My newlywed niece requested an entertainment center for her new home and I was glad to oblige, until she brought me a Pottery Barn picture of her request, made from MDF and painted black. So with construction almost complete, could someone be so kind as to give me step by step instructions on how to spray this unit to achieve the black satin pottery barn look. I assume I need an oil base primer on first, but don’t know what brand I can spray. I’ve never done much painting of wood much less MDF. Thx in advance for the help.
Jimmy
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Here's an approach that I've used successfully on MDF kitchen and bath cabinets as well as furniture:
If your HVLP turbine is strong enough (3-stage or 4-stage), I'd apply two coats of a tintable acrylic latex primer (tinted as dark as possible), followed by two or three coats of an acrylic latex paint. Thin both the primer and the paint with about 10 percent water to improve sprayability and flowout. Make sure the water is thoroughly stirred in.
One potential problem you're going to run into is how to adequately seal any machined edges of the MDF, which will be much more porous than the factory-tempered surface. There are lots of techniques available, but I like to apply pva glue thinned out with water to these surfaces, then sand lightly before priming.
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