Iron on tape

[DIY Stew]

SWMBO wants a small bookcase made with sides higher than the top, meaning the end grain will be visible, the finish will be Farrow and Ball paint. Can I use iron on edging tape on the ends before painting to give me a smooth finish or is there another way of covering up the end grain before the final coat.

Stew

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Make it from MDF if you are going to paint it.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

A bit more information would help, but I'm guessing that you have made the bookcase out of softwood, and the ends are not very smooth from the saw. I don't think iron on edging will help - it will just look like iron on edging that has been painted, and if it gets chipped it will look even worse.

There are two cures - make the wood smooth, or use a filler.

To smooth the end grain, I would use a properly sharp plane on a shooting board, but you could also use abrasives.

Otherwise, use a general purpose diy filler - Polyfilla or similar - and fill in the end grain, then rub it down, then prime. It can sometimes help to prime first and then fill - it makes the defects easier to see.

 

[joiner_sim]

If you haven't made it yet... consider using MDF.

If you have made it or already started and using softwood then unfortunatley the end grain on softwood will never be smooth. Yes, it maybe at first but overtime it will be visible under the paint. First option is to use a hardwood but this isn't cheap. Second option is to use softwood, but glue a lipping on the edges with mitres on the corners also.

Softwood grain always comes thru though.

 

[DIY Stew]

Thanks for the help guys, the wood I will be using is pine and after reading your suggestions I will probably use some maple I have as a lipping.

Stew