastered the art!  Poor chemistry leads to milky appearance, ambering, low solid content (-32% solids) and slow dry times.  Superior Green Technology will have no milky appearance, no yellowing, high solid content (+38% solids) which will lead to very fast dry times; even in high humidity!

Locate your local Finishing Rep to help find you the best stain, sealer, primer & self-sealing topcoats on the market.

Waterborne & UV Curable Finishing made for your application process

 CureUV Waterborne Finishing Coatings conform to program requirements for SCAQMD, Greenseal, LEED & KCMA approved. 

 In this day & age many large manufacturing facilities are switching to Waterborne finishing products.  It not only is better for the envoirnment, but also improves the health of end product users. 

Green Chemistry

• • Low VOC’s & Zero HAP’s
  • Non-Flammable
    • Decrease Insurance Premiums
    • Decreased Waste Disposal Costs

Companies can save hundreds of thousands annually just from the decrease in Insurance Premiums & Waste Disposal.  But now, the end users are demanding this form of green technology.  Large corporations like Starbucks, Target, Gap & Baby Gap want to decrease exposure of VOC’s to their workers & customers.  These corporations search out millwork finishing facilities that will provide these superior results.

Results:  Waterborne finishing will decrease over head costs & increase sales for millwork finishing companies.

Conformance to SCAQMD, Greenseal, LEED, and KCMA approved

Topcoat Application Tips

 

Customers find that SPDI / CureUV waterborne coatings dry just as fast as a lacquer, but with superior abrasion and chemical resistance. 

The topcoats include an all acrylic system, an aromatic polyurethane based system, and a non-yellowing aliphatic polyurethane system.  They offer perfect balance of Performance and Environmental Sustainability to allow conformance to the program requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Greenseal, LEED & KCMA approved.

As we are an Application Specific Advanced Coatings (ASAC) manufacturing facility, we customize our coatings to fit you & your customer’s needs to provide you with: 

• 40% solids specifically formulated for your production process
  • More scratch & chemical resistant
  • More coverage per gallon
  • Very Fast dry time (sand time within 10-20 min)
  • No milky appearance
• Sealer & Topcoat in 1 product
  • Less waste
  • 1 material process
  • Remove 1 current step
  • Increase production & up time

If Using As a Self- Sealing Topcoat

1.      It is recommended to apply the Sealer / Topcoats to a wet thickness between 3 – 6 mils (0.003”-0.006”).  As a visual aid the wet topcoat application, when applied properly will appear orange peeled, but will however, dry smooth. 

2.      Let dry 10-25 minutes depending on application of mil thickness.  Sand to 220 grit.

3.      Apply the Sealer / Topcoats to a wet thickness between 3 – 6 mils (0.003”-0.006”) and let dry 10-25 minutes depending on application of mil thickness.  Depending on application thickness, project should be stackable in 1 hour.  Most topcoats are buffable if needed.

If Using A Sealer then Topcoat

1. Pre-sand sealer to 220 grit and one topcoat application wet thickness between 3 – 6 mils (0.003”-0.006”) is sufficient for quality results.  Two topcoat applications will result in exceptional surface finish quality.  Most topcoats are buffable if needed.

Spray hoses must have a minimum of compressor oil and as discussed above, it has been noted that residues from solvent based coatings left in the fluid lines have been “cleaned” and removed with the use of the SPDI waterborne wood coatings.  If the final coating surface is not uniform, check for surface contaminants on the wood substrate and any possible contaminants from the application equipment.

