Finishing a Kitchen Island

[Jon Farley]

I am in the process of building a kitchen island. I have a few construction questions but they all seem to hinge on my finish, that is why I am posting here. Please bear in mind, that I am a finishing novice.

Anyway, my customer wants a painted finish (white) on this island, including the doors. After researching here and other places it seems as though I'd like to use Target Ultima Premium Spray Lacquer for my finish. Is this a good choice?

Also, I plan to make the face frames out of soft maple. For something that is going to be painted, what are some recommendations for the solid ends of the island in terms of plywood...baltic birch, maple, beech?

And, finally, should I use MDF for the raised door panels, or should I stick with solid wood?

Thanks...Jon

[Russ Massery]

Jon It's a Excellent choice IMO. Last summer I built cabinets for my kitchen. I used USL for the first time and got great results. And I used a cheap HVLP gun. As for panels MDF is ok, And poplar would be a good choice also. Cheap and take paint well. Good Luck.

[Jim Becker]

My whole kitchen is finished with the Target product. (Uppers are Fuhr top coated with Target) The performance has been outstanding...where the polyurethane on our kitchen table already needs renewed, the kitchen cabinets, including our mobile island look brand new after almost 4 years. I'm satisfied with the Target.

[Dave Boxmeyer]

I have a follow up to Jon's question since I'll be creating a similar finish on some office furniture that will be made of similar material. Do you have to prime or seal the material (in particular the MDF) before spraying on the Target USL?

Also, how much sanding in the perp stages and between coats? How many coats?

Thanks! Any information is most helpful.

[Larry Fox]

Dave, if it were me I would prep the entire project, and the MDF stuff in particular, with a wash-coat or so of Alcohol cut shellac. The MDF is obviously sensitive to moisture and the shellac will help reduce the amount of grain-raising from the WB finishes. It doesn't take much time and it really buys you a lot.

As far as the schedule goes, I can tell you what I have had very good luck with. There is tons more information at Target and Homestead in the forums.

- 2x wash-coats of ~2# alcohol cut shellac (scuf sanding with 320 after each). This seals the wood and minimizes grain raising from the WB.
- 2x coats of the WB shellac from target. You can safely skip this step as I did it more for coloring than anything (it just so happened that their Golden Red shellac was exactly what I was looking for). There is no need to sand between coats of this unless you have significant surface defects or contamination.
- I lightly scuf sanded the last coat of shellac with 600 but it is not necessary for adhesion if the top coats assuming one of their products. From Jeff at Target: "UltraSeal-WB is remulsified by any WB finish (or itself) that contains P-Series glycols (such as our USL, 9000sc, EM8000cv, EM8800 and EM9300)."
- I then put on my top-coats, in my case I used Target EM 8000 conversion varnish but the same should apply to the USL. I applied three coats without sanding between. I applied them all in the same day with about 3.5 hours drying between coats. The off-the-gun final finish is outstanding and for most purposes you should not need to rub them out. Maybe some steel wool to soften and gloss and even the sheen but that should be about it.

Edit: After rereading OP, this schedule is irrelevant as you are looking for a painted finish. What I get for not reading carefully I suppose.

Hope it helps and gets you closer to the answers to your questions . . .

Larry