I'm thinking about building the bedford corner desk out of plywood and wondering what the best way to go about finishing it would be?
Do you use different grits of sandpaper to get a nice smooth finish? What type of primer is best? What type and sheen of paint? Then do you go over it with a poly?
The first picture in this post looks like it has a nice sheen. How do I achieve that?
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andjarnic
Tue, 10/05/2010 - 08:49
That picture looks very good. I would love to know how to get that shiny sheen on it. I picked up some polyurethane with a Glossy finish.. I hope that does the trick. My understanding is that you start off with a 50 grit or so.. and work your way to a 220 or more. The problem I have with this is on large projects this takes forever. Even with a hand sander/belt sander.. it's a lot of tedious work. I never know how long I should sand in one spot. Is it just a quick pass over the whole thing? Also, when I assemble stuff, like a box.. the inside corners are impossible to get with any sort of hand/orbital/belt sander.. I basically have to take a little piece of sand paper, fold it up and use my fingers to try to get in the corner areas.
For primer, I think the one I have read, thus bought, is called 123 Primer. I forget who makes it now, but I found it at Lowes. I was told that after I sand, prime, then paint, going over with a poly is good. Couple guys told me don't even bother using any sort of caulking around the seams.. just use wood glue + nails/screws, sand, prime, paint and poly.
I hope this helps.. and hope it works.. I will be trying it on the beds and desk I am making.
Tsu Dho Nimh
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 05:36
andjarnic - The trick is to sand and apply the finish as much as possible BEFORE cutting and assembling the bits.
I prefer to sand, then cut, trial fit, predrill holes, stain and apply at least one coat of finish, then assemble and do the finish coat and touch-ups if I have to. Pad the clamps so they don't damage the finish, and work on a clean non-scratch surface like towels or carpet chunks.
It works very well, and saves a lot of frustration.
orangesugar - If you are going to paint, using MDF, which is already smooth, is a big timesaver.
For plywood, start by filling any holes and cracks with wood filler.
Let it dry, then sand it thoroughly with 150grit sandpaper and an orbital sander (way easier than by nand, but you can use a sanding block and muscle power)
Wipe off the dust with a rag dampened in mineral spirits
Sand again with 200 grit ... wipe again.
Prime (If you use water-based paint, the water in it raises the grain and you have to sand again with the 2-- grit)
Paint a couple of coats of the color you want.
elliott
Wed, 10/13/2010 - 05:49
I'd wondered about painting first. I've build 2 different bookcases from Ana's plans and obviously didn't spend near enough time sanding. The first one I even had 2 coats of paint on and it looked HORRIBLE. I've been sanding the whole thing back down with 80 grit. Also, I was using spray paint primer and spray paint paint. This is on pine. Do I scrap that idea and use the cans and a good brush? I was afraid of brush strokes.
Since the 2 I have built are glued and screwed I can't rip them apart to paint. I have a bankable bookcase cut out of MDF so will try to prime and paint first. Do I need to sand the MDF?
andjarnic
Wed, 10/13/2010 - 09:10
I do not think you need to sand MDF.. I've tried and it falls apart quickly. It's so smooth already. If you're using edge trimming then you don't need to worry about edges as well. There are some paints you can buy that go on without primer. They stick to most materials. Killz for example is one that does this. I did this on drywall and it worked great. For pine wood and stuff made out of 2x4s and such, I'd prime it probably with two coats, then a couple coats of paint, then some sort of protectant like polyurethane.