Applying vinyl wrap to bare MDF arcade cabinet

[Mark Norville]

Hi Everyone,

I brought a bare MDF kit which is still a work in progress, however I need to buy some artwork at some point to finish the cabinet.

However, I have watched a lot of videos and I see that people are painting their cabinets with primer and then black paint.

Is this something that has to be done, or can you just apply the vinyl on the MDF as it is? I do not really want to spend £170 on graphics to mess it all up.

I do not really want to paint the unit as I live in a block of flats and cannot really leave items such as an arcade panel in the communal areas, and my place is not big enough to swing a cat, so trying to paint in a small flat is next to impossible really, especially with paint fumes.

Please could someone explain what will happen if I do apply onto bare MDF. I have no problem with water dampness and I will not be moving the unit once built, so it will always be in a warm dry enviroment.

Regards

Mark

[Drnick]

If you do not seal/prime the mdf then the glue will eventually fail, Don't know why but stuff does not like sticking to mdf.   I know this to be fact from my bartop, I used vinyl on the monitor surround, this was just a piece of 6mm mdf, I didn't prime or paint.  The vinyl is all peeling off from the back now.  The vinyl stuck to the sides which were primed and painted though, no issues.

I think the following covers why quite well

MDF is essentially pressurized saw dust.  The surface of the MDF is quite porous and will absorb water from the adhesive.   Too much moisture can cause the board to actually expand or pop.  When you install wallcoverings over MDF, ( especially a vinyl wallcovering) the water content in the adhesive can not escape through the vinyl barrier so it will be absorbed into the MDF.   (These comments were about wallpapering, but the theory should be the same).

If you are worried about fully painting then at least seal the mdf before applying the vinyl.  You shouldn't really need any more room to paint it then you will require to put the art on. Yes the paint smell is a bit much, but leave a window open and the smell from water based paints fades fairly rapidly.

For my recent Media center builds I used this to prime https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-primer-undercoat-750ml/616FG

and this for the overcoat https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-water-based-gloss-paint-black-1ltr/5233x

Used sponge roller, very happy with finish, vinyl has stuck to it solidly

[Howard_Casto]

What he said.. the glue will fail and more importantly if any moisture every gets between that vinyl and the mdf it's going to destroy the wood.  Just prime, then paint the dang thing.  Modern paints don't give off fumes like the old stuff does. 

[lilshawn]

Don't know why but stuff does not like sticking to mdf.

MDF is made of tiny little fibers all glued together. what happens in the outer "skin" of the MDF sheds these fibers easily. when you prime it, the primer soaks into the wood and you essentially glue the outer skin layer of fibers to the rest of the MDF and end up with this 3 dimensional surface that is part of the wood. then, anything you apply over the primer (as long as it sticks to the primer) also has to peel this 3d surface "out" of the wood to come off.

[Mark Norville]

Many thanks for your replies, especially Drnick.

My worse nightmare has come true then, I wish that I had of gone with the black melaine now it would have saved me a job. I will have to save this project till Summer 2020 if we ever get a Summer in the UK again.

I watched a lot of youtube, but none of the video makers actually explained why they were painting the cabinets for. The artwork will be enough hassle but the painting will be more so, I will have to jerry rig something the joys of living in a studio flat, you always have to move something to the left, move something else to the right and it is like a puzzle game, trying to make things fit in, or moving furniture.

A quick search it looks like a double coat or even more of paint is often needed depending upon the MDF.

The paint that you used for the overcoat, that is water based paint, which I just read not really supposed to use. It is supposed to be oil based paint. https://www.bidvine.com/a/how-to-paint-mdf

I checked on screwfix as well, and some people have used water based paints, others suggest oils. I was thinking emulsion would do pretty much the same job, just to give it enough of a backing, so that the vinyl does not harm.

I suppose if the MDF has enough primer on it to form a barrier, then I could use emulsion, I could kill two birds with one stone and just buy white emulsion and paint my place again.

Damn, it shows that it is worth spending a bit extra and getting black melamine rather than bare MDF, it was £50 more expensive, but when you factor in the sealer plus paint etc and time, it comes close to that £50 saving, so you are not really saving anything in the long run.

I shall finish here as I am swearing under my breath thinking about all the extra work I now have lol not including expense.

Once again thank you for your replies.

Regards

Mark

[Howard_Casto]

Well here's the thing about melamine… it's still not painted and primed and thus it's still susceptible to moisture.  Yes it's more water resistant, but it still has issues, especially around the corners.  Also, since you'll have to cut out a shape you still have the treat the edges in some way.... t-molding doesn't create a water-tight seal.  The real lesson here is to buy furniture grade plywood.  Yes, like any wood based product it's still susceptible to moisture in terms of swelling, but not nearly as much and it isn't going to turn to mush.  You could probably get away with leaving plywood unfinished and directly applying your artwork.  Then again the inside side of it has to be painted, so I'm not sure how much effort/expense that would save you. 

Now this is just from my personal experience mind you.  YMMV

[Mark Norville]

I know more about rocket science, than I do word working. I brought a cabinet kit from a company some time ago and the project has been on the back burner for a while, I was going to order the graphics so I was doing some research into applying.

MDF I suppose for these companies is a lot more profit than using real wood and also cheaper for postage as potentially a lot lighter.

I am having a shark tank moment, where I wish I could invent a transfer that you could put over MDF, so that you do not have to paint it. I just saw one video on youtube, it might have been a cowboy firm, where they used a glue on MDF and then applied vinyl onto that. However, as mentioned the chances are in the future then that might peel off.

Oh well, looks like I will have to get some paint brushes and rollers and do the job properly. Thanks for the info about the melamine I suppose that is only handy if you do not want to put artwork onto it.

Regards

Mark