On Feb 13, 8:38 pm, "Actor123" wrote:

SNIP

Putting aside the entire custom vs. non-custom debates, as far as
finished go, does anyone know the truth? Are there in fact things
that are being done in out-of-state cabinets that can't or aren't
done
on in-state cabinets?

Now this should be an interesting thread. Doing a lot of finishing
and refinishing, I hear a lot on the boards of some other sites. They
all tell me there are certain things in CA that you can and cannot do
as far as use of high pressure equipment, even to the point of having
gun bodies indelibly etched as HVLP, and the air caps having the size
and psi ratings on them. Anything else in professional or production
work breaks the law. See for additional info he

http://tinyurl.com/yqkn2w

If you cabinets are being made in a state with less stringent
requirements, than they may be able to apply something that will cure
harder than a field applied finish in CA. To get harder finishes,
some of the finishers on WOODWEB claim to actually drive to
neighboring states to pick up certain finishes that have been phased
out of CA's market due to compliance issues.

Here are some ideas of the VOC requirements that are effective in
some, but not all of CA as far as paint is concerned:

http://tinyurl.com/2cxwxq

But for the record, you can get a really tough, hard finish in the
field. One that will last for years, but it depends on the finisher,
his experience, his expertise in industrial finishing as well has
having the correct equipment for application.

I don't know how durable a field applied paint/glaze finish would
actually be compared to a shop applied finish. That type of finish is
much different than paint alone or a clear finish. Many white glaze
finsihes start out as plain white, a hand applied glaze, then a
durable top coat (which in most cases adds amber to the white to make
it antiqued) to finish.

I think your task will be to find the correct applicator as well as
the correct finishing products.

The only thing I could see that would make the factory finish harder
and more durable would be if they took the painted/glazed pieces and
put them back on the finish line and hit them with some warmed pre cat
lacquer and then rolled them down to the infrared drying area to
cure. This would make them coated coated and cured in an almost
(hopefully!) perfect environment for the clear finish.

Can't do that out in the field.

My 0.02.

Robert