Easy, good-looking finishes?

[icor1031]

What are the easiest to use finishes, that turn out well? I.E., I've seen even truck bed liner used before, iirc. (Which I assume is pretty simple and difficult to mess up.)

And, which paint / primer combos are best? I've noticed that Latex paint breaks off very easy.

Thanks.

[djg]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Easiest for me is Rustoleum stone texture rattlecan, over a coat of paint that is close to the finish color. Saves paint.

What happened to your doppelganger?

[icor1031]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Good tip, mate.

over a coat of paint that is close to the finish color. Saves paint.

Well, he was clearly banned.
I may be able to find out his real user name. Time will tell.

What happened to your doppelganger?

[mattsk8]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Kind of a tricky question to answer. Let's assume your finishing over MDF.

First, no matter what finish you choose you'll have some fairly extensive work into burying the end grain of the MDF. Bondo works very well for this but you have to do about 3 coats to get it to fully bury it. Once you've completed that process, this is the easiest finish I've seen to work w/...

First, get a spray bomb of primer and some 400 grit sand paper. Prime the whole cabinet w/ one coat. Try to avoid runs and make sure it's going to be at least 60 degrees where you're doing this for at least 24 hours. Only reason I say try to avoid runs is because it's good practice w/ the primer before you go to the actual color coat. If you get a run in the primer it's not a huge deal cuz you can just sand it out. And when your applying the 1st (or any for that matter) coat, less is more; don't try to completely cover everything so it's all completely primer gray, a little transparancy is ok on the 1st coat.

Once you have one dry coat on, sand it w/ the 400 grit sand paper. When you've given a good thorough sanding, apply the 2nd coat and repeat the whole process again. Keep doing this w/ coats of primer until you don't see any defects, dips or pits in the cabinet and it's all coated w/ primer. Once you've sanded the entire cabinet and you're happy w/ the looks of the finish (as far as dips and defects go), then you're ready for paint.

The easiest spray paint I've found to use is called SEM Trim Black, you can get it at any respectable auto parts store. Pretty sure NAPA sells it. It lays on consistantly and dries w/out much (if any) streaking. By the time you get enough coats on it to cover everything it looks very nice- basically as spray paint goes it's pretty hard to mess up.

While you're applying the final paint, less is more here as well. Too much will give you puddling and runs. These are harder to sand out on the paint than it is on the primer but it can still be done (just takes more time and you basically have to redo whatever coat you put down and got your run). Sand the final color between coats w/ some 600 grit sand paper. If you don't get runs you should be putting the final color finish on in the 3rd coat.

That'll get you a very nice looking satin black finish. I highly recommend practicing on scrap 1st. A good way to practice would be to just glue 2 pieces of MDF together to make a corner. Practice burying the endgrain of the corner w/ bondo, then paint it like it was your speaker.

Maybe this was more work than you were looking to do. But if you don't prime it, it'll look terrible and just take more paint to do it anyhow and paint's more expensive than primer. If you don't bury the MDF's endgrain, it'll look terrible no matter how good you paint it.

If you're anywhere near Grand Rapids MI, I work for a plastic recycling center and we get these huge rolls of fake burlwood veneer. It's pretty thin, flexible plastic. It's the stuff they use on cars and trucks dashboards that have woodgrain trim. You can put it on w/ contact cement and route the edges just like it was real veneer. Be happy to give you some if you'd like. That would for sure be the easiest way to finish them!

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Truck-bed liner coating are really tough and easy to use (spray or roll-on) but are pricey. Different brands have different textures. If we're talking plywood or MDF, properly primed, they'll take good quality latex (exterior often works better) paint fine, but one quick coat of any latex primer won't do the job. The ply or MDF must have all the cracks and voids filled and sanded smooth, and ply needs to be sanded smooth, usually with a coat or two of sanding sealer. MDF should be sealed with a couple of coats of matte polyurethane (and I still prefer the oil-based formula.) That leaves a good "tooth" for a primer. Now you can pick you poison, oil-based or latex primer. You can spray it, roll it, brush it, sponge it, dip it on.You just want a flawless surface to put a finish on, and one that "takes" paint well and we call this stuff "primer". There are so many "water-based" finishes today besides "latex" paints (like what have been used on cars for over 35 years in some cases) I can't be so careless to call them all "latex" anymore. Many are polyurethane PAINTS. Once some of these are dry, you can actually pour fingernail polish remover (acetone) on them with no harm, and a wood chisel and hammer is needed to scratch some of them. These don't sell for $19 a gallon at the "big-box" store however. The "big-box" stores often give free classes in "nuevo-finishes", and "fragile finishes" can be overcoated with clear "super-coats" (glossy, semi-gloss, egg-shell,satin, semi-matte,matte and more) to protect them too. These are usually the new water-based poly-ureathanes, but there are other products out there now, and more everyday. I never DREAMED they'd paint Lexus with water-based paints (of course they use deadly fluorine gas as propellent and activator!!!) but this stuff obsoleted Imron totally. I got my new PPG finishes "catalogs" on 56(!!!) DVD's Friday in the mail. That'd be a couple of hundred "phone books" the poor old auto paint shop guy would have to have shelves for, at least. Log-on to your fav paint company and if you have a big HD down-load all the new "poop" on their finishes and where you can order them.

