Painting Furniture Info

[lincmercguy]

I'm making a bookshelf that will be mostly painted.  I've never painted furniture outside of trim.  I want this one to be nice and not look like I just globbed trim paint onto it.  Does anyone know of a good primer (no pun intended) on furniture painting?  I've done a bit of searching, but there are a lot of opinions out there.  Materials are soft maple, maple plywood, and MDF.  I will have some oak parts too, but those will have a traditional finish (assembly after paint/finish).

Edit: primer meaning guide, not the surface prep. I guess I should have been more specifiic.

[fredhargis]

Deleted.....I guess i thought "primer" referred to a book.

[Gary G™]

Can you spray?
.

[jteneyck]

If you can spray, BIN white pigmented shellac based primer works great.  If you can't spray then 1-2-3 WB primer works well with a foam or short nap roller.  For paint, BM's Advance sprays great if you thin it 5 - 10% and works great with a brush or foam roller, too.  It takes a long time to dry/cure, but it's really durable once it does.  SW's ProClassic sprays well, too, with thinning, and also goes on great with a brush.  It dries and cures much more quickly than Advance. 

If you can spray, then there are other options, too.  Duralaq's WB Undercoater primer and WB white pigmented finish spray beautifully.  Duralaq products are available at BM.  Another option is Target Coatings WB pigmented lacquer.  It can be tinted to any of BM's colors, too, so the world is your oyster if you want something other than white.  

John

[Cooler]

If you can spray, BIN white pigmented shellac based primer works great.  If you can't spray then 1-2-3 WB primer works well with a foam or short nap roller.  For paint, BM's Advance sprays great if you thin it 5 - 10% and works great with a brush or foam roller, too.  It takes a long time to dry/cure, but it's really durable once it does.  SW's ProClassic sprays well, too, with thinning, and also goes on great with a brush.  It dries and cures much more quickly than Advance. 

If you can spray, then there are other options, too.  Duralaq's WB Undercoater primer and WB white pigmented finish spray beautifully.  Duralaq products are available at BM.  Another option is Target Coatings WB pigmented lacquer.  It can be tinted to any of BM's colors, too, so the world is your oyster if you want something other than white.  

John

BIN specifically says it is not for outdoor use except to spot prime over knots.   I think it is not flexible enough for all the expansion and contraction. 

I do agree a primer will result in a better job. 

My informal test shows that regular paint washes off my hands easily.

Paint/primer requires a washcloth and some serious scrubbing.

When a dedicated primer gets on my hands it takes several washings over several days to get my hands clean. 

So a dedicated primer will do a better job adhering to almost any substrate.

Benjamin-Moore's Advance in gloss only is rated for exterior use.  It sprays and brushes beautifully and self-levels really well.  It dries very hard.  It takes 24 hours before you can recoat and at least 7 days before using.  In dark colors a full cure can take considerably longer.

Benjamin-Moore's Command also applies easily and is exterior rated (for all glosses).  It dries quicker and it cures about as hard as Advance.

I like Advance and if you can set the pieces aside to fully cure it probably will yield excellent results.  Spraying with HVLP requires some thinning.  With airless you can spray it full strength.

[jteneyck]

BIN specifically says it is not for outdoor use except to spot prime over knots.   I think it is not flexible enough for all the expansion and contraction. 

I do agree a primer will result in a better job. 

My informal test shows that regular paint washes off my hands easily.

Paint/primer requires a washcloth and some serious scrubbing.

When a dedicated primer gets on my hands it takes several washings over several days to get my hands clean. 

So a dedicated primer will do a better job adhering to almost any substrate.

Benjamin-Moore's Advance in gloss only is rated for exterior use.  It sprays and brushes beautifully and self-levels really well.  It dries very hard.  It takes 24 hours before you can recoat and at least 7 days before using.  In dark colors a full cure can take considerably longer.

Benjamin-Moore's Command also applies easily and is exterior rated (for all glosses).  It dries quicker and it cures about as hard as Advance.

I like Advance and if you can set the pieces aside to fully cure it probably will yield excellent results.  Spraying with HVLP requires some thinning.  With airless you can spray it full strength.

Cooler, you must have misread the OP's post.  He wants to paint a bookshelf.  It's not an outdoor project.  

John

[Cooler]

Cooler, you must have misread the OP's post.  He wants to paint a bookshelf.  It's not an outdoor project.  

John

Yeah, I read "furniture outside" and assumed it was outdoors furniture.  My error.