spray paint mdf? (60m to do!)

[notmydayjob]

Made a (BIG) mistake of buying some un-primed MDF skirting (Edwardian design, 220m high) and architrave. In the past I'd either used pine or the pre-primed stuff you get from B&Q.

This has turned in to a nightmare. Even with the proper primer (Wickes) it takes a loooong time to get a decent finish; prime, wait, rub down, another coat of prime, rub down, gloss, wait, rub down, gloss. So (having a lot of other things to get finished) I was wondering if throwing money at it would help.

Does anyone know how it is primed in the factory, the kind of finish you see on the stuff from B&Q. That seems VERY smooth and I'm wondering if they use a special primer, or is it just that its achieved using a dedicated spray machine??

Anyone know? As I say I don't mind paying a little bit for a good quality (spray?) primer - perhaps not water based and rather more like a pva solution?

I know I'm being lazy really (before anyone says it )

G

 

[opps]

years ago when when i worked for a cabinet maker we used to apply a two part resin to the routed MDF faces and spend hours sanding them back.

Now that I paint the stuff on site I use acrylic primer and sand that back instead.

For MDF I use the leyland acrylic primer- crap but cheap and very easy to sand, I sand with 180 grit silicone carbide paper (not aluminium oxide or garnet).

If the routed edges are very rough then sand then as smooth as possible before priming.

Acrylic primer will cause grain swell but it has gap filling properties (unlike oilbased) and can be sanded much earlier than oilbased primer.

If you are still unhappy with the routed edges you can use Red Devil Onetime filler, and then resand/prime.

In general I only use one coat of primer and then two coats of oilbased eggshell. Post 2010 VOC compliance I use more owatrol in the paint to help it flow

If you want to spray you will still need to deal with the end grain first. You can then use acid-cat spray with no primer. For more advice go to

http://www.morrells.co.uk/products/wood/4

You will then have a different finish to the rest of the woodwork though...