Green Technology for Fixtures, Cabinets, Mouldings, Furniture and more

General Waterborne Finishing System Comments and Tips

 

 1.  Water is unique and does not behave like conventional solvents. This implies that there will be an adjustment period required to “come up to speed.” Patience and practice will help achieve the full benefit of waterborne wood coatings.  Although, in general, the same equipment can be used to apply the waterborne wood coatings, there are a few tips that will help:

1. Use stainless steel or suitable non-corrosive material for any wetted parts of the spray line or coating application equipment used
2. Spray tips, tip pressure, and pot pressure will require adjustment to provide optimum performance and may not be the same as that used with other coatings used in the past. For start-up we recommend the following:

• With a HVLP gun we suggest using a fluid tip and needle size of 0.035” – 0.055” and air pressure of 40-55 psi to the gun. Use a pressure pot of 9-12 psi to pressurize fluid.
• With conventional spray equipment, use a fluid tip and needle size of 0.035” 0.055” and air pressure of 50 to 60 psi. Again, a pressure pot of 9-12 psi is adequate to pressurize fluid.
• For airless and air assisted airless systems, use a fluid tip and needle size of 0.009” – 0.015”. For airless spray use pressure of 1000-1500 psi and for air assisted use 400 to 750 psi.

 2.   Grain Raise: YES – water raises wood grain, but can be made minimal and, when using our waterborne wood coatings, grain raise can be eliminated.  It is the strategy of the system to let the stains and sealers raise wood grain. In doing so, the sealer will “lock in place” raised fibers so that during the sanding process, a highly smooth, uniform surface is ready for topcoat application. After top coating, no secondary grain raise is seen and a high quality finish results. Best finish results are obtained by practice and patience and it will be found that the system is simple, easy, and remarkably fast!

3.  Waste Disposal: Check with your local sanitary treatment facility. They will evaluate materials for you in their effort to help you properly dispose of waste. Do not discharge any waste to a septic system or storm water drain regardless of how harmless you believe it to be! The EPA considers septic disposal as an underground injection and closely regulates discharges. Storm water drainage is also closely regulated. In the dry form, after water evaporation, the waste from our waterborne wood coatings is not regulated and may be disposed of as normal solid waste.  As a liquid it is quite common to find that SPDI waterborne wood coating waste material may be easily processed through municipal sewage treatment facilities – BUT CHECK FIRST!

4.  Topcoats may be used as sealers. The cost will be slightly higher and there may be less of a “fill” effect, but the final clarity is usually better.  This allows for increased production and up time and thus products pay for themselves by eliminating 1 current step with less wasted material.  It is recommended to first try the sealer and then evaluate the use of a “topcoat” sealer if higher clarity is still required.

5.  Coating Application: All of the waterborne wood coating products have been designed to coat uniformly over most wood species even when using standard tack cloths. Machine oils and other surface contaminants can interfere with coating application, so take care to prevent possible contact with these materials.

6. It has been observed, especially in spray lines, that the SPDI waterborne wood coatings actually may remove residues of other types of coatings. During start-up, it may be possible to observe “chunks”, “slugs”, and other particulate deposits on the surface after drying. These are most likely to originate from residues in the fluid lines or tips from prior coatings used. The following procedure is recommended for switching from solvent to waterborne

1. First, empty solvent coating from system.
2. Second, flush system with your cleaning solution.
3. Next, flush system with IPA (isopropyl alcohol), or acetone.
4. Then flush system with water.
5. Finally, charge system with the waterborne coating.
6. To go back to a solvent simply reverse the order.

 7. Sanding: This is a critical step in finishing with waterborne wood coatings.  The higher the grit used in pre-sanding, the better the smoothness of the final finish. It is advised to pre-sand up to a minimum of 150 grit and it is preferred to reach 220 grit.  Apply primer or stain and sealer, and re-sand to 220 grit when completely dry.  It is recommended to always sand with the wood grain and, if using hand power sanders, to use a random orbit sander. 

• The application of one topcoat will be remarkably smooth and for many instances it will be sufficient as the final finish. 
• A second application of topcoat, after light fine sanding, will further improve final finish quality.

 8. Drying & Curing:  Unless intended for forced IR or hot air drying, most SPDI waterborne wood coatings have been designed for ambient drying.  It is usually seen that it is dry to touch and sandable with in 10-25 minutes due to a very high content of solids and application of mil thickness.  Full dryness occurs within 45 minutes to 1 hour unless otherwise noted on Technical Data Sheet.

