Sanding and painting question

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

I’m getting ready to apply a latex primer and latex semi-gloss paint finish to a bookcase that I’ve built. Most of my previous woodworking projects have involved staining the finished product, but this time, I’m painting instead of staining.

Here’s the question: I know that when you are going to stain wood, you don’t want to sand to too fine a finish, because the stain cannot penetrate a surface that has been sanded too fine. BUT, if I’m going to apply primer and paint onto a raw wood surface, is there any reason that I wouldn’t want to sand the surface to as smooth a surface as I can get?

When I sand in preparation for staining, I usually stop at about 220 grit, but I have some paper with much higher grit than 220, and when I tested it on a piece of the type of wood that I’m going to paint, I find that I can get a silky smooth surface.

Is there any reason that I wouldn’t want my surface that smooth, prior to applying primer and paint? In other words, is there a risk in “oversanding” prior to applying paint?

This is probably a dumb question, but I don't want to make a mistake with the finish of this bookcase.

Thanks,
Louis

[Scott Holmes]

Latex paint is NOT for furniture!

Blocking will occur. Blocking is the paint sticking to something that was set on the bookcase. e.g. paint will come off the shelf and stick to a book.

Use an acrylic paint or enamel.

[Louis Brandt]

Thanks for your reply, but I really can't use anything but latex on this. This bookcase will be resting against a textured sheetrocked wall, which will be painted with latex paint. I want the bookcase to be the same color as the wall, and I would never be able to match a latex paint color with an enamel paint.
Louis

[Howard Acheson]

Thanks for your reply, but I really can't use anything but latex on this. This bookcase will be resting against a textured sheetrocked wall, which will be painted with latex paint. I want the bookcase to be the same color as the wall, and I would never be able to match a latex paint color with an enamel paint.
Louis

If that's the case, apply the latex, let if fully dry then apply a couple of coats of clear waterborne acrylic on the shelf top surfaces. Let it fully cure and you should not have any blocking.

BTW, in my house, a couple of built-in bookcases have shelves finished with a matching waterbased acrylic paint. It's a perfect color match and not even noticeable.

[Louis Brandt]

Howard, after your previous post, I went to another paint store, and the salesperson at this one told me that they do sell a 100% acrylic paint. They said that they could match the acrylic color that I'd use on the bookcase to the same brand of paint in semi-gloss that I'd use on the door trim and to the satin that I'd use on the wall. So if you're saying that acrylic paint won't cause the "blocking" on the bookshelves, this 100% acrylic paint may be the way to go.
Louis

[Phil Phelps]

A perfect match? Louis, if you paint wood, a wall, glass, or whatever with the same paint, you'll get different colors because of the different textures. I would never paint a surface with latex paint, knowing that something would rest on it. Can you not use alkyd base paint?

[Louis Brandt]

Maybe you didn't read my last reply. I'm convinced that I should not use latex paint on the bookcase, so I'm going with the suggestion that I use an acrylic paint on it. As far as my saying that I want to match the colors on the wall, the door trim and the bookcase with the same paint, I mean the same "color" paint, not the same can of paint. I certainly realize that different surfaces will look different even when the same color paint is applied to them.
Louis

[Todd Carpenter]

Hi Louis,

There's no reason to go any smoother than a 220. You still want the surface to have a bit of a "tooth" for the paint to hang on to. If you do go finer - I would stop at a 400 grit. Any smoother than that and may find your paint peeling off. Even the car guys usually only go to a 400 between coats and on the bare metal...

HTH
Todd

[Howard Acheson]

Yes, an acrylic waterborne will be a better choice.