Week 1

On Saturday, February 18th, 2006, we removed the cups and wiped the chips.

Each day, since starting the test, the water condensation from the previous day was ALWAYS on the chip.  As we stated, we never wiped the water from the chip.  Therefore, the chip was basically covered in water from Monday-Saturday.  The water ran around the cup edge and typically down toward the bottom of the picture...although never falling off the chip.

Sample 1        completely unfinished
Sample 2        (1) coat of PU finish + (2) undercoat PU sealers
Sample 3        (2) coats of PU finish + (2) undercoat PU sealers
Sample 4        (5) coats of PU finish + (2) undercoat PU sealers
Sample 5        (2) coats of PU finish + (4) undercoat PU sealers
Sample 6        (2) coats of PU finish + (6) undercoat PU sealers
Sample 7        (1) coat of Melamine finish + (2) undercoat Melamine sealers
Sample 8        American cabinet company drawer front (head).

We cleaned the chips with the Simply Green.

The American drawer front was under pressure the first day.  On Tuesday, there was already a white ring forming in the center.  Read below about the ring.

The picture below is Sample 7.  When we removed the cup, this sample was hazy where the water was sitting.  After removing the cups and cleaning the samples, we went into the factory to deal with some production issues.  We returned 3 hours later to photograph the chips for the site.  BOTH, the American drawer front and Sample 7's ring had disappeared.  There is a slight surface mark on the chip, but it is very unnoticeable.  We expect the finish is deteriorating, but by removing the water, the haze lifted.  It was my mistake to not photograph the samples immediately after lifting the cups.  Yet, I am confident the final results will indicate what we initially saw today.  And in week 2, we will photograph immediately after removing and cleaning.

Samples 2-6 showed absolutely no wear or surface marks.  There is no reason to really discuss much about Samples 2-6, since there isn't anything to report.  They are absolutely the same. 

The surfaces of Samples 2-7 are still smooth with no feeling of rough texture.  Sample 2 seems to show a spot, but this was removed after the pictures were taken.  You may observe Sample 2 in Week 2 pictures to confirm the spot is gone.

Below are Sample 7

We decided to leave the samples as-is until Monday.  On Monday, we will repeat the procedures.  Therefore, Saturday night and Sunday night are not exposed to the cups and condensation. 

It's not looking good for Sample 7.  Sample 7 is also considered a reasonable export-quality finish.  We didn't single-coat the sealer....like some factories can do.  Each sealer requires a complete sanding that takes considerable time.  Of course, for the chips, this isn't much of a time issue, but for a complete bar, this is considerable time.

There are so many different techniques to cutting cost on the finish.  Sample 7 is not a cost-cutting technique.  Sample 7 looked and felt like all the other samples.  As a matter of fact, each sample really felt and looked the same.  This confused me too.  I really thought some of our heavily finished chips would seem thicker or more durable.  Yet, it looks like time will only tell.

The unfinished chip has a slight bow - due to absorbing the water over the week.

I do want to repeat that each chip, including 7 and 8, were exposed to constant water from Monday until Saturday.  Again, each morning, there was a full ring around each cup.  The water had not dissipated from the previous day.  We will highlight the morning change-over in Week 2 pictures.  This is technically 120 hours of water on the surface.