Kitchen finishing

[Carlneedshelp]

Hi

I've just had an extension built and to save a bit of money my wife forced me to build the kitchen myself. :?

I ended up building the carcasses out of 24mm birch plywood which when finished weighed a tonne. It worked out pretty well as I was able to make the carcasses bespoke to fit the non-standard wall length and alcoves. Everything is in place, worktops and sink etc have all been installed and the kitchen is now functional. However, I now have the face frames and doors to install and this is where my questions of finishing come in.

When I original designed the kitchen I wanted to have the cabinets as in-frame. Everywhere I looked (other than bespoke made to order kitchens which were out of our price range), had the face frame width larger than the cabinet sides e.g. 18mm cabinets with 30mm face frame. The doors then had special hinges to cope with the protruding face frame. I have opted for tulipwood face frames and I am currently constructing these. I am using 24mm wide by 22mm deep frames with a few pieces wider so that I can scribe them to fit flush to the uneven walls. This means that the frames should finish flush with the cabinet sides although in reality it appears that the plywood was actually 23mm wide so the do protrude 1mm each side which isn't an issue. It also provides a nice clean finish to hide the plywood ends. So firstly, can anyone foresee any issue that I have overlooked by having the face frame match the width of the cabinet sides? I built some fitted bedroom wardrobes a few years ago using the same principle and haven't had any issue but I do wonder if a kitchen is going to throw up different problems.

I have ordered the doors, drawer boxes and drawer fronts from cutwrights. These will be 22mm thick to match the faceframe and have the hinge holes pre-drilled for blum inserta hinges.

I have tested a paint finish on the tulip wood and I'm not 100% happy with the finish. I believe that a sprayed finish will offer a better standard but the paint that I originally planned to use (Fired Earth eggshell) says that an airless sprayer should be used with the paint. I only have an HVLP sprayer (I think). It isn't a special system but a Stanley air compressor with a spray gun that came free with it. Is this upto the job or is a special system required/recommended? I have seen that specialist furniture spraying companies use a paint called Sayerlack by Sherwin-Williams but I cannot find this for sale anywhere. Has anyone used this and if so, would you recommend it? My next question would be what type of paint do I need for a durable, smooth, professional finish? The descriptions baffle me with the words lacquer, polyurethane preCat etc

So to sum up, my questions are:

Can anyone forsee any issues with my proposed face frame method?
Is my Stanley air compressor and spray gun suitable for the work given that it is only for a one off job?
Does anyone have experience with Sayerlack paint?
Does anyone know where this can be purchased?
What paint do I need to provide the ideal finish to MDF doors and drawer fronts and tulipwood face frames?

Thank you all in advance for any help/advice or general observations on the above.

 

[RobinBHM]

Sayerlack is available from Movac (essex)

Or try symphony coatings or morrells

If you are spraying I wouldnt use Fired Earth or any other paint formulated for brushing.

 

[ED65]

I have tested a paint finish on the tulip wood and I'm not 100% happy with the finish.

What about the finish wasn't quite up to snuff?

Can you outline what you did with the paint to convert it for spraying, spray pattern, distance, number of coats, that sort of thing?

...the paint that I originally planned to use (Fired Earth eggshell) says that an airless sprayer should be used with the paint. I only have an HVLP sprayer (I think).

The maker's recommendation aside, before airless sprayers came along people were spraying eggshell without a bother. And IME virtually any paint can be successfully sprayed through nearly any equipment, as long as you have the time to play around with all the variables to find the sweet spot for that paint type through your gun.

 

[Carlneedshelp]

Thanks RobinBHM for the suppliers, I'll check them out as soon as I know what kind of paint is needed re Polyurethene, A/C etc

ED65, sorry for the confusion, I haven't sprayed the paint yet, I applied it by brush, 3 coats with sanding between each coat. This seems weird to say but the paint felt a little too much like paint. When I used the same paint on a wall it left a nice smooth silky eggshell feel but on the tulipwood it feels more like a matt paint would on a wall. What I mean by that is the finish felt dry and although the paint should have a sheen, this wasn't evident. Admittedly I did not use a primer or undercoat but the paint said it can be used without as it acts as it's own.

