Best Paint for Plywood Shop Cabinets.

[Danny Thompson]

What paint do you recommend for shop cabinets made from plywood?

I had to replace the 5/8" thick melamine top and bottom of a grey BORG shop cabinet. For strength, I used 3/4" edge-banded ply. Since one of these boards will be the floor of the cabinet and will, therefore, face heavy wear, I want to make sure the finish is heavy duty.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

(Moderators. I couldn't decide whether this was finishing, workshops, or general. Move as you see fit.)

[Todd Burch]

For a heavy wear surface, I would use an epoxy coating.

For heavy wear on the bottom of a shop cabinet - I could care less if it were finished. No paint on the inside of my ply and MDF shop cabinets. (But the real fancy cabinets did get a clear finish on the inside).

[David Hite]

Would you use epoxy garage floor paint, or is there another kind of epoxy paint?

[John Thompson]

I simply use about 3 coats of Behr porch and floor gloss on all my cabinet bases.. work cabinets.. etc. and have been using it for years.

Sarge...

[Todd Burch]

I'm not familiar with the difference between an epoxy garage floor paint and a "normal two-part" epoxy paint. Perhaps the amount of solids is different. Since I don't know the difference, I would buy the cheaper solution.

[Lee Mitchell]

For my shop floor and base cabinets, I used light grey porch paint. Light color helps with lighting in the shop and makes it easier to find dropped bits and pieces. Another plus, is that it's easy to add more paint when when either the floor gets worn or a base cabinet / tool stand gets scraped, nicked, etc.

Walls, and wall cabinets get white paint, again, to improve lightning. For those, the nicer the cabinet, the better quality paint I use. Sometimes for rough stuff, I'm simply given it a coat of Kilz primer. This does greatly improve visibility even if you're working in a garage with stud walls.

Just 2 cents, this morn.
Lee in NC

[Doug Shepard]

I'm a couple weeks from needing to paint some shop cabinets myself so this thread is good timing for me. But would shellac (Seal Coat) on the insides be worthwhile?

[Jon McCoy]

I make shop cabinet doors of MDF or MDO, then primer and 2-3 coats of whiteboard paint.

-jon-

[Danny Thompson]

Whiteboard paint! That is a great idea!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Best?
Well, I'd say whatever you have to hand is best.
I like white only because I often have some white on hand.
The only thing the paint needs to do is slow transpiration of moisture. After that it's all in how purdy you want it.

[David Christopher]

whatever you decide to use I would make sure it is gloss...easier to clean and easier to blow dust off

[David Hostetler]

I have used the light gray porch & floor paint in the past on several non WW related shop projects. (Built some fugly 2x4 / plywood workbenches for a friend's auto shop years ago). The paint works very well, the light color helps dropped stuff stand out better...

[Prashun Patel]

I'd prime it with Zinsser BIN or shellac. That'll save you some $$ on the paint coats, and it'll make an easier time of hiding the grain - if you care.

I recently like Benj Moore's Porch and Floor paint. It's epoxy modified - so it's a little stronger than regular PF paint, but of course not as killer as a 2-part epoxy paint.

Usually for shelves, though, I've gone with an oil based enamel or a resinmodified latex like the above or InslX CabinetCoat, or BenjMoore Aura. Latex's can cause blocking or stickiness to heavy items.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I use slop shop grays.
Light and dark.
I mix my own using whatever is in the mistint pile @ Lowes and the odd scrap I have around the house.
I can't see laying out a lot of money for a shop grade finish.

Interiors get a coat or two of whatever remnants of clear coat I have on hand.
Sometimes Seal Coat, sometimes all the remains of small cans/working pots of Minwax water poly.

I did have alomst 3/4 of a gallon of water poly floor finish left over that I used as slop, but,,,Winter was not kind to it.(oops!)