BM Advance Paint is Amazing

[jteneyck]

I have a painted bath project that I hope I can spray, but with the possibility that I might have to apply the final coat by hand, I needed a paint that can both be sprayed and painted.  There are several good choices but I settled on BM's Advance water borne alkyd paint.  I brushed a sample specimen a couple of weeks ago and was amazed how well it flowed out after applying it with a cheap foam brush.  I was impressed. 

As I got ready to spray today I measured the viscosity first and it came out about 500 seconds through a Ford #4 cup.  This is thick stuff; almost as thick as SW's acrylic Pro Classic.  I bought my pressurized cup Qualspray HVLP gun specifically with hopes of being able to spray these products w/o thinning so this was going to be a good test.  The largest N/N that comes stock with the gun is 1.5 mm, so I installed those, poured the paint into the cup and shot a test panel.  Using the stock air pressure of 29 psi, cup pressure of 5 psi, and fan control setting of 1 turn open I use for nearly everything, and a typical value of 1.5 turns open on the fluid flow, it sprayed beautifully.  I opened the fluid flow to 2 turns open and it was just perfect.  The gun laid down a very smooth coating of paint and after a few minutes it flowed out great.  (I used BIN pigmented shellac primer under it, which also sprays great, but with the 1 mm N/N set because it has a viscosity of only 35 seconds.)  The coating seemed thinner than when I brushed it but had complete coverage and no tendency to run.  I was spraying a lot of large vertical panels so that was very important.  

The paint was dry to a light touch in about 90 minutes.  Time before you can sand it and apply another coat, however, is 12+ hours so it's not for anyone needing to push product through their shop.  It has very low odor and clean up is simple soap and water.  I hope to be able to shoot the final coat tomorrow, and then it will sit for almost a week to hopefully cure pretty well before I install it. 

If you have a cabinet paint job coming up, I recommend you consider BM's Advance paint if you want to brush/roll it or have a sprayer capable of spraying it.  It's good stuff.

John

[Trusty Rusty]

Hate to say I told you so but..........

You just have to use this stuff to see how good it is.
And you have not got to the best part yet, the stuff gets as hard as iron when it eventually fully sets.
I'm sold on it.
Rusty

[fredhargis]

I have read nothing but positive comments about the stuff and it is on my list to try on the next paint job I do. That is, if I can find it...our one lone dealer in the area closed a few years back, though I think there's a hardware store that carries the BM products. That dealer that closed was previously our only P&L store, and then he switched brands; so I don't have either any where nearby.

[jteneyck]

I learn slowly, but I learn!  I can see you are right about it curing hard, too.  This morning, after only 20 hours, it already feels completely different and I was able to sand it to powder with almost no corns on the sandpaper. 

At about $56/gallon it costs less than any other finish I use that I buy at retail.      

John

---

Fred, you can buy it from Amazon - at predatory prices, however.   I wonder if BM will ship it to you if there is no store nearby? 

John

[fredhargis]

They might, or if the local hardware doesn't have it they might be able to order it. I'll have to check there first. I imagine if Amazon has it it's through a third party (haven't looked yet), that would explain the prices.

[Phil Thien]

Gosh I hope I remember this stuff when it comes time for my next cabinet project.  I guess I'll try the subscribe option.

[gordon 131]

I made some cabinets for my 14 year old daughter last fall for clothes in her bedroom out of maple plywood, two drawer banks and two larger cabs that sit on top for clothes on hangers. After some recommendations on this forum and recommendations from the paint guy at my local Ace hardware from a guy named Steve , who prior to working at Ace was a regional BM rep, I opted to use BM advance in an off- white and BIN white tinted shellac primer. I was amazed at the results of both the primer and topcoat, both how easily they sanded and powdered so nice as well as how hard and level the end product was. I was especially impressed because I just applied with a foam roller and did not have the equipment to spray. It seems that I did a lot of filling sanding priming etc. but was totally impressed with the end result.
In fact, my neighbor friend Jay who has operated a one man body shop out of his house for 20 + years could not believe that the end result finish was a water base product applied with a roller!!  He was very impressed.
BM advance will always be my go to finish for any cabinetry type products.
Thanks for listening
Gordon