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New To Painting MDF

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nedley09:

So i am going to start painting my Cab tonight and was wondering if i could get some tips on painting MDF.

I read that water based paints is a no no.  Thats about all i know

I have 3D Vinyl, but i am having a hard time with it and though id just rather paint it.

Any suggestions on what kind of paint to use?

Nephasth:

I used latex paint on a doll house I built out of MDF for my daughter. The MDF soaked the first coat up like a sponge. I did almost 3 coats on the whole thing. Some areas were 2 coats of latex, 1 coat of acrylic.

nedley09:

how did it look?  was it bad?  I am trying to stay away from that lol

sharpfork:

I personally use a shellac or oil based primer on raw MDF I'm painting or putting vinyl on.  I sand it with fine paper and give it plenty of time to dry.  I like to topcoat with Sherwin Williams All Surface Enamel Satin (water based).  I cut it a bit with floetrol to make it lay out smoother and apply with a fine foam roller.  Floetrol is away different than thinning with water.  I sand between coats with fine paper.  I've tried wet sanding between coats with 400 and the results were very nice.
Oil based topcoats can be easier to get nice results with but I hate working with oil and don't like the often too shiny finish (for my taste).  I've talked with painter buddies who say oil has become less nice as California has forced the removal of all the "good" stuff.  Good for paint but stuff that is bad for people.

I tried experimenting with my HVLP to shoot the water based topcoat but it had to thin it too much.  I do sometimes use the HVLP to shoot the primer, sometimes I roll that too.

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nedley09:

Thanks for the tips.  Now how do you sand it?  just one or two swipes in each area?  I dont want to make it look grainy in between coats.

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