Help with painting kitchen cabs

I'm building some paint grade cabinets for a home office. I had planned to build with Maple FF/stiles/rails and possibly MDF on the raised panels (opinions on MDF for this application?). I want the finish to look like those beautiful factory painted finishes....smooth as silk and hard as a rock. I purchased both the Jewitt and Flexner books but they make no more than passing comments on paint. From what I've read HVLP is the way to go and I'm looking at a Fuji 2894-G-XPC Q4 GOLD HVLP Spray System with Gravity Gun for $919 on Amazon. I'm looking for specific product/brand recommendations on paint (off-white/cream) that will give that beautiful factory appearance. I read somewhere that clear coats can be applied over the paint to achieve this look as well as durability.

Thanks

How about white Target EM6000. It will spray like EM6000 (in other words, nice) but give a painted appearance.

http://www.homesteadfinishingproduct...etcoatings.htm

Since you're spraying with an HVLP, I'd go with a pigmented waterborne "lacquer". Target Coating's EM6000 (http://www.targetcoatings.com/) works quite well with HVLP and pigments. You can color it yourself with universal colorants, or you can buy it pre-pigmented from http://www.homesteadfinishingproduct...etcoatings.htm

Spraying waterborne on MDF seems to work well sometimes, but not others. I had one bunch of MDF that kept "grain-raising" no matter how many coats of finish I put on it. Others say it works fine. In retrospect, I should have tested the completed project, and sealed it with shellac before I put the waterborne on it.

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Originally Posted by Matt Meiser

How about white Target EM6000. It will spray like EM6000 (in other words, nice) but give a painted appearance.

http://www.homesteadfinishingproduct...etcoatings.htm

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Matt, are you referring to EM6528WP?

Here's a tip...

Turbine HVLP systems don't spray well into concave areas like the inside of cabinets and inside of drawers. They put out so much air that all the finish blows back out of the cabinet. The fix is to spray components before you assemble them. Or at least to spray the cabinet before you put the back on. That is what I do to most kitchen cabs -- assemble and finish the casework without the back in place, then staple the back on afterwards.

The pigmented acrylics (Like target coatings EM series) are very easy to use.

I generally have been using Shewin Williams Pro-classis alklyd enamel (the new formulation) on painted projects because the last couple needed some weird color match.

After a couple days it is non-blocking and hard as a rock. Very nice stuff.

It sprays with 10-15% reduction out of my top cup conversion gun fairly well. A larger needle tip would help.

BIN primer and two coats of paint and off the the races.

Joe

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Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton

Here's a tip...

Turbine HVLP systems don't spray well into concave areas like the inside of cabinets and inside of drawers. They put out so much air that all the finish blows back out of the cabinet. The fix is to spray components before you assemble them. Or at least to spray the cabinet before you put the back on. That is what I do to most kitchen cabs -- assemble and finish the casework without the back in place, then staple the back on afterwards.

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Great advice...thanks.

I have used the Target 6000 WBL and 9000 super poly (or 9900 can't remember the exact number), with the Mixol white pigment, and it worked out great.

Thing to remember, don't try to load the paint on the surface. Spray 2 light to medium coats and let it dry, scuff sand with 320-400 to remove any dust nibs, and then another 2 coats. Scuff sand again with 400-600 and then 2 more final coats.

Complete coverage will depend on the amount of Mixol pigment used.

The 6000 sands a little easier than the super poly, but the super poly will not have that slight yellow which occurs over time. The yellowing which will occur is very slight with the Target/Waterborne lacquers, it will take a long time. With solvent lacquers you will start to see the yellowing after a few years, in addition to the slight yellow color that is inherent with many solvent lacquers intended for wood.

After you spray the color coats on the wood, and have complete coverage, you can top coat with a 2 coats of clear for added protection, but on cabinets it is probably not necessary. If on a work surface (desk) then I would spray an additional 2-3 coats of WB poly.

Good Luck, Bill