Basic Assembly - Painting Q's

[HeadRusch]

Ok, I decided Mini-Mame was going to be built out of 1/2" MDF, so I picked up several 3x6 sheets at Home Depot, along with some 1/2" screws and some L brackets to hold it all togeher, got some 1x2's for bracing, etc, etc.

Here's question #1:
Since its only 1/2", I wont be able to t-mould the edges, which is fine....I intend to route them rounded....any idea what kind of router bit I'd need to make a semi-circular edge on 1/2" MDF?  I have never used a router before and borrowed one....but no bits came with it.  since its only 1/2" thick can I even get a bit that will do the job?

Question #2: Mini Mame is going to be gloss red.  As glossy gloss red as I can get it.  How do I go about getting that look?  Paint suggestions.  Since MDF is so dense and smooth, do I need to prime it?  I've got some cold cathode red lights on the way and some tricked out red led fans.........she's gonna look slutty, yes she is

Question #3: If I wanted to print out some MAME type decals, I was going to go out and buy a cheap inkjet printer..and some decent hi-rez paper.  Then I was going to use spray adhesive on the cutouts and use a wallpaper roller to get it as smooth on the painted surface as possible....but since I'm going to use a high-gloss paint, I'll need to seal the surface of the paint after I apply the decals (art) on the sides..........whats the smart way to do this.....paint several coats of gloss red, then put on the art, then seal it with several layers of gloss sealer???  Any particular brands I should look at??

[Rocky]

Question #2: Mini Mame is going to be gloss red.  As glossy gloss red as I can get it.  How do I go about getting that look?  Paint suggestions.  Since MDF is so dense and smooth, do I need to prime it?  

I would suggest "safety red" paint.  I'm going for the glossy look on my Q*bert cabinet and I'm using safety black and safety yellow (for the sides). The third coat is drying in the garage now. It is coming out beautiful. It's very bright and very glossy.  They are oil based paint. And yes, you will want to primer the bare MDF.


Rocky

[spidermonkey]

I laminated my cab but my friend used a Wagner power painter. You can"t beat the look of paint that has been applied with a sprayer. You can just buy a quart of Rust Oleum bright red and thin it out with enamel reducer so that it will work in a sprayer. My friend got a couple of spots where the paint had a little orange peel effect and he put some enamal reducer in the sprayer and sprayed a light coat of reducer over the orange peel areas and the semi dry paint just remelted and flowed together to a perfect finish. Using a sprayer allowes you to fix imperfections in the paint where if using a brush or roller your pretty much stuck with the finish the you apply. Dont't get me wrong,rollers work good if you want a slight texture in your finish an can look nice if thats the finish that you are shooting for but from what I read in your post it sounds like your looking for the wet paint look and if so then spraying is the way to go. They are not that expensive and you might know someone who can even lend it to you. You do need to prime the cabinet too. Also finish it off with some Rust Oleum acrilic clear coat. (with a sprayer ofcourse)
Best of luck
S.M.

[SNAAAKE]

Dude,
If you can then just laminate the thing.NOTHING beats laminate man.I am paying like $100 for 2 laminte sheets(4x8) for my new cab because they look too cool and probley lasts 2...3 years or more.

Nothing personal to paint but paint just suck and thats that.I am too picky about some stuff so maybe its just me.

[madk]

Wow...2-3 years that is a looooooooonnnnnnnng life span.  Is it just going to fall apart after that?

Anyways....I'd just painted my cab and I'd do it again.  The surface came out near flawlessly.  I was so impressed with my work.  Just apply a few coats and yours will look fine as well.  Laminates are just way too expensive.  My paintjob will proly last a lifetime.

-madk

[SNAAAKE]

Wow...2-3 years that is a looooooooonnnnnnnng life span.  Is it just going to fall apart after that?

-madk

I might end up selling after a while for a better cabinet but it wont fall apart.If you want better looking finishing then laminate is the way.Paint is okay too I guess(I suck at painting thats all).

[slug54]

Here's question #1:
Since its only 1/2", I wont be able to t-mould the edges, which is fine....I intend to route them rounded....any idea what kind of router bit I'd need to make a semi-circular edge on 1/2" MDF?  I have never used a router before and borrowed one....but no bits came with it.  since its only 1/2" thick can I even get a bit that will do the job?

