Mike Marlow wrote:
Hey Guys:

Just got a call today for something pretty cool. Has absolutely nothing to
do with woodworking - unless I leverage the fact that I'll be using my
sawhorses on the project. So - apologies up front for those horribly
offended by off topic posts.

Let's just hope that crowd isn't reading, or at least read the OT
subject line.

Just got an order to fix a Chip Foose paint job on a fairly new Mustang
today.

It sounds like SOMBODY'S skills have taken a quantum leap forward (or
you just didn't know how good you were!).

it's pretty cool to have the opportunity
to put my paint down on a car that has been this heavily invested in.

I think that shows how much confidence they have in you.

This sure beats banging the dents out of a 1994 Toyota and blending in color
to bring in a couple extra bucks.

And yet, a sense of humility. ;^) I LMAO when I read that.
Bangin' out dents...

Simple minds, simple pleasures I guess. Robert - where are ya? I want you
to take something from this... Keep the faith brother - maybe someday
you'll get the chance to paint a garage door that was originally mastered by
the pro's on This Old House. Or... maybe someday you'll get the chance to
do full body painting on Robin Hartl... Good things come to those who
happen to be at the right place at the right time.

Ok - this is going too far...

Not really... I do it for free!

Lots has gone on since you advised me so well with the newer spray guns
in high pressure and HVLP. I have sprayed a few hundred (maybe a
thousand) dollars worth of finishes to finally find a finish and
delivery system I like. I have a book full of my formulas that spell
out how to mix retarders, thinners, slow thinners, etc., based on
humidity, temperature, etc. I bought a turbine powered HVLP system
($1400 well spent), and I use that for just about all my fine finishing
now.

And thanks to your encouragement, I spray urethane with wild abandon
whenever it is called for by the folks I am working for at the time. I
have found that urethane works best out of high pressure, as does my
heavy alkyd based enamels. So all the high pressure gear is still
around.
I still have those HF guns, and still use the snot out of them. The
two models I have are great guns, but trying others was a mistake.
Like so much at HF, this stuff is good and this stuff isn't.

In the end, I like the aspect of less mess with HVLP, but like to spray
high pressure guns more as I like the actual atomization of the
material in high pressure as opposed to learning formulas and checking
layout times and patterns.

But check this out: I refinished some doors on site for a client.
Stripped, sanded, and refinished. He liked the results a lot as I also
repaired his jamb while I had the door off. He recommended me to
someone, and I did some work for him. Word got back to another
contractor friend of mine of what I was doing, and he gave my name to
one of our oldest and most prestigious country clubs in the city.

I wound up refinishing their double hung solid mahogany doors to the
members entry way. They liked that so much that they had me pull off
the main door to the club ("the banquet entrance") and dye it, and then
refinish it. It was an ancient old door, 4 feet wide and 7 feet tall.
It took 4 of us to handle it as it is 2 1/4" thick!

After stripping and sanding, I spray dyed the door (this is neat stuff,
this spray dye) a dark walnut as the door was probably Phillipine
mahogany or something like it. Stripped and sanded, it was bright
pink. Mixed up dark walnut with a little dark redwood, and dyed the
door on site. Six coats of polyurethane conversion lacquer on each side
later, and it looks like an old piece of fine furniture. They loved
it! Better yet, the members loved it and the manager got a ton of
compliments which made him look good, in turn making me look more
attractive as a contractor of choice.

So, the next project on my list with them is to refinish their large
main conference table. It is a beauty, probably about 40 years or so
old, and it is veneered with straight mahogany, and has a 6 inch band
of curly maply around the top surrounding the mahogany on the the top
surface (as opposed to the edge.) The replacement cost of on the table
was about $52,000, so they decided to refinish. And it has to be done
in place in the conference room as they built walls around it when they
did some light remodeling, and the table is trapped inside the
conference room. So... hurray for small tipped HVLP! No problem with
it.

So I kinda know what you mean. It is pretty damn cool to be in a more
elite group. As a trade carpenter, it is hard for me to believe how
much of my work is now finishing and refinishing. It all started years
ago when I was tired of my painters and decided to do as much as I
could myself with a helper. And here I am now spraying finishes that
are advanced enough that my commercial rep isn't even up to date on
them.

And country club guys are telling me that they hae a lot more work for
me, work they don't want anyone else to touch. I have to confess I have
a real advantage here - they have been screwed hard by several
contractors that have taken a shot at their work, and that has caused
them to quit calling anyone else at this point. They don't like paying
for repairs to previous repairs one bit. I really like repairing the
doors, repairing the jambs, installing or rebuilding the hardware, then
refinishing.

Although, I must say that I am much more impressed with being asked to
work on Foose's work (did HE actually paint it?) than I am working out
at the country club.

But now Robin would be something else altogether, wouldn't she? I am
thinking about painting her like the blue lady in X men... "paint
only". Hah!

Well enjoy, sir. And I do hope you take some pics and put 'em up on
photobucket or flickr.

Love to see them.

Robert