Hi all, I am in the middle of constructing a cabinet to house an electronic musical instrument, but I am wanting it to be a very high gloss white, has anyone got any tips please.
Thanks
Thanks
white lightening
- Thread starter organmonster
- Start date
Sponsored Links
Buy a good quality industrial random orbit sander, a full set of 3M Trizact abrasives, a 3-stage (or better) industrial HVLP spray outfit, a body polisher and a good dust mask (coz you're going to need it) and learn how to spray (and how to sand) ........ Dude, it's really hard work to achieve a high gloss finish as you'll need to have a near perfect surface before starting to paint, but a piano gloss is achievable with time and care (and 7 or more coats of finish above your primer coats). What is your substrate going to be (i.e. what "wood" are you using)?organmonster said:
Scrit
It is not necessary to spray. I know a pair of furniture makers who achieve a remarkable gloss level by hand-painting with ordinary gloss paint. They use 6 or 7 topcoats and reduce the grit size for sanding between each coat-I would guess that they finish up with about 400 grit sanding sheets. It was hard to believe that it wasn't a sprayed finish yet they achieve it time after time. Mdf is probably the best material for your cabinet as it has such a smooth surface, but you must sand the edges well or they will absorb too much paint and look rough.
Sponsored Links
To get a high gloss finish (i.e. a "piano" finish) you need to go well above 400 grit, which is a good quality gloss level, but NOT what is expected when we finish to high or mirror gloss. To get a true high gloss the grit has to finish somewhere between 1000 and 1500 (or higher) which puts us into special finishing materials like Trizact and requires the use of a body buffer and micro-abrasives to get the final glazed look. Spraying radically reduces the amount of sanding out between coats and we use random orbit sanders for a better quality surface, making sure that we carefully clean off both the surface and the sander each time a grit is changed. It is necessary to work up the grits for the best finish, so no goig 100 -> 220 -> 400 grit as you'll spend forever removing the previous grits marks.hermes said:
I'd agree that MDF is a good substrate, however MR-MDF is probably better as it has a denser structure. But sanding the edges alone will never produce a quality finish. It is necessary to seal and sand the edges 3 to 4 times with an MDF sealant or even a car body filler and the basis of a high gloss finish will always be a good quality high-solids undercoat on top of the sealed MDF, again 2 to 3 coats sanded out between coats to 320/400 grit with the last coat sanded to 600/800. As soon as the colour coats start to go on you need a substantially smaller grit (i.e. higher grit number) and I'd sand-out between coats by denibbing (Scotch grey cloth) then sanding at 600 to 1000 grit (por higher). Trizact is difficult and expensive stuff to get hold of, so an alternative is to wet sand (water + washing-up liquid) with silicon carbide paper above 400 grit, and use aluminium oxide (alox) for the lower grits. Just go easy on the water and use a spritz bottle to apply a little moisture - all you are doing is lubricating the paper, not flooding it, so wipe off overflows all the time.
The deepest glosses are obtained by layering two or more clear top coats over a matt colour coat. This is a technique sort of borrowed from the car trade and produces a really deep glossy appearance that is hard to match with conventional solid paint finishes. It also allows you to tint the colour coat and get those pearl;escent effects so beloved of trick car owners.
If you are looking for the ultimate in finishes it takes time, care and partience, but the end results can be stunning
There is an alternative, however. a few companies like Polyrey make high gloss MFC (melamine faced chipboard) and MF-MDF (melemine-faced MDF) and a high gloss edging could be made using a matching acrylic and polishing out. There is a description of how to do this here: http://www.ultimate handyman.co.uk/acrylic_sheet.htm (remove spaces to use the link)
Scrit
One source for small amounts of fine abrasive are the kits of Micro mesh, originally designed for removing scratches from aircraft windows.
http://www.sylmasta.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Micro_Mesh_Abrasives_87.html
Jason
http://www.sylmasta.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Micro_Mesh_Abrasives_87.html
Jason
Thanks for a useful post, Jason. Beats the heck out of trying to buy Trizact in small quantities.... and the grits go fine enough to polish acrylic with ease.
