Sealing Krylon flat black prior to topcoat

[mark mcfarlane]

I'm refinishing a blanket chest. I have painted some of the inlaid panels with Krylon flat back. I'll be staining other parts multiple colors.

My topcoat is currently planned as wipe-on, either
- GF Arm-R-Seal Satin - oil/varnish - I only have about 1/3 of a pint, so maybe a few semi-gloss coats (I have a gallon) followed by a satin top coat, or rub out the semi-gloss) or
- GF High Performance Flat - water based - wiped on

Do I need to coat over the Krylon flat black prior to hand-wiping either of these topcoats?

I'm out of shellac, and want to finish this project without driving an hour each way to Woodcraft, although I can probably get some rattle can shellac 20 minutes away... I also have a pint of GF clear seal-cell in stock.

[Wayne Lomman]

Mark, it's best to do a test on a separate price of scrap and see what works over the black. The main thing to look out for will be adhesion of your top coats to the black. The oil based product is more likely to work but try both. Do your test with wiping straight up. My instinct says it will work wiping the oil based product. Cheers

[mark mcfarlane]

Mark, it's best to do a test on a separate price of scrap and see what works over the black. The main thing to look out for will be adhesion of your top coats to the black. The oil based product is more likely to work but try both. Do your test with wiping straight up. My instinct says it will work wiping the oil based product. Cheers

Thanks Wayne. I did a little test on some birch plywood (this is a refinish, so I don't have a match to the wood).

Wiping on the Arm-R-Seal Flat oil/varnish took off a little of the flat black Krylon (after 2 hours of drying the Krylon), but not enough to matter. It looks like I need to go into town tomorrow anyway, so I I'lll pick up some rattle can shellac. I should have a few cans in the shop anyway. I'm sure I bought one a month ago but I can't find it....

[Rob Young]

Thanks Wayne. I did a little test on some birch plywood (this is a refinish, so I don't have a match to the wood).

Wiping on the Arm-R-Seal Flat oil/varnish took off a little of the flat black Krylon (after 2 hours of drying the Krylon), but not enough to matter. It looks like I need to go into town tomorrow anyway, so I I'lll pick up some rattle can shellac. I should have a few cans in the shop anyway. I'm sure I bought one a month ago but I can't find it....

Dewaxed shellac is probably a good test subject.

And if you are buying the Zinser/Bullseye aerosol cans, I always get a kick out of people calling them "rattle can" since they don't rattle. Give me the chance to use a variation of the "just keep shaking it until it stops rattling" gag on unsuspecting types. "Just keep shaking it until you hear the little ball start rattling..."

[mark mcfarlane]

Dewaxed shellac is probably a good test subject.

And if you are buying the Zinser/Bullseye aerosol cans, I always get a kick out of people calling them "rattle can" since they don't rattle. Give me the chance to use a variation of the "just keep shaking it until it stops rattling" gag on unsuspecting types. "Just keep shaking it until you hear the little ball start rattling..."

So that's why my arm is so sore... no rattle.

Zinser worked fine, as expected. I picked up a couple cans.

I applied the top coat by foam brushing on GF High Performance flat. I think I am in love with that stuff, but wow it dried really quickly (AC'd shop, 74F) and was hard to keep a wet edge. I wasn't expected the milky white appearance in the can.

What a beautiful final finish. 3 coats on the top. 2 everywhere else. You can still feel and see the grain. We'll see how it holds up, the top will likely get some heavy use.

I am looking forward to spraying GF HP some day. This blanket chest had a lot of molding detail, and brushing was a pain.

[Rob Young]

... I wasn't expected the milky white appearance in the can. ...

The milky appearance is pretty standard for water borne poly products. They are an emulsion.