Cabinet finishing ideas

[billfitzmaurice]

It says it uses black catalyzed polyester paint, so that would be two part.

[STIchris722]

The key to a fast, hard cure is heat. In a production facility the coated cabs are baked in an industrial oven, but you can get the same result at home by leaving the cab out in the sun for a day or two.

Some cabs are coated with two part products similar, if not identical to, Line-X. It costs at least four times what Duratex does, so that pretty much limits its usage to high end PA cabs at $2000 and up.

Maybe this is what I am thinking of. I have some Community Sonus Cabinets I purchased a while back and the finish is hard as nails. I'll feel like an idiot if it is Duratex, but boy it feels like an epoxy almost on the outside of the cabinet. It also is a smoother finish....probably due to spray vs roll and how they dilute it or something.

[billfitzmaurice]

It is as strong as what some pro PA cabs are sprayed with because it's what they use. I first saw the name in a Carvin catalog some 20 odd years ago. At that time there were no retailers, but after searching I found the company that makes it, Acrytech, who I was familiar with from their roof coatings. I found that they would sell it direct, got some, and have used and recommended it ever since. Eventually Speakerhardware, a seller of kits to make my cabs, became the first retailer. PE took it on a couple of years later.

The key to a fast, hard cure is heat. In a production facility the coated cabs are baked in an industrial oven, but you can get the same result at home by leaving the cab out in the sun for a day or two.

Some cabs are coated with two part products similar, if not identical to, Line-X. It costs at least four times what Duratex does, so that pretty much limits its usage to high end PA cabs at $2000 and up.

[STIchris722]

I use DuraTex on almost all of my builds, but it seems like it takes weeks before it's not green anymore. It remains pretty soft for a while from my experience. I love it, but it is nowhere near as strong as what the pro PA cabs are sprayed with. It would be nice to know what products they are using.

[killa]

The texture is varied via the nozzle size on the sprayer gun, not by thinning the product. If you want it really smooth, however, don't use it. It's called Dura TEX for a reason.

I have gotten less texture by using a regular house paint roller. It is tricky because you have to apply the right amount of pressure or the roller wants to slide across the surface instead if rolling. You get the hang of it pretty quick thought.

[anotherTodd]

My eternal thanks, Bill. I may have to try a gun with hopper feed. I used one some 30 years ago. That was an airbrush kit with a gravity feed(it was a really pricey kit). I was able to do stuff with that, so there is hope.

[philthien]

Got it, thanks!

[billfitzmaurice]

I run it around 50-60 PSI. It does use a lot of air, because it's blowing a lot of material, but I still can give a full coat to a large cab without the tank draining, and that's with the gun always shooting air, even when it's not shooting material. My compressor is nothing special, a $150 8 gallon Husky.

[philthien]

Hey Bill, what PSI do you use? The gun says it consumes 8 cu ft min at 90-psi, that would be a BIG compressor.

[billfitzmaurice]

Airless I don't have, but my $29.95 Harbor Freight hopper gun handles DuraTex like a champ. The only issue with it is the airflow is never off, so even when you're not spraying it's draining your compressor tank of air. I put an air shutoff valve on mine to turn off the airflow between coats.

[anotherTodd]

Thanks yet again. I have sprayed really thick coatings with my airless(another tool I possess). I sprayed concrete block coating with it; and I swear that stuff had concrete in it. I don't recall how much a 5 gal. pail of the stuff weighed, but "a lot" fits. Lots of solids in that stuff. I don't even know that it was supposed to be sold to the general public when I bought it. I bought it at auction; no questions asked.

I am NOT a painter. I only paint when necessary. That said, I DIY most everything - painting included.

Thanks again, Bill. I'm fairly unsure I can get the job done. That generally heralds success.

[billfitzmaurice]

I've never tried a regular gun, I doubt it would work unless it was thinned. The trouble when you do that is it's too runny, it drips all over the place, more like colored water than a paint. Even at a 4:1 Duratex to water ratio it's too thin to coat well, but still too thick for a paint gun.

[anotherTodd]

Thanks again. I'll experiment once I can do something out of doors. I have two Devilbiss guns(conventional) and a cheapie hopper that work well. It's still below freezing here at night, so I am simply planning and gathering media.

[billfitzmaurice]

When I do a pro-sound cab I use a hopper gun, starting with a fine nozzle. That gives too fine a finish for my taste, but it's good for even coverage with the first coat or two. Then I go to a large nozzle for a final spatter coat.

[anotherTodd]

Understood. I don't need really smooth, but I desire passable results for use in a home setting. I'll order a qt. and spray some MDF to get a sense of what is easily achieved. Thanks for the quick response.