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Thread: Re-Finishing Office Furniture

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Denver, CO Area
    Posts
    50

    Re-Finishing Office Furniture

    Hi

    So we have some office furniture - Writing Desk, Armoire, 2 Bookshelves & 2 Filing Cabinets - They are about 10-years old - They came from the factory with a matte-black, painted finish.
    My wife would like to have them re-painted to a light/medium gray. I will clean thoroughly and then sand down/scratch up the black surface so it can be re-painted.
    I don't want to do oil-based coatings.

    I can think of at least 3 ways I could re-finish them

    1 - Water-Based Primer, then SW Pro-Classic or SW Emerald Urethane Trim Paint
    I like these paints, but I don't think I could spray them without alot of thinning....
    I know I can do this with a brush & roller, but I don't want to - This would be alot of work. Painting by hand is "boring" to me. (Spraying is fun!)
    2 - General Finishes - Primer, then a Milk Paint, then spray GF High-Performance Poly
    I haven't tried the GF Milk Paint - they have lots of colors. I have sprayed alot of the GF High-Performance Poly - I really like it.
    Can the Milk Paint be sprayed with an HVLP Gun?

    3 - Spray Zinsser BIN Shellac Primer, then spray EM 6500 pigmented lacquer
    I think I can take the EM6500 to the local Benjamin Moore dealer and have them tint this to one of their light gray colors.
    I am leaning towards this - unless you can talk me out of it.


    My current spraying equipment
    a - I have a Turbinaire 1235 3-stage HVLP siphon-feed gun with turbine - I have sprayed lots of clears with it in the last 15 years - Nitro Lacquer, Target EmTech 6000 and General Finishes High Performance Poly. I have 5 different spray tips for it - from 1.0 up to 2.5. I haven't sprayed pigmented coatings, but would like to learn.

    b - I have a Harbor Freight Purple Gun with the 1.4 tip, but I can drill out the cap to be a 2.0 cap very easily, if I need to


    Your Thoughts?
    I am leaning towards Option 3 - BIN Primer and the Target EM6500 pigmented lacquer.
    I see this as a way to please my wife and learn some new techniques by spraying pigmented lacquer.
    I see that the EM6500 is KCMA-rated for kitchens - so I think it will be a "hard-enough" finish for furniture - this furniture gets light use - not heavy-use like a kitchen.....
    I have never sprayed BIN Primer or the EM6500 pigmented lacquer - but I want to try it, if it makes sense for this furniture.
    There are 6 pieces to paint - Too much work to paint by hand. I would be more happy if I could spray it.
    Feel free to give me your honest opinions.
    Also would like other options - these are just the ones I can think of.

    Thanks Alot


    Nate

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,647
    BIN pigmented shellac primer would be my choice. It's shellac and will stick to nearly anything. But I don't think EM-6500 is recommended over BIN. You should contact TC if it's not clear on their website but I think it is, somewhere.

    BM's Advance works great over BIN primer, and is available in any of BM's colors. The viscosity is really high but your turbine gun should be able to spray it with only minimal thinning using something around 1.8 to 2.0 mm N/N. I just sprayed some thinned 5% with water and 3% BM's Extender at 6 psi to the cup (same as your gun according to the specs.) and it came out great. It takes awhile to cure compared to ProClassic, but it's really durable once it does.

    I haven't tried ProClassic or Emerald over BIN so I can't comment on them.

    Also, FWIW, I would not drill out the nozzle even on a gun as low cost as the HF one. Better to buy another low cost gun with a larger nozzle.

    John

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