Painting/Finishing Plywood

[Lucky S.O.B.]

OK, so I am stripping down my old Dynamo cabinet and removing the old laminate. Under the laminate is plywood, and I was wondering what most of you do to finish this?

If I paint it you will be able to see the wood grain, and refinishing with laminate will be difficult where the wood overlaps.

What does everyone else do?

[DrewKaree]

It sounds as if you are saying you don't want to laminate the cabinet, but you WOULD like to paint it.  Your only problem with it is that you don't want the grain to be evident when finished painting.  Is this a correct assessment?

You can eliminate the grain with a quick skim coat of thinned drywall compound.  You shouldn't need a lot, so buy the second smallest size container and a wide taper's knife.  Just put it on and draw your knife across it - you'll know it's thin enough when you see parts with no compound on it that approximate the general area of the growth rings (the grain you are speaking of).  If you don't even want to worry about that stuff, just get a bigger sized container of compound, again, thin it so it's easier to work, and put a touch thicker skim coat on.  Let it dry EXACTLY according to the directions. 

When it's dry, take a sander to it and sand it smooth, then paint.  If your sandpaper clogs excessively, you didn't let it dry long enough.  Patience.  Let it dry a bit longer, then sand.

If you want other options besides painting it, after removing the laminate, you could relaminate it.  Doing any other finish may require even MORE effort than the skim coat, and the skim coat is going to require more effort.

[paigeoliver]

Also there is nothing WRONG with seeing the woodgrain. You can see the woodgrain on Williams cabinets.

[javeryh]

I'm also curious about this too - are there any other ways?  My cabinet is made out of cabinet grade birch plywood.  I don't think I want to stain it because it will clash with the decor in my TV room.  I want to paint it a solid color (with a black top) and I don't want to see the grain.  I also want to seal it somehow so if I spill a drink on it I can wipe it down with no problem...  anyone got any other ideas?  Thanks!

[SteveJ34]

I'm no woodworking/finish expert but would not a coat or two of primer followed by the a coat or two of the finishing color eliminate the wood grain underneath?

Or is it more of the "surface texture" that is trying to be eliminated rather than the "grain" that is in the wood?

[javeryh]

I guess I am trying to eliminate both surface texture and the grain...

[Lucky S.O.B.]

Thanks for the responses... To clarify I am not against relaminating but midway up the cabnet the wood overlaps and without disassembling the whole cabinet it will be a pain to laminate with a clean look.

What I am shooting for is either a smooth black finish or laminate. Painting sounded easiest.

One suggestion my roommate gave is a light coat of bondo... Any thoughts on this?

[moonpatrol 4 lyfe]

I have the same perdicament, except I think my cab is particle board.  LAMINATE IS SO EXPENSIVE!  arr.  sorry.  anyways, will just priming and painting get the job done?  or will I too need to caulk/bondo/etc.?

Bill

[DrewKaree]

Yeah, the bondo is essentially the same thing as the skim coat I was speaking of.

The paint / primer route will work, but the softwood (the lighter colored stuff) soaks more paint in, that's why it shows more.  You'll also end up with a little showing, which, like anything, if you don't like it, you'll ALWAYS notice it - it'll stick out like a sore thumb to ya.

If your roommate has any experience with bondo, give it a go.  The drywall compound is a bit easier to work with and cheaper, and water soluble, so if you don't like the finish the way it is, you can wet your knife or spray the compound with water and bang - you can work it some more to get it the way you want it.

Either one will work.

[DrewKaree]

I'm also curious about this too - are there any other ways?  My cabinet is made out of cabinet grade birch plywood.  I don't think I want to stain it because it will clash with the decor in my TV room.  I want to paint it a solid color (with a black top) and I don't want to see the grain.  I also want to seal it somehow so if I spill a drink on it I can wipe it down with no problem...  anyone got any other ideas?  Thanks!

You went to the trouble of buying cabinet grade BIRCH plywood and now you want to paint it?

Next you'll be telling us about how you had these solid mahogany doors in your house that you sawed in half to make sawhorses out of 


Javery, what you should look into is something called an aniline dye.  Check those out - you'll be sure to find some color that will not only match your decor, but won't waste all the beauty of the wood you shelled out top dollar for by hiding it with paint.

