Painting Questions

[fano78]

Thank you for checking out my post.  I'm building my first standup cabinet and have a few questions to those of you with cabinet painting experience (good or bad):

1.  Is there any reason to paint the inside of the cabinet?  Not trying to be lazy, but is there any pros/cons to painting or not painting the inside areas, such as were the computer and subwoofer are usually stored, inside the light box, above the speakershelf?  (obviously the inside areas that are visable should be painted like the monitor area.)

2.  If you do recommend painting inside the light box, does color matter?  I'm going with black for my cabinet color (how original)  Would it be a poor choice to color the inside of the light box black?  Would that reduce the light, shall I paint this area white instead?  Line this area with aluminum foil?  Just leave it alone?  Any recommendations?

Thank you so much for your time and advice.

[Turnarcades]

Personally I wouldn't bother, particularly if you are using black. Although there is usually a lot of airspace inside a cabinet, you have to be conscious of heat generation and black could make it worse. Plus, if the wood is left untreated it can 'breathe' a little as the surface is not sealed; also good for heat dissipation.

[pmc]

I primed the inside and the outside of my cabinet (white latex Kilz if I recall) and then painted the outside in black. I like the bright finished look inside (where I'm forever tinkering) and it's easy to keep clean. I think I decided to paint all surfaces because I used MDF and I thought it might help with moisture if that ever becomes a problem -- particularly on the edges. I like the more finished appearance, but that's me.

-pmc

[fjl]

For my own preference I would paint the inside. Just for resilience I suppose. Incase anyone drops a drink on it, it won't absorb the water and expand. It should help the wood from rotting(also a water problem). Protect it from termites(if that is ever the case). Just to make it a bit more protective of the wood within.

[Minwah]

I painted the inside of my cabinet grey, like some of the others mainly to seal the wood. It also looks very nice tho, although a lot of it can never be seen!

My marquee area was just painted the same as the rest, so grey, and it is fine.  I don't think a marquee relies heavily on reflection, but even still might be an idea not to paint this area too dark.

[hbm*rais]

I primed (gray) all my cabinet, inside and outside. Then I went on to paint the outside and visible parts of the inside.

I primed the inside mainly because I don't like the idea of unsealed MDF. It can let out some nasty vapors.

Same thing with the marquee, except I did cover all the inside with aluminium foil. It does a great job of taking the most out of a low wattage lamp. No reason to loose light to heat.

[Bluedeath]

Personally I wouldn't bother, particularly if you are using black. Although there is usually a lot of airspace inside a cabinet, you have to be conscious of heat generation and black could make it worse. Plus, if the wood is left untreated it can 'breathe' a little as the surface is not sealed; also good for heat dissipation.

Actually the fact tha black insulates heat is a common misconception what really black does is to transform light into heat so if you pant black something tha will not be exposed to light you will have exactly the same temperature that you have if you paint it white , You might be right about the dissipation though.

[RetroACTIVE]

I painted the inside of my cabinet mainly to cover the bare wood... it was old and nasty... so I sealed it with shelac based primer then painted it with a tan semi-gloss latex.  Having a semi-gloss surface keeps it easier to clean... bare wood cannot be cleaned very well...