Well, I’m nearly done with the cabinets for the bathroom project. This was to be a simple project entailing only three cabinets, built into appropriate wall cavities. The usual doors with mirrors, glass shelves, etc.
Building the cabinets was a piece of cake in retrospect – with the help of this forum and FWW, I learned mortise and tenon joinery for the mirrored doors, face frames, Blum hinges, etc. MY, my, my! and ain’t that sumptin’ was the admiring response of the gathered masses.
Then the hard part started. My wife wanted a flawless white enamel finish. Not yet ready to take the plunge for a HVLP spray set-up (turbine & gun, mobile spray booth with explosion proof fan, explosion proof heater for the garage, etc) I confidently set forth to apply the required finish by brush. Wow! What a journey.
1) White enamel is very unforgiving. The cabinets’ surfaces must be flawless.
2) White enamel is very unforgiving. Brush marks scream out at you.
3) White enamel is very unforgiving. Too much Penetrol keeps it from ever hardening.
4) White … oh, well, you get the idea.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
1) In spite of what it says on the can – all oil-based paints must be thinned in order to properly wet and flow onto the surface. About 10% seems right. An ounce of Penetrol per quart also seems to help with brush marks.
2) Really good brushes, really do make a difference. Don’t wash them in soap and water until you are done. (See “Care of Bristle Brushes” for more about this.)
3) Almost as important as the brushes is the lighting!
Even though my shop is brightly lit, the 2nd most important tool purchase that I made for painting was a gooseneck desk lamp that I could position low and at an angle, so that I could CLEARLY SEE the paint go onto the wood AS it went onto the wood. Can’t emphasize that enough. Got the idea from a Jeff Jewett book. My painting improved 25% right then!
4) The drying time on the can was established using ONE thin coat, under the Arizona sun, in July.
5) Scuff sanding before the paint hardens thoroughly is really scuff !!#$%ing.
6) A compatible primer works better than self-priming with the paint thinned by 50%.
7) After the first coat of paint, do your scuff sanding LIGHTLY with your hand and 400 grit paper – because – even with 400 grit paper, using your sanding block goes right through the finish at the edges.
8) I cannot get a flawless finish with white enamel, even after 4 coats, but it looks pretty good. Pretty good was not my goal.
9) Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic Oil-based Alkyd Enamel is pretty good stuff.
I hope that there is something out there that is better, and any input to that query will be appreciated.
(I think it looks fantastic! His Wife)
Replies
Mike_D,
"I think it looks fantastic! His Wife"
You know darn well that's code for "I've got another project...honey"
Anyhow, back to the cabinets. About a year ago FW had an article describing how to paint cabinets. The emphasis appeared to focus on the primer coats...apply to perfection and then the finish enamel coats. I'm curious how many primer coats you applied?...do you think more would have helped?
That's an excellent question. I applied one on one of the cabinets, and I "self-primed" the second using paint cut 50% with thinner rather than the primer I'd bought.
I have another cabinet to paint using the same white enamel. I'll put a couple of primer coats (or more) on it and report back how it turns out in terms of achieving the final results.
Mike D
Edited 10/28/2006 7:07 pm ET by Mike_D
Mike_D,
I'll be grateful for any feedback. Today my wife suggested I paint our kitchen cabinets...ouch!
Well, I'm building kitchen cabinets next.
Considering my recent experience, I'm no longer planning on painting them myself, that's for sure!
Based on what folks have said about kitchen cabinets on this forum, if I can find the right supplier, I will build the boxes, face frames, and drawers, and order matched, finished doors and drawer-fronts in the style that my wife wants, from a manufacturer.
We'll see how that works out.
Basically, I have no problem making the doors and drawer-fronts - piece of cake, actually, since I'm retired, know how to do it, and have the time.
However, I don't have an appropriate place to set up a proper spray booth, or the equipment to fill it out. I suspect that by the time I did set one up, the cost of using manufactured doors and drawer-fronts will be cheaper by far.
Mike D
I wonder if other woodworkers have the same experience that I have regarding the difficulty of paint vs "clear" finishes.
In the past 3 years I have successfully finished a number of pieces with either wipe-on varnish, wipe-on poly, brushed on poly, and oil/wax. They all looked, and still look, great. And the finishes went on just like I expected them to - easily!
Furniture grade paint, on the other hand, has been a much more difficult discipline for me to get my hands around. Is my experience unique?
Mike D
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