Our friend’s sister just got her first job as a teacher and asked for a bookshelf/charging spot for the class Chromebooks. I used 1/2” MDO and good 1/4” underlayment ply for the dividers. I decided to use wood putty in lieu of edgebanding. She requested a black cabinet and I was wanting to try out my Sprayfine HVLP anyway. In looking for a source of black paint, I chose Target’s EM 6600 which is basically black 6500. I was trying to decide if I should top coat with 9000 or 9300 because these shelves will see a fair amount of abrasion and abuse. I emailed the company about my project and Jeff emailed back to recommend cross linker in both. I chose to prime with tinted Zinsser BIN. I was worried that I’d waste paint if I didn’t.
This is was my first project with a spray finish and this forum was a huge help! So to help the next guy, here’s what I learned:
1. I underestimated how much paint I’d need. This cabinet is only 36” x 30” but with 24 dividers it was a lot of square footage! I ran through my quart of primer pretty quick but I learned;
2. Don’t bother with the primer. EM6600 covered the remaining pieces in the first coat and I can’t tell which we’re primed and which dividers were not. I also got some crackle where the lacquer didn’t love the primer; it was particularly noticeable over the puttied edges. Later I read on Targets site that you are should cut the primer 50/50 with DNA. The crackle effect isn’t noticeable on the sides of the cabinet (thank goodness!)
3. God bless the guys who say they spray with the back off the cabinet. I would have never thought to try that and with all the dividers I would have really struggled to paint it if it were fully assembled.
4. The crosslinker was intimidating at first. I was too chicken to use it in the black coats but added it to my EM9300 clearcoats without issue. I just eased it in and mixed a long time with a drill mixer the night before. The top coats finished smooth and look great.
Thanks everyone!
Reply With Quote