1. Please take note that higher temperatures and air movement will speed drying even in high humidity. 
2. For best performance, if possible, maintain temperatures between 70°F – 100° F with humidity below 65%. 
3. IR heated or forced hot air dryers and other process drying equipment may be used to accelerate the drying and cure of these coatings.  Success will depend on the individual set of conditions determined by the finishing personnel. 

9. Clean-Up:  Always flush the coating equipment and spray lines with clean water immediately after use!  The SPDI waterborne coatings are specifically designed to be very durable and chemically resistant.  Therefore, surfaces will be very difficult to clean if the coating residues are allowed to dry.  In the event that certain surfaces are covered with dried coating, it is recommended that MEK (methyl ethyl ketane) be used to clean the surface. Remember- SAFETY FIRST when using any cleaning solvent use appropriate precautions and disposal procedures.

10.Storage: KEEP FROM FREEZING! It is recommended to store all SPDI waterborne wood coatings at temperatures above 50° F and below 100° F.

UV-Cured Finishing Coatings. Why? Because they are focused on mass production that requires them to be efficient, have a consistently perfect product and finish projects on time. Recently, smaller Handheld UV Curing Systems have become available, where-as, in the past, an owner would be expected to pay over $30k to achieve these kinds of results.

UV Sealer and Topcoat in 1

Majority of large manufacturing facilities have converted to

So, what is all the hype of these Curable Coatings?

• 2 times more scratch resistant
• Buffs out easily – Guitar and Marine
• No Buffing required – Moulding, Doors, Cabinets, and Floor
• Do not change color with age
• Chemically resistant
• No mixing
• Non-flammable
• No shelf life
• Green Technology – NO EPA issues, No VOC’s
• Decreased production time
  • Less shrinkage (no solvents to flash off)
  • 3 times more coverage per gallon (approximately 1600 ft^2/gallon at 1 mil thickness)
  • Less applications
  • Rapid ROI

What about Conventional Finishing Coatings?

• scratches easily
• can change color with age
• is not chemically resistant (even to water)
• has to be mixed
• is flammable
• has a self life
• has VOC’s
• has a lengthy production time (2-72 hour cure time)

UV Ultra Wet-Look 3-in-1

Business today must cope with global competition, soaring labor rates, and increased regulations associated with air in emission, safety and health. For the wood finisher, it is essential to use finishes that are less labor-intensive and are applied and dried fast to facilitate high production speeds. UV curable coatings perform similarly to thermoset coatings, offering maximum durability and resistance to chemicals and water. The action of curing is exceptionally rapid and very desirable from a wood finisher’s perspective.

100% Ultra-violet curable coatings are considered “Green” Technology, as the liquid coatings do not contain any evaporative solvent or water. It has entirely active chemistry that converts directly to a solid finish upon exposure to ultraviolet energy like the Power-Shot 1100. Since there is no requirement to dry the coating, the wood surface can immediately exit an application section of the finishing line or application area and enter the UV curing zone.

Curable coatings enable the most rapid of production rates and any application method is possible. It is a proven fact that 100% UV curable coatings can be and are routinely sprayed on large and small format wood surfaces. The length of the finishing line can be remarkably small and they are able to process wood work at very rapid speeds. Large 4′ x 8′ panels and doors are applied by curable coatings via rotary or stationary spray guns that process speeds between 25 to 40 FPM. Mouldings and millwork can be processed at speeds up to and exceeding 350 FPM. Even non-coveyer line finishers report a 75% decrease in production time!

With 100% UV curable coatings it is easy to attain a high build finish that is commonly found in custom aircraft interiors, yacht interiors, picture frame mouldings, flooring, tabletops, and countertop coatings. Yet, a subtle finish appearance like guitar manufacturing is easily achieved by controlling the application rate. Versatility is the key to 100% UV cure coatings and a quality coating manufacturer can engineer the system to flow-out and process well at low coat weights.

For the finishers new to coatings, the transition is minimal. To all finishers, ultra violet curing offers success, as it is truly designed to target your benefit.