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My table base is nearly done with only a cross brace and button holes to add. I'll be starting the finishing next week. I've decided to do any opaque finish over the hard maple legs and apron. My wife is wanting a light cream color, non distressed, to go with the natural walnut top. Of course I'll want a finish that's very durable. With two young kids, I'm also giving thought to how much stock I should put into a repairable finish as well.
My original thoughts were to use an acrylic enamel and then follow up with a waterborne clear coat for added protection. My only concerns with adding a clear coat over the enamel is the ability to repair any scratches easily. I'm probably putting too much thought into this but I have around 40-50 hours in this build so far and there's nothing worse than making a mistake this close to the finish line. Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome. I haven't committed to any products yet but I'll most likely lean towards a General Finishes or Sherwin Williams products. The SW store is close and their products are typically cheaper than GF's.....and since we all love pictures, here's a few. I do still need to add a cross brace perpendicular to the long aprons.
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GF's Milk Paint with HP Poly or Enduro Clear Poly over the top would be one option. Another would be GF's Enduro White Poly which you could tint with universal tints. Or BM's Advance WB Alkyd paint, which is available in any color. SW's ProClassic would another good choice but I'm not sure how many colors it's available in. ProClassic is really, really thick so if you want to spray it you would need an AAA, or something similar.
John
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Will you be spraying or brushing the base. Benjamin Moore Advanced like John suggested is good paint. It's tough, goes on well with a brush or spray and looks good. The one big drawback is it takes 16 hrs to dry. Personally I am partial to pigmented lacquer. ML Campbell is my personal favorite. They can match any color and can do it in a solvent borne or waterborne finish. I am in the process of spraying some cabinets right now and am using pigmented Magna Max over Zinnser BIN primer. I just tried the BIN for the first time on Johns suggestion and really like it. It covers and seals great and the lacquer goes right on top beautifully.
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I will be spraying the base. There's enough curves to justify loading the sprayer. I thought about pigmented lacquer as well. I've never bought it from SW but I'm sure they can tint to any color.
Two questions, Dave. Are you going to put a clear coat over the pigmented coat? Also, any reason you chose the BIN for the undercoated instead of a sanding or vinyl sealer? Is the magna max a pre cat lacquer? Does it cure out hard?
I have used a decent amount of the Advance and yes it's an excellent paint for wood products. It brushes very nicely as well. I've repainted the trim in two full houses with it. The advance is very easy to repair as well. It's well worth the $45-50/ gallon I pay for it. Tinted lacquer is a harder finish though, IMO. Lacquer is more prone to cracking as a result. I'm not too worried about that with the base, however.
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I used the BIN just because I really like shellac based sealers. Almost everything gets sealed with shellac at some point.
The Magna Max is a pre cat lacquer but they have any flavor of finish you want. It cures out hard just like any pre cat lacquer will. As for a top coat I have never found it necessary with pigmented lacquer. The finish is already so tough and hard it just never seemed necessary.
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Damon, I just noticed that SW's make Kem Aqua Plus White. Product Code CC-F65. It has a low viscosity so you could spray it with a conventional gun, and it's available in single gallons, unlike the clear version which only comes in 5 gals or more.
John
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John,
That looks like it would be a great product. I found a good online article on this product form a painter's blog. It's a good read. This would be a good option but the more I think about what I'm going to use, I keep leaning back to an acrylic enamel--either Advance or Pro Classic and then top coating with a WB clear.
One thing I noticed in the sample pictures of this article is the witness line from the grain patterns. I've never shot pigmented lacquer before but I'm sure my laundry room cabinets are white pigmented lacquer. Pigmented lacquer is a pretty close to the wood finish. I like a close finish but it's better suited for some projects more than others. A BIN or quality undercoated will eliminate this. I don't think the hard maple would be as bad as pine but at this point I'd rather be safe than sorry.
One thing I need to keep in mind is that I'll be doing the same treatment to a set of parawood (rubber tree) chairs. I'll be buying these unfinished and they will get an opaque paint like finish as well given their reputation of being difficult to finish. A low price point is one of my goals with this table and bench project.
The article did mention that an airless sprayer is more prone to suffer from micro bubbles in the finish in comparison to an HVLP. I plan on using my airless lacquer rig as my Earlex HVLP doesn't handle finishes with much viscosity well--at least for me. Here's the article. It's a good read.
web page
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Hi Damon,
I think if you want the absolute grain free look then Pro Classic, Advance, or something like that would be the best option Kem Aqua Plus has a lot lower viscosity than those products so it's going to end up as a much thinner coating, and any grain that's there is likely to telegraph thru. GF's Enduro White Poly would be a middle ground product. I've used it and it sprays great thru my air assisted HVLP Qualspray gun.
John
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Dave Diaman said:
Personally I am partial to pigmented lacquer. ML Campbell is my personal favorite. They can match any color and can do it in a solvent borne or waterborne finish.
This is what I do.
I spray a lot of ML Campbell pre-cat.
I gave up on clear coated paint finishes long ago.
So much faster/easier and better finish IMO.
As for repairing scratches just hit it with 320 sandpaper and give it another coat.
I was in a pizza place yesterday that I made wood booths for years ago.
No padding just wood.
They were sprayed with Magna Max and still look great.
I was surprised considering how much use they get.
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I contacted SW about their Kem Aqua plus and it is available in single gallons. The problem is their undercoated (sealer/primer) is only available in 5 gallon buckets at $200 plus tax.
I asked them about using BIN pigmented shellac under the Kem Aqua. Of course the guy on the phone had never heard of it. He did some checking and called me back to say "they could't recommend it because it has never been tested". The KCMA rating is dependent on using their undercoated made for this product. Has anyone used BIN under it? I know Dave said he's using it under the Magnamax. I don't see any obvious problems with using it under the Kem Aqua but I've read that this product actually burns into previous coats like a solvent base lacquer. I know I could use a spit coat or two of the product and sand it back but it's not my favorite thing to do with solvent based lacquer. Actually, I hate doing it with solvent based. I've never tried it with a waterborne...
