painting melamine?

[davellaman]

Ok, I am making my cab out of melamine.  Is there a need to prime melamine?  Can I just start painting?

I have yet to actually construct the cab so if anyone has any tips of dealing with melamine (cutting/screwing together/sanding edges/ etc..)  I would gladly appreciate.

Thanks,

-Mark

[spidermonkey]

Why would you buy melamine and paint over it ? Melemine is already prefinished usually in white but if you look hard enough you might be able to find it in a couple other colors if you're lucky. Better off buying 3 sheets of ultralite MDF then you can laminate it with formica in any color or you can paint it as well. I'm guessing maybe you already have some melamine laying around so thats the reason you're using it ? If so you'll have to do a really good job prepping and priming it in order to get paint to stick to it. Melamine has a fairly slick surface and isn't really meant to be painted. I never tried to paint it so I'm not sure what type of primer you would need so I would check with your local paint store. If you don't have it and are planning to buy it I would advise against it as there are better choices of materials to build a cab with like MDF,plywood,partical board or you can even use wafer board as long as you plan on laminating it. Melamine is actually just partical board with a melamine surface on it so you "CAN" use it. Its just that its so hard to find it in any color other then white and the whole idea of it is that it comes pre finished and doesn't need paint so unless you want a white cab I would pick another material.
Best of luck on your new project.

[_Iz-]

I agree, don't try and paint over melamine, use MDF instead if you want to paint.

[hyiu]

If I remember correctly... snaaake was able to buy black melamine from some store....

[MiKman]

If you are gonna use melamine don't paint it.  You can buy melamine paint, but why.  Get black melamine, and when you cut it make sure you put masking tape along the cut line so it doesn't chip and flake up the cut edge.  i.e. put the masking tape right down the middle of the cutline (on both sides) and cut through the masking tape when makignt he cut.  No chipping.

[davellaman]

"You can buy melamine paint, but why"

What kind of paint is melamine paint, I sadly bought white melamine expecting it to make life easier only to find it was harder to paint on.  What kind of paint should I use.  The boards are white and I want to make them black.

Thanks,

Mark

[_Iz-]

If you want to paint over melamine (bought the material and cut it and can't take it back) then you need to sand the hell out of it to make the paint stick. You don't have to sand the melamine all off, just remove all the shine from it. A beltsander makes this go fairly quickly. Doing it by hand is asking for a world of hurt...

[hyiu]

maybe its easier to change your "theme" to white instead of black....

or do what snaaake does... a BIG sideart to cover the white....

I know.... not helping much at all....

[SNAAAKE]

If I remember correctly... snaaake was able to buy black melamine from some store....

no,i got laminte for cheap thats about it.
black melamine is REALLY hard to find.
I looked everywhere.

btw,white melamine isnt bad at all.I build the first cab using that.looks fine.

Painting melamine is not an opition(imo).I tried,paint scratchs off melamine.  
Maybe if you prime the cab first but that defeats the purpose if using melamine. Regular MDF would be better for paint.

[hyiu]

If I remember correctly... snaaake was able to buy black melamine from some store....

no,i got laminte for cheap thats about it.
black melamine is REALLY hard to find.
I looked everywhere.

my bad....    bad memory....     getting old....  
I guess I've been breathing in too much saw dust....  

[BombProofPlane]

ive found black its good stuff they got tons of it in this lumber place i go to

when you look for melamine look for lumber yards not home depot

make sure they stock it to not order it

tape really doesn't help prevent chipping at all

a good saw and blade eliminates chipping

[MiKman]

"You can buy melamine paint, but why"

What kind of paint is melamine paint, I sadly bought white melamine expecting it to make life easier only to find it was harder to paint on.  What kind of paint should I use.  The boards are white and I want to make them black.

Thanks,

Mark

just go to the paint store and ask for melamine paint.  Thats what it's called. people paint their kitchen cabinets with it. it works. but like some others have said, you gotta sand it pretty good first to rough it up otherwise it won't stick very well.  

[davellaman]

I am going to cover it with side art, I assumed that since paint didnt stick that neither would side art, as long as side art will stick I am good.

About side art:  Is it basically a wet decal that you add water and it slips off onto the board?



THanks,

Mark