Painting MDF mini cabinet

[Corbo]

I'm looking into the best way to paint my mini arcade cabinet.  It shouldn't be a big job, it's only small!

I'm all for doing it properly, primer, sand, primer, sand, colour, sand x 3

But then I saw this:  http://www.ronseal.co.uk/products/one-coat-melamine-and-mdf-paint

Has anyone tried this?  What do you think?  The majority of the cabinet will then have vinyl artwork stuck on it, so it just has to be a durable black finish with no brush marks.

[The Lumberjackass]

rule of thumb when looking at paint :

There Is No such Thing As One coat Paint

Its a myth.
anyways, ive used this before and i have to say it does indeed give a good smooth finish. as for the durability side of things i'd have to say you'd be a bit disappointed in it. also i would be very wary of putting vinyl over paint. the simple reason is that if you want to peel back the vinyl to release air bubbles, you could take the paint clean off the cab.
if your going to buy this stuff, use it on a scrap piece of 2' x 2' mdf first and then test the vinyl on it afterwards. that way you wont damage the main cab

[Corbo]

Thanks LJA, I've noticed plenty of sound painting advice from you on the forum so I'm more than happy to take your word for it.

I spent some time last night researching the best way to paint mdf and have decided to go with 2 primer coats and 4 semi-gloss black coats.  I'll then add 2-3 extra layers of satin gloss to the front edges of the MDF where T-Mould would be on a normal sized cabinet.

[The Lumberjackass]

sounds good hopefully you wont have much sanding to do, but if your wondering about applying a finish to get the best results, look at getting a mohair roller.
they come in various width's and leave a pretty good surface behind which minimises sanding. as always though, pre-test your paint on a scrap piece of material first. i know alot of paints these days say not to use a roller, and i think this mdf paint is one of them, but i'd still chance it to see what the results are like.
brushes always leave marks behind, but a mohair roller is the business for a lovely flat surface.
im in the process of chemically stripping the doors in my house ( long and tiring process ), but im repainting every one of them with a mohair roller. superb finish. you'd swear they came from a factory. i may even post a pic later today as i have a door in the workshed getting some treatment

[javeryh]

Thanks LJA, I've noticed plenty of sound painting advice from you on the forum so I'm more than happy to take your word for it.

I spent some time last night researching the best way to paint mdf and have decided to go with 2 primer coats and 4 semi-gloss black coats.  I'll then add 2-3 extra layers of satin gloss to the front edges of the MDF where T-Mould would be on a normal sized cabinet.

Buy some BinZ primer - it is a little bit more expensive but totally worth it.  It is very important to seal the MDF before painting and this stuff does an EXCELLENT job.  You will have to apply about 3-4 very thin coats but it dries super fast and is ready to be sanded and recoated in 45 minutes or less.  You will not regret it.

As for your edges - DO NOT PAINT THEM.  You won't get a good finish unless you seal it with bondo or something and then paint.  The edges of MDF will just soak up whatever paint you put on there.  May I ask why you aren't going to install t-molding?  I assume you are using 1/2" or 3/4" MDF for the sides - t-molding can be easily installed and it looks SO much better than painted edges.   

[Corbo]

Too late hehe, the first layer of undercoat is now on.

The MDF is 12mm.  My concern is that I'm terrible at wood work, and after so much effort getting this far I don't want to take a slot cutter to it and destroy my side panels.

I treated all MDF edges with Ronseal wood hardener and they are fine to take the paint now.  I used a whole tin of the stuff lol.  Once dried I was able to round off the edges where T-Mould would go.

The original cabinet is black with black t-mould so it's not a big feature of the design that will be missed.  When  it's all done, I'll add an extra 2 layers of clear satin varnish on the t-mould sections just to bring them out a bit from the rest of the cabient.

Fingers crossed.  Thanks for the tips.

[The Lumberjackass]

give us a few pics when your done but take your time with it, dont rush anything !