Anyone use a clear coat ?!?!

[MilitiaMan]

... or a polyurethane to finish their cab painting ?

I must say I read through all the tips and tricks on this site before picking up the first gallon of paint and the job turned out absolutely perfect. (pics to be posted eventually)

A couple of tips for anyone starting to paint soon:

1. SAND, SAND, SAND ... then sand again. If you want a smooth finish, sand between every coat of paint. It doesn't take a long time as you are only doing a light sand to remove bumps and brushmarks. Also wipe down with a damp sponge between every coat and allow to dry thoroughly. It is critical that you begin painting on a clean, dry surface each time.

2. USE PRIMER ... I used two coats of primer with some of my final color mixed in. I used Kilz and it worked great, easy to mix and spreads on thick and even. Remember to sand lightly after each coat!

3. USE A FOAM ROLLER ... I was going to use a standard cloth roller until I read here that a foam one was recommended. Glad I read that because the foam roller worked great.

4. TAKE YOUR TIME ... If you hurry through this process you will be disappointed with brushmarks and uneven layers of paint. Take your time sanding and cleaning and allowing to dry between coats and your finished product will be excellent.


NOW FOR THE QUESTION


Now that the paint is on, should I use a clearcoat to protect the finish?

If so, would you use a spraypainted clear coat or another roll-on?

Anyone that has done this and had either good or bad results, please post.

MM

[RandyT]

Now that the paint is on, should I use a clearcoat to protect the finish?

If so, would you use a spraypainted clear coat or another roll-on?

Anyone that has done this and had either good or bad results, please post.

If you used a decent glossy enamel and you are happy with the way it looks, then I wouldn't bother with a clear coat for a couple of reasons.

First, you have to make sure that whatever you use is compatible with the paint underneath (not that big a deal, unless you try to put lacquer over enamel.)

But the big one is whether you want to take the chance that it will screw up all your hard work up to this point .  If you spray it on and it doesn't go well, you could introduce runs or fog.  If you roll it on, you might be safer, but what you'll gain is probably not worth the extra work.

The one instance where this would be valuable is if you have handpainted graphics or decals on cabinet and want to protect them and add some uniformity to the lustre.  But again, make sure you have compatible materials or you could end up with a mess.

RandyT

[PhoneGuy]

I recently used Minwax