Acrylic Eggshell

[pj]

Has anyone had good success painting MDF with acrylic eggshell? The plan was actually to spray the MR MDF cabinet, but it needed thinned to much to spray in a hvlp gun with a 1.9mm tip setup, so I'm going back to the roller and brush. I will add some water and Floetrol to see if it will extent the working time, but this will be the first time I've used a water based eggshell.
Anyone been there and got any tips or horror stories?

The paint is Permoglaze ,as I use their oil based eggshell and it is hard to beat.

Philip.

[dom]

Hi pj.

I have just installed a wall of bookshelves and used a waterbased eggshell by Farrow and Ball, why do you want to use the acrylic ?
The water based looks great is durable and a lot easier for clean up and rolls very well.

[jfc]

Water based is all i spray and i'm getting rather good i am Oil based just gets you off yer nut ;D

[pj]

Dom, Acrylic is water based eggshell. The reason for the questions is that if it,s anything like some of the water based clear coats, you just cannot get it to level out and lose the brush marks. Did you find this with the F&B.
Jason, How much water do you have to add to get this stuff to flow, as I gave up at 50/50 Paint/water. What make of paint are you using as the Permoglaze has quite a high solids content, so it's pretty thick to start with.

Philip

[jfc]

I find the best results so far at 1/3 water this is on mDF primer and Layland eggshell . I was going to say the same about acrylic but thought Dom knew something i didnt so i kept quiet

[dom]

PJ, I used a roller( the fluffy type, get a good quality one) it doesn't flat out completely but from a few feet away it looks very good, when spraying(HVLP) I add 20% water to the F &B.
Fired earth also do a very good paint.

Jason I Know loads that you don't ;D

[sainty]

Ive just sprayed a panel with dulux quick drying eggshell, quite happy with the results. Thinned about 10-15 percent. Spayed through a Fuji Q3 pro HVLP unit.

Interestingly, I bought it from the Axminster Show a couple of years ago from the Fuji guy (head of something) that had flown in from Canada. He maintained that you should start thinning at 20% and increase from there!! I have found that starting at 10% works best for me. The best improvement that I have found is removing the filter from within the cup and filtering the paint into the cup first. (if that makes sense)

Rgds

Sainty

[pj]

Thanks Dom and Jason for the replies. I will get a good short pile sleeve. I done a bit of digging and found out that the Permoglaze has quite a high solids content which is probably why it's so thick to start with. It may not have been the best paint to try and spray with ,indeed it's thicker than the dulux trade primer that I'm using .
Plan B is to thin about 10% and add floetrol about 10% and see what happens.

Philip

[tim]

sainty said:

Ive just sprayed a panel with dulux quick drying eggshell, quite happy with the results. Thinned about 10-15 percent. Spayed through a Fuji Q3 pro HVLP unit.

Interestingly, I bought it from the Axminster Show a couple of years ago from the Fuji guy (head of something) that had flown in from Canada. He maintained that you should start thinning at 20% and increase from there!! I have found that starting at 10% works best for me. The best improvement that I have found is removing the filter from within the cup and filtering the paint into the cup first. (if that makes sense)

Rgds

Sainty

I met him - reminded me of a TV demo show host. I end up thinning much more than 10% but I hadn't thought of the filter option - I'll give that a try next time I set up. Was the QD dulux trade stuff? I tend to use Crown and find that their paint is so thick that it needs diluting just to roll it.

Cheers

Tim

[jfc]

I was spraying yesterday so took notice of my mixing and it is about 10 - 20 % . I use old jars to mix the paint , just pour the paint in , add water and shake it . Only problem is you need to eat alot of dolmio and uncle bens curry sauce when you have a spray job ;D
I'm back using the gravity fed compressed air gun for now and have done four coats of MDF primer , i could start the top coat but i'm going to give it another two coats of primer .

[pj]

Tim, I think Crown and Permoglaze are made by same company. The Permoglaze stuff needs scooped out of the tin so will probably need more thinning than most of the other stuff. There is no way it will roller straight out of the tin.
Jason, go to a bodyshop supplies and get disposable mixing cartons, as there are graduated on the outside so you can always reproduce the same viscosity, they are cheap, and it saves you eating all those curries and then having to go to the bottle bank ;D

[tim]

jfc said:

I was spraying yesterday so took notice of my mixing and it is about 10 - 20 % . I use old jars to mix the paint , just pour the paint in , add water and shake it . Only problem is you need to eat alot of dolmio and uncle bens curry sauce when you have a spray job ;D
I'm back using the gravity fed compressed air gun for now and have done four coats of MDF primer , i could start the top coat but i'm going to give it another two coats of primer .

How many coats? I give two coats of primer max and it seems fine.

Cheers

Tim

[jfc]

two coats doesnt even cover the colour of the MDF .

[tim]

jfc said:

two coats doesnt even cover the colour of the MDF .

Are you sure you've got the mix right - sounds like its either too little paint or too dilute to me.

Cheers

Tim

[jfc]

It wont come out of the gun if i do it any thicker .

[dom]

I've discovered that if you use MR MDF and you sand the edges until smooth you only need to put one good coat of primer on the whole thing then lightly sand the edges again and its ready for painting saves sealing the edges first with PVA or whatever you use.

[sainty]

tim said:

Was the QD dulux trade stuff? I tend to use Crown and find that their paint is so thick that it needs diluting just to roll it.

Cheers

Tim

Tim, yep its the trade QD eggshell, but not the "diamond" version. Thats not through choice just because it what I had!

Dom, I've found the same regarding the edges. I used to sand upto 320g to get a "polished" edge but the last couple of times I've sanded with 180g straight from the saw. Depends on the quality of the edge from the saw though.

What primer does everyone use? I've got the International MDF primer but that really seems to raise the "grain" ;D of the surface. Cant remember the brand of MDF, but it was MR-MDF

rgds

Sainty

[pj]

I sanded cut edges with 180 grit and then painted them with Dulux trade QD undercoat, resulting in very little raised hairs apart from a cove moulding,which was worse than the rest, probably because the bit has done a fair amount of work, and it was a cheap bit to start with. This was sanded and then the complete cabinet was given a coat of undercoat. The edges have not raised anymore fibers but the flat surfaces are raised slightly. The mdf is Medite v303 with a green core. I though it would have been better on the flat surfaces but the moulded core turned out better. Tim commented (on another forum ) about using Zinnser Bin for the edges and I am wondering if a full coat of this first followed by QD undercoat may be a better way to go. I have used Rustin's mdf sealer before but it really kicked up the grain, mind it was with fluffy mdf. What makes mdf primer different from standard stuff?

Philip

[dom]

I use Zinnser Bin, it works, it is expensve but works.
Although now I only intend to use MR, the price difference makes it less labour intensive.

[tim]

I only use the Zinnser stuff on the edges. I sand to 180 or 240 first. Paint or spray the shellac, let it dry. Apply one coat of Crown Acrylic Primer. Denib with a maroon pad or sometimes lightly apply a scraper. Apply two top coats of finish paint eg Acrylic Eggshell.

Cheers

Tim