Scrit
Scrit
Scrit said:
WTF kind of an answer is this? The guy is making his own cabinet and wants to finish it himself. If he was a specialist then he would not be asking the question and no-one but a specialist would have hvlp, airless, whatever else you are on about, and going upto 1000 grit is totally unnecessary for hand-finishing in an opaque colour. This kind of answer is enough to put people off diy for life!
Before I was ever qualified in the trade, back in the 1970s, I resprayed several cars as a DIYer to high gloss concours finish. NOTE: AS A DIYER NOT A PROFESSIONAL From that I learned that the only way to get an extremely high gloss finish was to learn how to do it properly. I hired, begged and borrowed my spray outfit, sanders, etc and taught myself as the professionals I asked for help and advice either COULDN'T BE ARS*D to take the time to explain how to do the job properly or fobbed me off with BS to keep their "trade secrets". The result was I made a botch of the first two attempts I made and very nearly gave up.
The questioner asked about a HIGH GLOSS FINISH, not just slapping on Dulux gloss white paint with a brush or whatever it is you think passes as high gloss, so I gave an answer based on real life experience - not "I know Fred down the road and he says......". If you think that going above 400 grit is unneccesary go into Halfords and take a really hard look - they have stocked up to 1500 grit wet and dry for many years now (unlike when I started spraying in the 70s). Similarly grey and maroon Scotchbrite cloths are available from many places that sell car paint and abrading compounds like Farecla are more widely known and available and much better than the familiar T-Cut, so other people apart from myself are obviously aware of the need and the market for these materials amongst DIYers. As for spraying, no car painter, DIY or professional, worth his salt would try to achieve a high gloss finish with a brush or a roller, would he? So what insight makes you think you can achieve that level of gloss on a piece of furniture in a different way, pray tell me, do? Hand brush work to a high standard takes skill, experience and high quality (expensive) brushes, which any good painter and decorator will tell you. Portable HVLP is a rentable proposition these days - I'm noyt in a big place yet we have two hire firms in the vicinity that hire them out - mainly to DIY car sprayers - so again there is a market who KNOW about these things.
Just as a matter of interest, I'd have to say that some of the best cabinet work I've ever seen has been made by DIYers, not the professionals. Why? Because the hobbyists have the time to do the job properly and are not forced into taking the shortcuts that the professionals frequently have to employ to bring the job in on time and to budget.
Scrit
The questioner asked about a HIGH GLOSS FINISH, not just slapping on Dulux gloss white paint with a brush or whatever it is you think passes as high gloss, so I gave an answer based on real life experience - not "I know Fred down the road and he says......". If you think that going above 400 grit is unneccesary go into Halfords and take a really hard look - they have stocked up to 1500 grit wet and dry for many years now (unlike when I started spraying in the 70s). Similarly grey and maroon Scotchbrite cloths are available from many places that sell car paint and abrading compounds like Farecla are more widely known and available and much better than the familiar T-Cut, so other people apart from myself are obviously aware of the need and the market for these materials amongst DIYers. As for spraying, no car painter, DIY or professional, worth his salt would try to achieve a high gloss finish with a brush or a roller, would he? So what insight makes you think you can achieve that level of gloss on a piece of furniture in a different way, pray tell me, do? Hand brush work to a high standard takes skill, experience and high quality (expensive) brushes, which any good painter and decorator will tell you. Portable HVLP is a rentable proposition these days - I'm noyt in a big place yet we have two hire firms in the vicinity that hire them out - mainly to DIY car sprayers - so again there is a market who KNOW about these things.
Just as a matter of interest, I'd have to say that some of the best cabinet work I've ever seen has been made by DIYers, not the professionals. Why? Because the hobbyists have the time to do the job properly and are not forced into taking the shortcuts that the professionals frequently have to employ to bring the job in on time and to budget.
Scrit
White lighting, disgusting drink, would rather have woodpecker, taste sweeter, 
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links