You're almost about to make me cry - painting nice wood    You could have saved AT LEAST $10 a sheet by getting a lower grade ply for this purpose - prolly even HALF as much per sheet, I bet.

[javeryh]

I'm also curious about this too - are there any other ways?

[DrewKaree]

After putting the aniline dye on it, look for something called "spar varnish".  It's used for marine-type applications and outdoor applications.  That should be overkill for what you're doing.  A straight polyurethane should be just fine for your cab, but going the extra mile will give you peace of mind.

Think about this - even if you paint it, if something gets spilled on it, paint isn't waterproof - you'll have issues with paint....poly or varnish will give you more protection than paint.

[javeryh]

OK, thanks.  I will definitely give it a shot.  I'm planning on doing the bulk of the construction this weekend and then probably finishing it (the carcass, not the entire project) next weekend...  the football playoffs are really eating into my time...

[elvis]

Think about this - even if you paint it, if something gets spilled on it, paint isn't waterproof - you'll have issues with paint....poly or varnish will give you more protection than paint.

Enamels and other plastic-based paints certainly are water resistant.  The very fact that you can't clean these paints from brushes and rollers with water should indicate that much. (You need mineral turpentine to clean things, and do so while they're still wet!).  There are plenty of paints available that are just as water resistant as poly or varnish.  Ask someone at your local paint shop or hardware for an expert opinion.

If you want to paint and get rid of wood grain, a good sanding job will help you out.  Put the time in to do a coarse, medium and then fine sand on the bare wood.  Clean well before painting (but don't use cloth that's too wet - you don't want to trap moisture).  Follow this up with a good wood sealer and then primer undercoat (there are some undercoats that are also sealers, which can save a coat and some money).  Primers help the final coats to stick to the surface, and stop premature paint peeling.

Do another very light sand.   You aren't interested in taking layers off here.  Merely smoothing out any bumps.  A good finishing or orbital sander with a fine sandpaper is recommended.  Make sure you let the under coats dry to full strength before sanding.  Sanding semi-wet or non-set paint will ruin things.

Follow that up with as many coats of your top-coat as you need.  Between coats, do more light sanding, and remember to wipe off any excess dust or grime before painting.  And again, give each coat plenty of time to dry.  Enamel can take several days to dry to full strength, and is worth the wait if you want a nice finish.  Paint often gives a minimum dry time on the side of the tin, which is usually when its tacky enough to paint over.  Go by the feel of the paint.  If it's still tacky to the touch, wait until it's completely dry.

Remember to do several thin coats instead of fewer thick coats.  Paint dries faster at the surface, and if it is too thick, fine bubbles will get trapped below the top surface.  The end result is an ugly coat that needs to be sanded back and reapplied.

Good hard enamels can be very scratch and water resistant.  I use an 85% gloss "jet black" enamel on my cab, and the result is almost a mirror finish.   It's seen plenty of kicks, beer and softdrink spills from rowdy mates and kids, and all it takes is a wipe with a damp cloth and it's all clean again. 

[jcroach]

If you want to paint and get rid of wood grain, a good sanding job will help you out.

[DrewKaree]

On small projects the wood filler works pretty well. 

It doesn't sand as well or as easily as the other two products, though, so unless you're careful, you may end up making more work than is necessary.

If you do a lot of woodworking, you prolly already know this, but you can use your sawdust and some binding agent to create a slurry and use that as a filler too.

Elvis, I agree with your method, firstly.  I think he'll end up taking far more time in order to make it come out how he wants by using an enamel, but if you're somewhat skilled, that is definitely a viable alternative.  A reason I didn't recommend it is the time involved in drying, and the ungodly stench that doesn't go away like a latex paing - that smell DOES linger for quite some time.  A second reason is that if he somehow screws up the paint after it's dried, repainting it will more than likely show unless you paint the whole panel again, whereas a poly or varnish with a water ring can be sanded lightly and resealed, and it blends in very nicely.


Yours is also a very nice method too.