Yes, you need a 1/4" radius  round over bit and you will need to route it from both sides. this will give a completely
rounded edge .

It's easy to get the wrong bit ,if you got a 1/2" radius bit it would route a profile that looks like the picture at the top of this page on this link.

http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&offerings_ID=2127&ObjectGroup_ID=394&CATID=78

get the 1/4" round over bit and practice on a piece of scrap wood the same size you will be using. You have to get the bit depth set correctly or it will leave a little line on the edge.

Also Since you have never used a router before  there is a proper direction of feed. when using a hand held router on a board that is laying flat  looking at the edge, the router should move from left to right or counter-clockwise around the edge of the piece. if you go the wrong way it will still route it but the bit will have a tendency to climb out of the cut and the router will be harder to control.

                             Good Luck
                               Slug54

[HeadRusch]

Thanks for all the tips.  I'll look into those paint suggestions.

Thanks for the tips on the router, yeah I intend to practice

Here's what might be a silly router question:  Other than buying a router table,
is the best way to make sure you route a straight line along an edge still to make a jig of some sort and clamp it to your work piece to use as a guide as you slide the router down the piece?

Yeah, the wet look paint is what I'm after......because the piece is relatively small I can probably get away with buying a few cans of spraypaint, I'll just have to pick some colors I like.  Krylon, Home Depot, whatever......so long as it gives a nice finish.

But I'm still confused on the decal application:
Do you spray-adhesive the decal down and then paint over it with a clearcoat?
Will that ruin the artwork,make it bleed, get wet, etc...or do you need to do something to protect whatever art you've put down.  Or is there no way to do that....you know, seal the art to the piece.

[Kitbasher]

If you are just routering the edge, then buy a round over bit that has a roller built in.  The roller is a tiny wheel that follows the edge and helps you get a consistent cut.  I have used a round over that did not have a roller and if I did not consistently move the router at the right speed it would burn the wood.  I agree with everyone else make sure you practice on a couple of scraps to see how everything works and needs to be set up.  

[spidermonkey]

Why not just print a test picture of anything or cut a character out of a game magazine,go to staples,office max or even the stationary dept in a drug store and get a pack of the do it yourself laminate sheets which are just two sticky clear pieces if plastic that you sandwich your picture in and trim off the excess with scizzors. Use a glue stick and place it onto a piece of scrap wood and spray the clearcoat over it and see what happens. I don't think you don't need to attach the pictures with spray adhesive since all you want to do is hold the picture in place and once the clearcoat is applied it should seal it and hold the picture in place just like glue would. Some types of clearcoat may react with the plastic laminate and cause it to melt,fog up or distort your artwork. Try different types of clearcoat like acrylic or polyurathane or laquer and see which type gives you the best result without distorting your artwork. All these types of clear are offered in spraycans If all the oil based clearcoats cause the laminate to melt then try a waterbased urathane as these types of coatings don't have patroleum distillates in them and are less likely to react with the plastic laminate. Im not sure if anybody offers a waterbased clear in a spraycan. I know that Krylon and others are offering latex in spray cans as Iv'e seen it in Home Depot and paint stores but not sure if they offer a clear latex or not. Thats the beauty of test procedures. Make all your mistakes and failed attempts on a peice of scrap. Not your cabinet.
S.M.

[HeadRusch]

Wise words SpiderMonkey.

I'll pick up a little of each at the old HomeDepot

[neuromancer]

Wow...2-3 years that is a looooooooonnnnnnnng life span.  Is it just going to fall apart after that?

-madk

I might end up selling after a while for a better cabinet but it wont fall apart.If you want better looking finishing then laminate is the way.Paint is okay too I guess(I suck at painting thats all).

Funny story: The paint on some of the doors in my house date back to the 40's, and still look good. The laminated counter tops are only about 10 years old. The adhesive failed and they look horrid.

Bob

[Darkstalker]

Funny story: The paint on some of the doors in my house date back to the 40's, and still look good. The laminated counter tops are only about 10 years old. The adhesive failed and they look horrid.

Yea, but that's back when they used lead based paint