Painting and paint removing questions!

[Matt, GoC]

Ok, this is a two-pronged post.  First question:  I have an old cabinet that has MANY layers of paint on it.  What can I get to strip it off easily?  I'd prefer chemicals, since I'm lazy.  Anyone know an effective chemical stripper?  The paint appears to be latex, at least on the outside layer, by the way.

Next question:  I'm looking to paint my GameOn! cabinet soon before winter hits and it's too cold out (read: Minnesota winter).  What would be the best combo of primer and paint?  I'd like to get paint that won't scratch easily.  For the record, I'm using wheatboard for my cabinet (don't laugh, that stuff is STRONG!), so it's going to suck up any paint I put to it.  Therefore, I need some good primer first.  Also, would adding some type of sealant or clearcoat to the final coat of paint be out of the question?
To me, it looked like OSCAR used wheatboard on one of his pac-man-like cabinets.  He hadn't replied to my post about how it worked out, so hopefully he'll find this post and offer tips.

-Thanks, Matt

[giskiwi]

Not being US based (live in NZ), I cannot state brand names for the strippers and paints, but I can give general suggestions.

As for stripping - ask your local paint shop, they should be able to assist you there. They should ask what sort of paint it is - water or oil based. A simple test for this is Methylated Spirits. Oil base gets cleaned, water base goes soft and tacky.

Again for painting a cab, ask the shop. Another suggestion (don't laugh at this) is automotive paint. It is hard wearing and usually fast drying. A minor inconvenience is that it is generally applied by spraying. A local joiner where I live, has used auto paint on kitchen cabinetry, and it came up a treat. Although most auto paints are two-pack (paint and hardener), some are one-pack.

Hope this helps.

giskiwi

AFTERTHOUGHT: You said you were thinking of using wheatboard (?) and it would suck up the paint, one way that you can minimise this is to use an overthinned primer as the first coat, then put on a normally thinned primer as the second coat.

[neuromancer]

Ok, this is a two-pronged post.  First question:  I have an old cabinet that has MANY layers of paint on it.  

Is it just paint, or is there something under the paint. If there's woodgrain or somehthing under the paint any chemical stripper will take it right off. Based on the smell, they're pretty much the same, except for 3m "safest stripper"

I've used the 3m, but it seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

For the ultimate in durability, epoxy paints can't be beat. Available at marine dealers, but $

What's "wheatboard?"

Bob

[Matt, GoC]

neuromancer, the cabinet is made of some type of plywood.  I'm not too concerned about what happens to the wood underneath since I need to fill the gouges and repaint it anyway.  Also, wheatboard is just that:  boards made of wheat.  More specifically, the stalks of wheat.  That stuff is strong, too.  I had to let my drill and hole saw cool off after drilling every-other hole in an 11/16 inch board for my control panel.  The drill was starting to overload!  It also holds screws in the sides pretty well, and won't split like MDF does.  Why did I use it?  Because I run a (giant) CNC router at my job, and that's what it cuts stuff from.  Can you say free materials?