MDF painting & finishing

[Freebie]

I've just finished building my first bit of handy work - a DVD and TV stand. So far I've assembled it and put a couple layers of PVA / water solution on the edges of the MDF.
After I've applied the primer what would be the best way about painting it to get a matted finish and any suggestions on methods and good brands to use? or even better pictures of similar projects.
Thanks.
Image: http://img30.imageshack.us/i/imagecco.jpg/

 

[DaveL]

Hi Freebie,

Welcome to the forum.

Your link has been caught by our spam trap, this will stop when you have a few more posts to your name, here is a thumbnail link

 

[pren]

Hey, Welcome to the forum!

Nice bit of work for your first time out.

I use a 4" gloss (foam) roller to paint MDF. You can get them from the likes of B&Q for under a £5.

I'd say eggshell would be a good finish to go for. Hardwearing and fairly matt. B&Q mix Dulux paints in Eggshell in a range of colours. They cover really well over primed MDF.

For a primer, I always use cheap, flat matt white emulsion over bare MDF. Slap it on thick then sand it back for a nice, smooth surface.


One more thing: have you glued your unit together yet? If not, it's much easier to get a good finish by painting the components before final assembly.

Anyway: hope that helps!

Cheers.
Bryn

 

[Freebie]

Thank you.
It seems like I've impulse brought the correct stuff, primer and roller wise, and I'll probably go down to B&Q tomorrow to see if I can get a test sample of some paint and the finish you mentioned.
The board is currently not glued down so I have enough room to prime and paint the first shelf. The rest of it however is glued now .
Should I be sanding between the layers of paint or is that just for primer?
Thanks again.

 

[Chrisp]

Freebie, as Pren has said, I have had had great results using B&Q white primer applied thick! a couple times and sanded back to a fine finish then whatever takes your fancy...
Good luck (I'm sure you don't need it)
Chris.

 

[Freebie]

Thanks (but I wouldn't be too sure I don't need that luck),
I'm looking into different ways of finishing it now. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Just put on my third coat of PVA/water on the edges and it's still eating it up. Should I put more PVA in, or is this normal? I'm currently using a 1:1 ratio.

 

[pren]

With PVA, I go for the same ratio (1:1). I normally give the edges two thick coats, let it go off, then sand with some 400g wet & dry (used dry). If it's still fluffy, I hit it again with PVA. You're looking for a solid, smooth finish to the edges.

The benefit of using the white emulsion as primer is that it acts as a filler to a certain extent. Any small pits in the MDF edges are filled in.

One thing I have found is that oil based paints don't seem to stick to any areas of exposed MDF where you've sanded through the primer. I'm not sure if this is because oil based paints don't like MDF or something to do with it being finely sanded or what. Once you've sanded back the primer layer, go back over any areas of exposed MDF to prevent your finish being ruined.

Hope that helps!

Don't forget to post work in progress pics of your projects in the Projects section. It's actually the law.. :lol:

Cheers.
bryn

 

[Freebie]

Well if it's the law I wouldn't want to disobey.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3126/imagefhi.jpg
She now has her first layer of primer - camera quality is low so you probably can't see a difference from the first image yet.

 

[joesoap]

I've found that Blackfriars mdf sealer is very good but of course that was on the green mr mdf which undoubtedly makes a difference . One coat straight and two on open edges after light sand . At around £7 per litre maybe pricey eh !
Cheers !