What finish should I use for my daughters storage locker/bookcase?
Here’s a link to the Ikea product that I’m using as a model: http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15567&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=47813&langId=-1&categoryId=15664&chosenPartNumber=S49819508
My wife wants it built like yesterday and I don’t want to spend a lot of time on finishing it. It is going to be baltic birch ply and I’ve got some purpleheart that I was thinking of using as a face-frame.
I’d like it to be somewhat water resistant. I can spray or brush (or even use wipe-on oil/varnishes for that matter).
So, second to my concern about water exposure and not wanting to spend lots of time finishing this, I’m leaning away from shellac. What are your ideas?
aj kelly
Edited 3/27/2007 11:05 pm ET by ajkelly
Replies
If you've got a Sherwin Williams commercial coatings outlet near you then I would recommend using one of their vinyl sealers (for moisture resistance) and top it with precat lacquer.
Fast, easy, simple.
I've never used a vinyl sealer. You can brush it or spray it? I've heard that is hard to sand - true?
And, I've read that pre-cat laquer is pretty durable and has good water resistance .... so, why even use the vinyl sealer? And I've read that you can thin it like regular laquer - so does it brush and spray well? Or does it dry too quickly to be brushed?
aj kelly
aj, Vinyl sealer is very easy to sand. If you have spray equipment, spray it. Rich
I suppose you could brush it. But it's designed to be sprayed... which you said you can do. That's the only reason I suggested it. While I've never tried to brush it, I suspect rather strongly that it would dry too fast to be very user-friendly as a brushable sealer coat. But... a lot of that depends on what it's reduced with too. The difference between "brushable" lacquers and lacquers that are intended solely to be sprayed is in the solvent selection rather than an inherent property of the lacquer. I should think the same would hold true for vinyl sealer to some degree. And yes, you can thin it like you would lacquer and with the same exact solvents.
Ditto what Rich said about sanding it. The only qualifier I would add is that it sands best after an overnight dry. Before that it can be difficult to sand. But after an overnight dry it sands very nicely.
Pre-cat lacquer is rated by AWI as having "excellent" to "very good" moisture resistance at their "premium" and "custom" finish grades. But the AWI premium and custom finish grades both require a vinyl sealer and two topcoats of pre-cat to reach that rating. So I suspect that what you've heard or read about pre-cat's moisture resistance was predicated upon the assumption that vinyl sealer would be used underneath it.
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