Hello all,
I'm working a heavy-duty shelving unit made of MDF and have gotten to the finishing stage. As far as I can tell my two options are 1) varnish, sand, varnish, or 2) acrylic base coat, sand, acrylic paint.
In terms of MDF, which of these would you recommend ?
I would like to point out that I am in France, where there is apparently no such thing as an MDF-specific primer, and where MDF is rarely used in general. BTW, just out of curiosity is MDF primer useful/necessary for any kind of finish (water or oil-based) ?
Ideally I'd like to finish the shelves in white, though not a bright shiny enamel white. I suppose I could go with the natural varnished MDF color if necessary. My impression is that tinted varnish wouldn't work so well on MDF, an argument in favor of acrylic ?
Also, should I sand before applying anything, or just in between coats ? By hand or with a sander ?
If I go with varnish, I assume this needs no primer of any sort ?
I've read a lot about the infamous MDF edges absorbing lots of paint - no real solution to this, other than to coat it more ? Drywall joint compound was suggested, but it's true this could crack
Thanks for your wise advice.
I'm working a heavy-duty shelving unit made of MDF and have gotten to the finishing stage. As far as I can tell my two options are 1) varnish, sand, varnish, or 2) acrylic base coat, sand, acrylic paint.
In terms of MDF, which of these would you recommend ?
I would like to point out that I am in France, where there is apparently no such thing as an MDF-specific primer, and where MDF is rarely used in general. BTW, just out of curiosity is MDF primer useful/necessary for any kind of finish (water or oil-based) ?
Ideally I'd like to finish the shelves in white, though not a bright shiny enamel white. I suppose I could go with the natural varnished MDF color if necessary. My impression is that tinted varnish wouldn't work so well on MDF, an argument in favor of acrylic ?
Also, should I sand before applying anything, or just in between coats ? By hand or with a sander ?
If I go with varnish, I assume this needs no primer of any sort ?
I've read a lot about the infamous MDF edges absorbing lots of paint - no real solution to this, other than to coat it more ? Drywall joint compound was suggested, but it's true this could crack
Thanks for your wise advice.