Priming poplar furniture - best product or not at all.

[Mike Monroe]

To prime poplar or not to prime poplar, that is the question.


The interwebs are all over the place when it comes to priming poplar. I'm currently constructing a nightstand and a bed headboard out of poplar. The customer, a relative, wants both painted a particular shade of white. I've already purchased the top coat, SW Pro-Classic oil based tinted to Snow-something. My plan is to use my ancient HVLP sprayer to paint the items - do both in one sitting. The HVLP is a Wagner unit circa 1993 that I used to paint all the trim in my house back then. The unit worked fine for that so it should work fine for the furniture - I'll be sure to practice first though as I haven't used the HVLP for some time. I've used it to paint a few items over the years.

Looking at using Valspar Bare Wood Primer/Sealer or SW Premium Wall & Wood Interior Latex Primer or not prime at all.

[Jim Becker]

If you prime, use the SW product that SW recommends. I'd personally prime.

[John TenEyck]

I've used the SW primer you mentioned with the waterborne Pro Classic. It's really thick, just like the ProClassic, but worked fine. You need a really large orifice for an HVLP gun, though, unless you thin it substantially. I'd be looking for a 2.5 mm orifice with my gravity feed HVLP if I use it again. A better choice would be an air assisted gun, or an airless rig. Like Jim, I would prime first, too. The primer is much easier to sand than the Pro Classic.

John

[Mike Monroe]

My old Wagner FineCoat HVLP came with only one needle and cap. The cap has a #3 on it. I also have access to a Milwaukee paint sprayer M4910-21 airless finish / HVLP spray gun dual action set-up. Might try that unit for the primer, though I'll likely be spraying less than a quart of product each time.

[Rich Engelhardt]

To prime poplar or not to prime poplar, that is the question.


The interwebs are all over the place when it comes to priming poplar

Look at the label on the can of finish coat you will be using. What does it say to use to prime bare wood?
No real mystery at all. The maker of the finish coat knows best what works under their product.
About the only time you need to deviate from what the maker of the finish coat recommends for priming bare wood is if the wood has any sap or other oozing residue.

If that's the case, then B*I*N pigmented shellac is what you need to use.

[Mike Monroe]

It was there all along on the SW Pro Classic Product Data Sheet.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Block
1 ct. Loxon Block Surfacer
2 cts. ProClassic Interior Alkyd

Drywall
1 ct. Premium Wall & Wood Primer
2 cts. ProClassic Interior Alkyd

Masonry
1 ct. Loxon Concrete & Masonry Primer
2 cts. ProClassic Interior Alkyd

Plaster
1 ct. Premium Wall & Wood Primer
2 cts. ProClassic Interior Alkyd

Wood
1 ct. Premium Wall & Wood Primer
2 cts. ProClassic Interior Alkyd

Other primers may be appropriate.When repainting involves a drastic colorchange, a coat of primer will improve thehiding performance of the topcoat color

[glenn bradley]

You've found your answer but, poplar can be colorful and changes color with age, I would prime.

[Todd Burch]

I used (am using right now) SW Easy Sand Primer. High solids, fast dry, fun to sand. Really. Runs and sags sand out just fine. And, I'm using their pro mar 200 interior alkyd gloss white - SNOWBOUND. It's awesomely white.

I am, however, using an airless. Glass finish after two coats.

I always prime before painting. Primer is the glue that holds the paint to the wood.

Todd