With regards to the spray system, will it be up to the job or is it a case of an inappropriate tool for the job being thrown in for suckers like me to take the bait? This is the kit http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-8...pressor-with-5-piece-accessory-kit-240v/48089

 

[chippy1970]

You know cutwrights can supply doors etc in sprayed primer,might help.

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[vanitycat]

I had a long thought about your idea in relation to the face frame. What style of cupboard door will you use? I am presuming inset, in which case usually you would use the over hang of the face frame to attach metal stop to keep the door flush with the frame (ie prevent the door going inwards) however I believe this could be resolved using a strip of tulip wood just below the frame. I'll sketch up a pic if you haven't explained myself well.


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[Jake]

I would recommend this stuff, it gives an amazing finish with a flocked foam roller which you would be hard pressed to tell was not sprayed (I came across it through recommendations/articles on traditional painter from guys who do nothing but hand finish kitchens and used it on some alcove cupboards. It really is impressive)

http://holmanpaints.co.uk/products/145-helmi.html

http://www.mypaintbrush.co.uk/lime-wood-finish-axus

 

[Carlneedshelp]

Chippy1970 I have had the doors primed by cutwrights. Learnt from my mistake when I ordered doors from them previously. I had 6 made and primed 5 of them myself. One of the doors they had missed two of the hinge hole and I got them to prime the door for free for the inconvenience of having to have it sent back. When I saw how well it was primed, there was no way I was going to do it myself this time.

Vanitycat: I've been thinking about this myself. I could put a bead at the top and bottom of any cabinets that don't have shelves in that I can use to stop the doors going in on themselves but I was thinking that I could just add a metal stop to the carcass, possibly those magnetic ones to give a little resistance when my young daughter tries to open the cupboards. Do you think that would work? The doors are going to be inset and shaker style as that is what cutwrights do.

Jake: I'm going to look into this paint now.

 

[ED65]

Admittedly I did not use a primer or undercoat...

As the saying goes, there's your problem right there! The more absorbent the material the more you get the kind of effect you describe.

...but the paint said it can be used without as it acts as it's own.

I would as a rule always discount those claims 8) If you're not priming I would recommend you always dilute the first coat, sometimes by as much as half.

With regards to the spray system, will it be up to the job or is it a case of an inappropriate tool for the job being thrown in for suckers like me to take the bait? This is the kit http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-8...pressor-with-5-piece-accessory-kit-240v/48089

That looks fine, although it's what's inside that counts. But as I say, you should be able to spray nearly anything with nearly anything. I've seen heavy oil paints (a paste at room temperature, much thicker than Polyfilla) sprayed successfully through nozzles 20 times finer than any spraygun has.

 

[vanitycat]

Chippy1970 I have had the doors primed by cutwrights. Learnt from my mistake when I ordered doors from them previously. I had 6 made and primed 5 of them myself. One of the doors they had missed two of the hinge hole and I got them to prime the door for free for the inconvenience of having to have it sent back. When I saw how well it was primed, there was no way I was going to do it myself this time.

Vanitycat: I've been thinking about this myself. I could put a bead at the top and bottom of any cabinets that don't have shelves in that I can use to stop the doors going in on themselves but I was thinking that I could just add a metal stop to the carcass, possibly those magnetic ones to give a little resistance when my young daughter tries to open the cupboards. Do you think that would work? The doors are going to be inset and shaker style as that is what cutwrights do.

Jake: I'm going to look into this paint now.

Either method should work. I would be inclined to try just putting the bead or magnetic stop at the top only. One other item I have seen them use in America is the fastcap rubber stops https://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Euro- ... p13233.htm . Despite being called euro door stops I can't find them in uk. You can order them from USA but they aren't cheap. Maybe some kind soul may know an alternative supplier a little closer to home


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[Limey Lurker]

>Is my Stanley air compressor and spray gun suitable for the work given that it is only for a one off job?

Yes, it's perfectly adequate for the job; however. it's not an HVLP system, it's a high-pressure system, which can be used for a range of tasks (spraying, tyre inflation, air tools etc..), as opposed to the HVLP turbine-type system which will not generate the same pressure and will not inflate tyres.