Application for Wood & Wood like substrates
Coatings are applied to wood, MDF, veneers etc in transparent & pigmented types according to category of furniture e.g.

• Kitchen cabinet, dinning tables, dinning chairs
• Doors & Door frames, windows exterior & interior
• Children furniture in bed room
• Bed room furniture, living room furniture, staircase railings
• School & college furniture
• Office furniture
• Garden & exterior wooden picket fencing.
• Sports equipments – hockey sticks, cricket bats, table tennis, snooker tables, carom boards.
• Parquet floor – Bamboo, Solid wood, pre laminated parquet floor
• Bathroom accessories – towel rods, rings, toilet covers, basin extensions & coverings, small storage in bathrooms

Disadvantages –
Very Slow Application, not uniform coatings film thickness, uniform coating film thickness, high Fatigue to the applicator, speeds of painting is generally defined by the applicator and applicator is remains in contact with harmful solvents for longer periods, not suitable for High solids and low pot life paints.

Disadvantages –
Slow application, high fatigue to the applicator, speeds of painting is generally defined by the applicators skill, applicator is remains in contact with harmful solvents for longer periods of time, not suitable for high solids and low pot life paints, cannot be used on all  profiles.

Comparison Of Spray Technology- Transfer Efficiency

Roller Coatings Applications :
Roller Coating application is economical, environment friendly, fast rate of production with quality finishes. Economical means this process required less labor for handling, no skilled labor required for application. High solid transfer means very low quantity of thinner (2- 4 %) required for application. That leads to less volatile content hence low pollution.  Transfer efficiency is very high: 90 – 98 % means 90 – 98 % of paint material gets transferred to the surface. Less wastage of paint materials means saving a lot of paint material and its cost.

Limitations of Roller Coating :
Limitations is only flat type of surface can be coated by roller application.

Curtain Coating :
The coatings / paint /lacquer is contained in a pouring head, which is a long horizontal rectangular container, which is movable in a vertical plane at right angle to the direction of the article to be coated. In curtain coating a thicker coat can be applied in one operation (80 -100 gms per sq. M). The thickness of coat is accurately controlled by the speed of conveyor & width of lacquer slit in the pouring head.
All types of pigmented, catalyzed air drying or stoving types coatings can be applied by this machine.
Only flat surface can be coated by this system.

Spray Booth :
A large volume of air passes through  spray gun & there  is certain amount of overspray. To remove excess spray mist which bounces off or passes off the article being sprayed. To prevent setting on article & to avoid discomfort to operator spray booth serve essential function of treating the exhaust air to free if from paint particle before it is released in to atmosphere. The exhausted air from paint shop must be clean of paint as much as possible. Spray booth reduces the fire hazards by removing thinner vapors  from painting area.

Dry Type :
Dry type of spray booths is suitable for small jobs & per day paint consumption about 20 lt. Ideal for low production, light components & low budget. Filters are disposable and made of papers.  For paper or other filter there is cost for changing the filters time to time. Again to increase the life filters metallic sheets with special designed are provided. No water is used in this type of spray booths.

Water Curtain Type :
Continuous falling water creates curtain which collect the overspray. The chemical added to water which break paint & sludge can be collected easily. Water curtain booth is an efficient type of booth for high production rate.

Correct Process of coatings Application :
It is very important to adopt correct process of application to achieve quality finish products at faster speed with global competitive cost.

• . Curing speed is a very attractive benefit of a UV-cured product. Traditional products require a
  drying or curing time of several minutes to several hours to harden sufficiently. A UV curing time is one
  or few seconds shortens production lines and packing times. Decreasing time in these two areas saves a
  significant amount of money and is an important consideration when making a decision to purchase the
  application equipment. This important consideration decreases the amount of time required to package the
  product.
• Traditional finishes need to dry completely prior to wrapping in protective plastic or cardboard boxing.
  Packing too soon will emboss the texture of the plastic or other packaging material on the soft finish.
• A UV fully cured finish is completely hard and can be packaged after application. A UV finish is
  exceptionally durable. Chemical, abrasive and impact resistance tests are superior. UV finishes are found
  on pre finished hardwood flooring, all types of furniture and other pre-finished sheet goods.
• UV materials can be sprayed or applied in a flat line process. The application method is dependent on
  the product to be covered. Flat line systems lend themselves to coating flat panel products while spraying is most efficient for shaped object.

Need of Automation in Finishing :

• Day by day availability of skilled labour is difficult & finishing lines are totally dependent on skilled labours. Furniture finishing line involves many steps like raw sanding, staining, sealer application, drying & top coat application. At every step degree of sanding, sealer application & top coat application is précised & need controls on it to maintain quality & cost of finish. By stage wise automation it is easy to produce consistent product with faster speed.
• Furniture manufacturers want to minimize employee contact with the sometimes toxic paints and other compounds used in the finishing operations.

Advantages of Automation in Finishing :

• Finishing automation improves product appearance, consistency in quality and throughput time in addition to often saving in materials through higher application efficiency. The added precision in application and equipment results in a 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity.

Aim of Consulting Wood Finishing Industry :

• To achieve the finishing target there is need of technically qualified supervisors and operators. Our aim for wood working industry should be to reduce the finishing period, with excellent quality of finish, less rejection at global competitive cost. There is challenge for paint or coatings manufacture to produce coatings and lacquers of international quality with lower cost.
• A proper co- ordition between furniture manufacturers is totally missing and there lies a large gap between them understanding level that needs   bridging   quickly.
• Correct finishing process plays important role in quality of finish, quantity of jobs, time required for finishing, costing of finishing.
• The selection of application method plays important role to achieving the finishing targets.