Painting Furniture

[custard]

I'm making an arts and crafts style bookcase in poplar, birch ply, and mdf that needs to be painted with Farrow & Ball water based paint. I guess the kitchen guys on the forum are doing this sort of thing day in day out.

Any tips on the painting process? I don't have spray facilities so it will be brush painted.

Do you put the undercoat direct onto bare wood or use a primer coat first?

What's your process for rubbing down?

Any other things I should be watching out for?

Thanks

 

[petermillard]

Is this the F&B water-based eggshell? Haven't used it, but would be interested in how it goes - the oil-based F&B eggshell has a particularly matt finish and is nothing like as good as the estate emulsions, IMHO.

I typically use a water-based acrylic primer/unrcoat applied with a foam roller, allowed to dry then rubbed back with P320. I've never had a problem with the cut edges of MDF, usually an extra coat of primer/undercoat is all I need to get a good clean edge, but I know others swear by thinned-down PVA or a coat of shellac-based Zinnser BIN; I'd suggest trying it and seeing how it goes.

The top coat is usually a water-based eggshell (typically Dulux or Johnsons) again applied with a foam roller, but blended out with a soft brush before it dries - it avoids that slightly 'bobbly' finish you can get with a foam roller and quick-drying paint, but gives a more consistent finish than brush application, I've found. Two or three coats is usually enough, with a light rub-over to de-nib between them.

HTH Pete.

 

[Mattty]

Pete's advise is spot on. I never use real farrow and Ball, Johnsons (and others i guess) do an exact colour match, but their paint is far nicer and easier to use. I tend to paint all mdf edges with shellac sanding sealer, this seems to stiffen and lock the dusty grain, once dry a quick fine sand down and the edges finish as good as the face.

 

[custard]

Thanks for the comments.

It seems that Farrow & Ball have done a great marketing job, and so many people insist on F&B paint, but there seems to be lots of concern about the quality of F&B primers on problem surfaces. However, if you use a specialist primer like Zinnser BIN then F&B paints take an age to dry.

Here's a good account of the problem,

http://traditionalpainter.com/farrow-and-ball-paint

I think I'll stick to F&B primer and paint because the surfaces are so clean (knot free tulip wood, mdf, and top quality birch ply), but if I had any difficult surfaces I'm not sure what I'd do.

 

[petermillard]

Here's a good account of the problem,

http://traditionalpainter.com/farrow-and-ball-paint

Thanks for posting the link - useful to know. Just to clarify, I think the F&B Estate Emulsions are excellent, just haven't been too happy with the oil-based eggshell I've used in the past. And to be totally fair, if you use a stain-blocking primer like BIN, then the top coat always takes longer to dry, in my experience.

Cheers, Pete

 

[Dusty]

My mother inlaws friend used to work for F & B and she said that in the call center they were explicitly told not to offer refunds and to blame the application !!!! What they also wont admit is that in some of their paint ranges , including french grey ( I think ) , the primer and undercoat is exactly the same , just tinned up differently .

I used F & B in my bedroom and have to say it was rubbish , took 6 coats to cover newly plastered walls that I had blocked white . It did not dry well and the cover is rubbish . Marks very easily . Over all you are paying for a name and since then I take their colour chart to the Dulux colour matching section .

I dont want to come across negative but I was bitterly dissapointed and it was not just one colour , as we used two on opposite walls and some eggshell .

Home Base do a good traditional paint range and personally I think it is alot better finish and easier to use .

Kind regards Sam

 

[adzeman]

This is a coincidental thread, at the moment I am making a few cupboard doors for units in my workshop and I am trying out paint finishes to see which is best. Its times like this I could do with dad being around as he was an industrial chemist specialising in paint problems. He would be called out to take samples where painters were being accused of not applying the correct number of coats or the client was not happy with the finish. Very rarely was it the fault of the actual paint but the application. One thing I recall was that there were differences in the products and manufacturers. One in particular was Masons of Derby who specialise in Coach work and in particular for Rolls Royce. There were a number of complaints with how thin the paint was but he would state this is the best you can buy and you need skill to apply it. He also had a good word for Dulux, Johnsons and Leyland. The samples for test were hand brushed not sprayed. As a young boy I recall the sample panels in his laboratory as, one of the services he provided was to formulate recipes for corporate fleets and these were applied to wood panels approx’ 12” x 6” which if memory serves me were Poplar but they were like a bears backside. The specialist decorators would prepare and undercoat these panels with a finish so smooth and shiny you could see your face in them. One thing I do remember was before a wax polish was applied they were rubbed with jewellers polish. This is a long way round in stressing it’s the application not the product or know your product.
I am trying out the Farrow & Ball paints for the first time and so far I have no problems to date. Because these cupboard doors are for me and no one else I need to improve my skills using other materials than wood such as MDF plywood. The first set of doors I have made are how I was taught over 50 years ago. Softwood with a panel and an applied mould. The remainder being as the Homebase catalogue for kitchen doors.

Traditional doors with undercoat. First problem purchasing undercoat which is why I am using Farrow & Ball. I live in the sticks Homebase, B&Q, Wicks sell the finish colours but not the undercoats except Farrow & Ball I have to go miles away to West Sussex for the nearest Crown depot.

Had a bit of a problem with forming the centre staff bead using one of my wood moulding planes despite trying out on a sample before attacking the door wandered off and made a ball of cotton of the moulding. Should have formed the mould prior to glue up so if it went of course a new stile in order rather than a botch rescue or a new door.