Need Input from those of you who have painted a cabinet

[barrel_hopper]

I am going to be undertaking the job of restoring a DK cabinet followed by my DK JR cab.

I kinda have a stupid question. I have seen quite a few pics of people who have painted their cabs and most look really really good. I know pics taken with a digi cam can be a little deceptive.

How did you guys achieve really good results? was it lots of sanding with very fine paper and buffing?

I guess what I am asking is what did you do to get that realistic finish. I am going to do some research on the subject but I guess what I am asking overall is...

if you take your time and do it right will it look just as good if not alot better than the original paint job?

I will be using a roller to paint my cabinet. I will also be using the same kind of paint from Lowes or home depot that lot of other here have gotten pretty good results from.

Thanks for the input

Adam S.

[rlemmon]

I used 2 coats of primer with 3 coats latex gloss black paint. The trick to getting a nice shiny finish is to use extra fine rollers and use extra fine sand paper between each coat of paint and primer.

[RoninEditor]

Nice cab!!!  Love it.

[barrel_hopper]

wow that is hot! thanks for the tip sir.

[paigeoliver]

The type of wood you are using matters too. With MDF I have never sanded a thing, just roller painted it, and it always came out just fine.

I did a Defender cabinet once with sandpaper and automotive spray paint cans and it came out absolutely fabulous, but that was like 20 cans of paint and more coats than I can even count. I'll never do it that way again, I must have put 20+ hours just into painting that sucker.

[barrel_hopper]

I will be repainting an original Nintendo style cabinet

[Hoopz]

Follow these instructions to have it look incredible.   

This is basically what  I did:

1.  Sanded MDF with 600 grit to get it as smooth as possible
2.  Applied OIL-based primer - rolled on with a 4" foam roller (2 coats).  Sanding after the 2nd coat with 220 grit.
3.  Applied water-based pink paint - rolled on with a 4" foam roller (6 coats).  Sanding after the 2nd, 4th and 5th coats with 220 grit.
4.  Sprayed on 25 coats of lacquer straight from the can - no sanding.
5.  Wetsanded like crazy with 1500 grit - I spent 8 hours just on this step
6.  Applied rubbing compound with soft cotton rag (2 coats)
7.  Applied polish with soft cotton rag and buffer (2 coats)

HERE are a few good shots of the difference the rubbing compound/polish makes.

I did not have access to any spraying tools/materials, unfortunately.  The lacquer was easy to apply though - I did it all in one weekend since each coat dried in 20 minutes.  I couldn't get it perfect but the finish still looks 1,000,000 times better than leaving brushstrokes on there with ordinary paint, IMO.  It almost looks like it came from the factory or something.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do - I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can...   

[RoninEditor]

Is there a certain brand of paint you guys prefer?