# Painting Plywood



## theenglishman1 (21 Feb 2013)

I am trying to give the best possible finish to a TV cabinet but the wood is not helping me with layers protruding through even after a few days of sanding. 

I am thinking to get an even surface before painting is? 

Polyester resin, Epoxy, Cellulose Primer? 

Has anyone done this before and which one should I go with, any other info would be great. 
Otherwise I will have to rebuild using MDF:-( 


John


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## Oryxdesign (21 Feb 2013)

if it's bad epoxy, if it's really bad make a new one from mdf.

Epoxy can be mixed with fibres etc to fill holes and gaps, try to keep sanding to an absolute minimum.


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Feb 2013)

Dry lining filler will give you a dead flat surface, but needs to sealed. You can't fill parts - it'll stand out like a sore thumb, so you'll have to do the whole thing. If it worries you that much it's possibly quicker to rebuild in mdf.


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## o0dunk0o (21 Feb 2013)

if by the layers showing through you mean the end grain the easiest thing to do would be to rub some filler into the edges,

for a good clean sharp finish I usually fill the edges with something like body filler and sand back with a block.

epoxy resin will give a great finish but it's expensive and if you're not experienced with it it can get messy


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## Oryxdesign (21 Feb 2013)

phil.p":msp2pdg6 said:


> Dry lining filler will give you a dead flat surface, but needs to sealed. You can't fill parts - it'll stand out like a sore thumb, so you'll have to do the whole thing. If it worries you that much it's possibly quicker to rebuild in mdf.



Surely it will sink and crack before you've even finished sanding it?


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## theenglishman1 (21 Feb 2013)

Thank you for more experience input, I really want to do a good job on this and the finishing part is something that I thought would be "the easiest". Shows my lack of experience, so if one suggest would sink and crack, do I have to apply something to stop that that or use another method. Once again thanks for the input and the ongoing input.

Thank you gentlemen!

John


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## carlb40 (21 Feb 2013)

Can you not glue on a thin veneer and then paint that? 
You can get either rolls of real wood veneer or just some cheap normal veneer and cut it to size


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## theenglishman1 (21 Feb 2013)

Sounds like an option will check that out.

Thank you.

John


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## Cian (3 Mar 2013)

why not make a face frame from solid wood to cover the ply ends? but probably easier to get veneering ends.


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## Phil Pascoe (3 Mar 2013)

Oryxdesign":7grd5i81 said:


> phil.p":7grd5i81 said:
> 
> 
> > Dry lining filler will give you a dead flat surface, but needs to sealed. You can't fill parts - it'll stand out like a sore thumb, so you'll have to do the whole thing. If it worries you that much it's possibly quicker to rebuild in mdf.
> ...


It shouldn't cause any problem, as the stuff is designed for fine filling - it's used on fairly shallow joints on feather edged plaster board, so it would only be lightly sanded once after drying quite quickly.


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## Oryxdesign (3 Mar 2013)

But it isn't flexible and doesn't allow for the kind of movement it will be subject to


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## Phil Pascoe (3 Mar 2013)

Ceilings and walls probably move more than tv cabinets. How much movement is there in the end of a piece of ply, once it's furniture?


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## theenglishman1 (4 Mar 2013)

Thanks all for this, "dry lining" would be a filer of some description, saw this is anew thing for me.
John


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## nanscombe (4 Mar 2013)

Dry lining. Does that mean Polyfilla?


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## Phil Pascoe (4 Mar 2013)

No, it's finer. the downside to it is that unless you know a decorator or plasterer that uses it, it comes in bags the smallest of which is £12 or thereabouts, iirc.


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## HighlandR (5 Mar 2013)

The best way I have found to get a nice smooth surface on ply and stop the grain is to use some car body fill ( u-pol or similar ) and thin it slightly with some polyester resin to the consistency of thick cream, and using a scraper/blade to spread and squeeze it into the fibres and grain of the ply, go over a few times really working it in especially across the grain and diagonally. Once cured it will sand nice and stop the grain showing. Another coat can be applied if you missed any holes the first time. 

This method has worked well for me many times, if you warm the body filler up a little in a warm room etc before use you might not need to thin it with resin.


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