[LouC]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Duratex with a cheap sponge style trim roller. The white can be tinted with water soluble dyes/pigments. Water based, dries quickly, tough as truck bed liner.

Leland sells pints HERE for small projects.

[mtmpenn]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Iron on veneer.

Pre-mixed danish oil (or make your own 1/3 BLO, 1/3 varnish, 1/3 mineral spirits).

I find this much easier than paint.

[patrickm]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

the stone paint is good, but it's not that cheap. personally, i find the granite or the brownish one give the best results. the gray stone looks ok (more like a cinder block on larger projects), but seams show more easily.

i've rolled wall paint on MDF for non-speaker projects and been happy with that. i'm going to try that on a speaker this week, but it's already got a coat of paint on it. i'll probably sand in between. will post photos when it's done.

for spraying MDF, one of the best tradeoffs i've found is to use the rustoleum appliance epoxy paint. still shows some seams, but it's tough, goes on well, and gives a nice finish. with some sanding, rustoleum 2x flat black gives a nice satin finish, with just one coat of the white primer underneath, and some touch up on edge grain.

[dthomas]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

What are the easiest to use finishes, that turn out well? I.E., I've seen even truck bed liner used before, iirc. (Which I assume is pretty simple and difficult to mess up.)

And, which paint / primer combos are best? I've noticed that Latex paint breaks off very easy.

Thanks.

I use shellac to seal MDF. Dilute it with denatured alcohol if you want to spray it. I do it 2 parts shellac to 1 part alcohol. Works great I spray but you can roll or brush it on. It dries very fast and can be recoated in about 5 minutes. I build up 4 to 6 coats sand with 220 and then add another couple of coats. Then sand lightly with 220. Next step is a good primer, I use Rustoleum enamel primer. two coats sand with 220 between coats. then when it is cured wet sand with 400. Apply a good coat of enamel and wet sand with 400 and then two light finish coats.

I did this pair in about 2 hours in my garage about 70 degrees yes it is heated. I used Rustoleum oil based enamel runs about $8 quart at the local lowes. Sprays easy enough. You can use rattle cans if you don't have an HVLP gun. But I use a harbor freight $30 gun and it works like a champ just keep it clean.

[jmw0403]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Iron on veneer.

Pre-mixed danish oil (or make your own 1/3 BLO, 1/3 varnish, 1/3 mineral spirits).

I find this much easier than paint.

+1

[cjd]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Build with quality birch ply.

Apply any clearcoat.

Done.

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

A: Find good quality birch ply....
B: Sell organ on FeeBay to pay for it....
Neither of these are exaggerations at times. 18mm 11 ply birch can get VERY scarce around here and runs nearly $80 a sheet. I don't think it's quite as "dead" as old MDF. I'd really like to try some of LP's new Struct-I-Ply, their veneer/ply/"engineered wood product" stuff. They're pushing it for custom cabinet makers. "Waterproof" glue, won't rot or mold, etc.

[smokarz]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

Build with quality birch ply.

Apply any clearcoat.

Done.

+1.

i always use 13 ply 3/4 baltic birch. yes, those are a little pricey and could be hard to find.

then i applied a few coats of clear shellac and sandings in between. and if i had the time and patience, i sprayed on some lacquer to finish up.

simple, easy, and come out looking very natural.

[djkest]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

I just sealed my subwoofer with a couple coats of watered-down wood glue. I'll let you know how that goes when I try to sand and prime it today.

[fastbike1]

Re: Easy, good-looking finishes?

And yet when all is said and done you've still got a birch finish. Pretty ho-hum as wood goes. Might as well paint it white (sorry Chris Roemer). As always YMMV, etc, etc :p

+1.

i always use 13 ply 3/4 baltic birch. yes, those are a little pricey and could be hard to find.

then i applied a few coats of clear shellac and sandings in between. and if i had the time and patience, i sprayed on some lacquer to finish up.

simple, easy, and come out looking very natural.