Best flat/matt paint for underworks of pine bench.

[Benchwayze]

Hi folks
I have some SY pine I need to use up. I thought of trying to catch 'passing trade' by leaving projects on view on my drive.

First project a pine bench with painted legs and aprons. Never used this technique, so has any one any suggestions for suitable finishes for the legs. I want a matt finish but I am unsure about emulsion. Johnstones have some nice dark colours

Ideas really welcome.

John (hammer)

 

[MikeG.]

Without hesitation, Bedec Multi Surface Paint..........microporous, water-based, flexible, and incredibly durable. I've got to the point where I wouldn't consider anything else.

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Mike. I'll go to my old 'stomping ground' in Hockley. Bound to source it there. Any thing from an elephant to a safety pin!
John (hammer)

 

[ED65]

You want matt and durable: milk paint. Dead-flat finish and durable as all get out. This stuff is so famously tough that it can resist weathering for decades (think red barns in the US) and it defeats most chemical strippers.

 

[Benchwayze]

Isn't that the stuff they use for shabby chic furniture? Also the stuff the Shakers used a lot of. I don't want to make shabby chic! I just cannot bring myself to wittingly damage a piece of woodwork I have just finished . I will leave that to the person who hopefully buys the item . All the same I will check it out. Thanks for the information.

John (hammer)

 

[ED65]

Isn't that the stuff they use for shabby chic furniture?

Isn't that largely chalk paint? Milk paint is not to be confused with chalk paint; both very matt, but polar opposites in terms of toughness.

 

[Jacob]

If you are expecting to leave benches outside there is only one option; Alback Linseed oil paint. Not cheap per tin but phenomenal coverage and very easy to apply. Avoid water based anything, ignore "microporous" it means nothing - all paint is microporous to a degree.

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Jacob. The furniture isn't intended to be left outside though I quite agree with regard to the weathering properties of linseed oil paint. I do have some leftover from the days before I had UPVC window frames fitted. I think the colour was called Brown spice! Incidentally I have to re panel my garden gates and I have some barn paint for this job. All I could get was an old-fashioned gallon. That will probably last me until I get the birthday card from Buck House!
Cheers
John (hammer)

 

[Starjump]

Garage floor paint is tough stuff, cheap too! 'Toolstation' are selling one for £37 for 5 litres. It is oil based stuff that thins down with white spirit. It is one option anyway.
On the other end of the scale, yacht paints are great for hardwearing outdoor use, single pack and two-pack are available, complete paint systems including primers and undercoats etc, - not cheap though.

 

[ED65]

Jacob tunnel vision alert!

Again, think red barns; milk paint has 'rather a good track record' in exterior use (which is a bit like saying Nasa are a bit good at maths).

Anyone interested might also like to look up French flour paint.

 

[Selwyn]

Who supplies milk paint?

 

[AndyT]

Who supplies milk paint?

I never have, but allegedly you can make it yourself:

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2012/11/2 ... ellacking/

More info here:

https://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/ar ... k-paint-2/

 

[Marineboy]

If you are expecting to leave benches outside there is only one option; Alback Linseed oil paint. Not cheap per tin but phenomenal coverage and very easy to apply. Avoid water based anything, ignore "microporous" it means nothing - all paint is microporous to a degree.

Sorry, but that is just wrong. I am no expert in the finer points of paint chemistry but I do know that water based paint has improved tremendously over the last few years. I painted my outdoor bench and bird tables with Bedec 2 years ago and they’re as good now as when I did them. Water based means no smell and no messy clean up with expensive solvents.

 

[Jacob]

2 years isn't very long, though it's lasting better than some I've experienced! I'd expect your paint to start failing eventually, certainly within 4 years or so - lifting off and letting water in below.
I'm no expert either but I've been restoring/replacing trad joinery since 1986 and in the trade before that and my experience of various modern paints/systems has often been embarrassingly disastrous.
n.b. Linseed oil paints also have (almost) no smell i.e. no VOCs, and need no solvents.