Cherry is my preferred wood and it fits the style of furniture I build. Currently, though, I am building two twin beds from soft maple that are to be painted white. I do not have spray equipment and do not want to invest in it or take the time to be good at it as with cherry I use oil type finishes so the spray equipment would be a bad investment. Any advice on how to get a really smooth brushed on surface? Several years ago I built a kitchen cupboard that was a mix of painted and natural cherry. I used a milk paint with a top coat of water based poly. I was able to sand between coats with the milk paint which gave me a smooth surface. It has held up well for my daughter even though it gets rough use. I could use milk paint again but wonder if Forum members have any better ideas. When I have done some built in work I use a top grade acrylic based Sherwin Williams paint with a bit of thinner that SW recommends and it works well. Any ideas would be welcome. Are there paints that are specifically designed for furniture? I like Sherwin Williams products and there is a store close to me so if anyone has used a SW product that they like I’d like to hear about that, also. Thanks for considering the question.
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Replies
Why are you using oil?
I have never had trouble with acrylic and a microfiber roller.
(Can't use it with oil though it makes bubbles)
I would ask the paint shop re durability, but anything suitable for door frames would likely be your best bet. Usually the most important thing in ensuring durability is priming "not to prime is a crime" 😉.
ALWAYS prime. I've never used a microfiber roller but I have rolled a lot of paint on walls with a 1/2 in. nap roller and it always leaves a slight texture. Does a microfiber leave a texture?
I find not, but I rarely use anything more glossy than an eggshell. I go over each area a couple of times. I have had the texture you describe with a nap before though! I don't get that with the microfiber.
Not using oil. Did not say I was. I have used milk paint and acrylic.
I think he was confusing your oil finish on cherry with oil paint.
I was, sorry all! 😅
Benjamin Moore makes two great paints, water based Advance and oil based Impervo. They dry very hard, and the brush strokes disappear. They look like sprayed finishes. I know that Sherwin Williams has an equivalent, but haven't used it.
The water based is not a latex paint. It's a different beast entirely.
Well. It's still kinda water based, in that it's a medium that is in solution in water, it's just not acrylic, which people most often associate with "water based". But plenty of other mediums are water based, like gum arabic (the medium for water colour and gouache), casein (made from milk), tempra (egg), Latex is sap from a plant. Water based just means that the medium comes in a solution of water. And latex does.
I'm rambling now, but tangently related; a lot of folk think water based it also means the paint will reconstitute with water. This isn't the case for all mediums. Some do, like gum arabic, but other don't, like acrylic.
Please forgive me if you knew all this already. 😅
I use three types of paint for furniture - these mostly historical reproductions. Ronan Japan Color (oil), G.F. Milk Paint (no priming), and B.M. Advance. For getting a really smooth brush finish I would typically use Advance using Purdy Nylox sash brushes over lightly sanded BIN primed surface. I never ever use rollers although I have some, not all, friends who are pro painters who use rollers to get paint on - then brush out. I've used every roller made and cleaned prepped them prior to rolling and *always* get some kind of small fuzz debris. This takes practice like anything - but if your brush technique is up to par - Advance really levels out the best. Not much like it. It does take a long time to fully cure - as opposed to "dry".
Water based paints do not contain latex: they are made with a synthetic polymer that will form an emulsion with water. when using water based finishes the brush is very important. I find the TAKLON brushes from Homestead to be excellent. homestedfinishingsuppplies.com
Pros who care use a product called Flotrol to slow down the drying time and let brush marks dissapate better it makes a big difference. Using this I can get painted wood with latex paint to look like old time oil based finishes. Also this is no time to skimp on a brush get a top quality Purdy or Wooster designed for the type of paint you are using. This combined with good brushing techniques should give you a satisfactory finish quality, not sprayed quality but pretty close.
You're describing acrylic. Both acrylic and latex are water based paints.
I rarely paint cabinets as well, but I have achieved good results with two different approaches.
1. I use a foam roller and Sherwin Williams trim paint. Flotrol is a good option to let this flow out better, but it ends up flat and it goes on fairly quickly.
2. I use a quality paint and top coat it with water based clear poly. This lets me approach this in a similar fashion to how I normally finish wood. I found this gave a nice finish, similar to a two part sprayed painted finish.
There is an article on this topic in issue 177 of the magazine: Three Steps to a Flawless Painted Finish (sorry no link--I am not an unlimited subscriber and I can't spend my free article allotment on that).
I'm sure that paints have progressed a great deal since then, but the surface prep and other techniques should still be relevant.
I second the recommendation of using BIN primer, and for best results, I will wet sand it so that I am painting on a truly flawless surface. The BIN primer sands really nicely.
Boom! https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/finishing/three-steps-to-a-flawless-painted-finish
Also, +1 for BIN primer. No other way in my book.
Wow, these replies are very helpful. Thanks to all and I welcome more input if there is more to be had.
The only other thing I can add is that within the last month or so Lost Art Press had a blog post on evaluating a new to them paint that they liked. I'd go hunt that down.