Economy desk finish

[Mandrake]

I am making a student desk surface for by daughter. It is consructed from a simple solid core door. The door is luaun sheathed pine. My directives are: it has to be white (a bright clean white), and needs to be suitable for long term homework action.

My current thought is:

Sanding sealer & sanding
Paint. Not sure if flat latex of acrylic is better
Polyurethane or polyacrylic topcoat. Again, not sure which one.

Looking for advise on the system, as well as paint & topcoat choices.

[barnowl]

Mandrake said:

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.... luaun sheathed pine..... has to be white (a bright clean white), .....r long term homework action.

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Luan is too soft for a writing surface.

White plastic laminate on the surface, anything you want on the edges.

[fredhargis]

I like Barnowl's suggestion (a lot) but if you stick with your original plan, skip the latex (if that is as in wall paint). A good acrylic will be the best (IMHO) choice. Personally I think putting a clear coat on it is a waste of time, but if that's what you want to do, go ahead. Only I wouldn't use a poly-anything. Again, a good clear waterborne is a predominantly acrylic (regardless of the label says) finish and just as durable as the acrylic paint. Now, if as barnowl says, the wood is too soft...you will have a soft wood with a fairly hard finish; not sure how that will work out (I suspect it will be good, but who knows?)

[daveferg]

I think your replies thus far are on the mark----a clear coat over paint could look horrible if your daughter wants white. Besides, as pointed out, luan way too soft for a writing surface. If you don't get a white plastic top, as Steve suggested, I'd opt for a clear plastic one. Be sure to let your paint completely cure before putting the plastic top on, otherwise it wii stick to the paint. BTW---clear plastic makes it nice to slip papers under it so you can reference them when needed, such as sports schedules, phone numbers, etc.

[JR1]

+1 for the replies so far. I like the clear plastic idea.

[Mandrake]

Years ago, I worked for an 84 Lumber. I recall Lauan being very uniform, and also soft. Nowadays, it seems like luauan is like tung oil. It is some range of species but your never quite sure what.

The stuff I have is much harder than I'd expect. I've done a test and didn't get any telegraphing into the surface. Though a thin acrylic top or formica layer would be a great idea.

For the rest of the surfaces, I'm assuming that a high acrylic paint woule be the way to go.

[Cooler]

I made one those desks 30 years ago and it worked fine. I think I had a birch surface.

But when I repeated that again 18 years ago with a hollow core door purchased from Lowes it failed badly.

The old doors had honeycomb cardboard cores that were bonded to the door skins.

On the more recent desktop the door skin sagged badly. No only was the honeycomb not bonded to the skin (it was just loose inside the cavity), the door skin itself was a very thin veneer bonded to cardboard.

Inspect the door skin carefully by examining the door edge. If you see laminations of wood you are probably OK. But if you see a veneer and gray, it is cardboard and it will fail in a few weeks.

Luan has a grain that is too open to use as a writing surface. Birch is OK though and should be available.

[Mandrake]

This solid door is a mixture. It is solid pine on the sides, mdf on the top and bottom, and solid partical board in the middle. I lopped off an end and a side, so I can now see what is in the meatloaf.

The other thing I find funny is that 90% of my daughter;s homework is on-line. The only thing she actually writes on is math scratch paper.

[Cooler]

I bought one of those clear desk pads that they sell in OfficeDepot. It is very flexible and came rolled up. It is almost a perfect desk pad. It allows smooth writing and you can put reference papers under it.

The almost part is it seems to have adhered to the poly finish I applied. I looked on line and they wrote, "Not recommended for use on lacquer, acrylic or urethane finishes..."

I think I would put down some formica on the door. It pretty much solves all the issues.

[JR1]

You might want to topcoat with SW A-100 acrylic untinted as its clear or white. then add the plastic if the plastic will be clear.