Hi,
I am now making a few dozens of small boxes, which should be painted with artist’s heavy body acryl color. The boxes are made of birch plywood, the side walls are miter jointed, and to glue them I used the adhesive tape method, upon removal of the tape I discovered that some fine wood fibers stuck to it and were removed with the tape. now I have surface with open pores (I don’t think that birch is an open pored wood). This problem never happened to me when I worked with full wood, even with birch, I guess it is the steaming of the wood before cutting the veneers that caused the problem, anyway, now the boxes have to be painted, with acryl colors, we tried different methods to achieve a smooth surface: we tried sanding sealer, we tried gesso, we tried special ground color (was not bad but did not bind with the color although it was said to be of acryl base), we tried even without ground color, just many layers, but it did not work, one could always see and feel the pores. the only things that did work were the putty and the 2 components polyester filler. The problem with the two materials is that it is a long and tiring process to work with them over the surface of many small boxes.
After this long speech I now come to my question, is there any product that fills the pores and can be applied by brush or a rag, some product of which I don’t have to coat 3 times before painting? it can be clear or white
thanks a lot
Gal
Replies
I would try a light weight spackling compound -- available from any home center or paint store.
You apply it with a putty knife, sand it smooth, paint away. The light weight version dries quickly and sands easily.
EDIT: Birch does not have open pores (as oak does, for example); I assume you are talking about a product that will fill in the spots where the veneer has chiped off around your mitered corners.
Edited 7/27/2004 6:20 pm ET by nikkiwood
Few dozen small boxes huh? Thats a lot of putty knife work. Nikkiwood is right on with one component spackling, or even automotive one part glaze, but to get away from knife work, I'd spray a heavy filling primer, then sand off (or level). ML Campbell's Clawlock catalyzed filling primer is a dream, as well as automotive hi-build epoxy primer, but if you don't want to spray two part coatings, then I'd spray pigmented shellac based primer like Bin. Not from a spray can - all spray can paints are super low solids - no build or filling capability. If you don't have a spray set-up, then brush it on heavy, then sand to level. The two part primers are awesome for filling MDF too.
I've brushed filling primers (like Bin) and then wiped the wet primer into the deep pores with my finger to get more fill where I wanted it - try this where needed. Otherwise, the polyester glaze is the best way to go. Some of the polyester glazes come in "brushable" viscosity too. Look for the stuff in the tube at the automotive stores.
"The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)
http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro http://www.johnblazydesigns.com
Thanks for the answers,
I think I'll go for the Shellac primer or the polyester glaze for 2 reasons, the first is that I don't like so much the 2 components lacquers and the second is that I fear that the acryl colors will not adhere very well to them.
Does the shellac primer need a few coating or is usually one enough?
Nikkiwood, the veneer did not chip off only at the mitered corners but all over the surface, this is the reason I was looking for a product which can be applied buy a brush.
Gal
Two questions.
1) Have you tried a tape with less aggressive adhesive? If blue masking tape, for instance, is strong enough to do the job, you might find that it is less likely to pluck particles out of the wood.
2) Have you tried sealing the wood before cutting and joining it? A sealer that isn't substantial enough to fill the divots might still strengthen the surface enough to resist the erosive action of the tape.
And if neither of those approaches works alone, they might still work together.
I used Tesa PVC tape, I live in Germany so I do not know if you have in the US the same product. It is rather thick and strong, and I took especially a strong tape since the cheaper and thinner one would either stretch too much and therefore would not give the pressure I need or simply tear from the tension.
The idea of trying to seal the wood before gluing I like, I think I might try it for the boxes I did not glue yet and see how it works.
Thanks
Gal
Brilliant response Uncle D!!! I've done this before, but forgot. If you pre-fill the wood prior to panel cutting the miters, then you can use the polyester glaze with a wide knife and do a whole 4x8 sheet in no time. If access to a cabinetmakers plywood supplier, you can buy pre-filled MDF that has a UV coating filled surface, ready for paint.
I thought through this process a few months back to make a run of boxes myself, and had the idea of exotic wood veneering and epoxy sealing a sheet of 1/2" MDF, then cross-cutting long miters, then do the tape-wrap-glue-trick to make long rectangular "tubes". The clear packing tape (best - no stretch) would come off easily and clean easily with lacquer thinner or alcohol because the surface was epoxy sealed/sanded.
Then I would simply "crosscut" the boxes (fence set at height of box) from the long stock. Super quick.
"The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)
http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro http://www.johnblazydesigns.com
Now I have tried sealing the wood and then gluing and it worked well, it reduced the damage by 90%. It's a pity most of the boxes were already glued...
Hi
why not use M,D,O ( medium,density, overlay) plywood for your projects? this wood is sometimes called sign makers plywood,the stuff is smooth and ready to piant.no prep work just cut and paint.
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