is this ready for topcoat?

[Mishkin Derakhshan]

I painted this desk top white (acrylic latex paint), sanding between coats. I rolled on 3 layers but wasn't happy with the resulting texture so sanded and sprayed on a final coat of (water based) spray paint.

I now have enough coats of paint and in general it looks good, but after the final sanding (P320) in preparation for the top coat, when you view from certain angles you see all the scratch marks (technically I think these are the high spots that have been sanded flat and now appear shinny). see pictures.

Do I just go ahead and start my top coat process (minwax polycrylic), and these will all disappear?
Do I need to add another layer of paint?
Do I need to sand the current paint layer more? and if so, should I use ROB instead of hand sanding linearly with the grain?

tia

Here is the general picture of the desk looking okay under normal lighting.
Photo May 28, 3 51 51 PM.jpg

Below are when viewing from certain angles.

Photo May 28, 3 52 07 PM.jpg
Photo May 28, 3 53 00 PM.jpg
Photo May 28, 3 51 29 PM.jpg

[Dan Hahr]

I'd say not really....if you are wanting a smooth finish. It looks like you just knocked the tops of the orange peel off. Once you put a shine on it, you will see how uneven it really is. I'd sand it flat and paint it until its smooth.

Not sure I'd be using an acrylic paint and top-coating with varnish. I'd just use some decent quality paint in the sheen I wanted.

Dan

[Jim Becker]

Unless that was a 100% acrylic product like SW ProClassic, you're going to end up with a soft color finish under a harder clear once things cure. That may or may not wear well. Best results on furniture and built-ins that get touched or have things set on them is a 100% acrylic product because they cure harder and do not have "blocking". (when something sticks to the finish after sitting on it for awhile) There is generally no need to clear coat these finishes, but they can be clear coated with a compatible product for sheen manipulation or to add properties for more resistance to cleaners, etc.

To your specific question, block sanding to level with 320 or 400 is ok, but hard to do with a typical latex paint because they are so soft...they pill and gum up the abrasive. No way would I machine sand that kind of paint surface unless it was to remove the paint.

[John TenEyck]

Let's back up. What specific paint did you use?

SW's ProClassic is a latex paint.

John

[Jim Becker]

SW's ProClassic is a latex paint.

Yes, but it's a 100% acrylic that is more suitable for furniture than most of the "latex paints" in the stores...

[Tom M King]

Pro Classic can be sanded nicely with a ROS. I did a whole room with it that was lined on three sides with windows, including the walls, and hit it with a ROS, and 220. The final finish was about as perfect as one can get off the gun. Just make sure it's completely well cured.

[Mishkin Derakhshan]

The paint is this:

https://sherwin.scene7.com/is/image/...White-1-Gallon

Sherwin Williams SuperPaint
Paint and Primer in one
Interior Acrylic Latex
Extra White
Flat sheen

It is the paint I have and that I'd like to use as I have it.

I'm pretty sure is the paint that was originally on there, and that got destroyed by usage (it's a reception desk). Hence I wanted to put on a topcoat. I also wanted to add a Satin sheen with the topcoat.

Really appreciate the help as I'm out of my depths with all the paint/topcoat combinations.

[Tom M King]

My only experience with SuperPaint is when that was the top of the line latex paint, before Duration, and later Emerald. That was over a decade ago. I doubt it gets hard like ProClassic does, so probably not the best luck in trying to sand it.

[John TenEyck]

That product is not a great choice for something that gets hard usage like a reception desk. And as mentioned above putting a hard clearcoat over it isn't likely to go well. Hard over soft usually leads to cracking. But I sense you are determined to use the SuperPaint so, that being the case, I think your best option is to put a glass top on it after the paint has cured for a couple of weeks.

John

[Mishkin Derakhshan]

Ahh. well cracking doesn't sound great, and the softness explains why it didn;t hold up in the first place. sigh.

any chance sanding it flat and then using a spray paint (ACE? rustoleum?) etc. will be better, and/or give me the option to then add a harder top coat?

if not, is Duration or ProClassic what I should get?

[Jim Becker]

SuperPaint is very nice for trim, ceilings, etc., but it's not ideal for furniture/built-in surfaces. As noted, ProClassic would be a better choice from SW for this particular application. IMHO.

[John TenEyck]

Duration no. ProClassic yes. They were developed for different applications and have different acrylic resins. Duration is similar to SuperPaint; it's for vertical surfaces that don't see hard use. The resins are softer. ProClassic is for cabinets and trim work and uses harder resins, better able to withstand the abuse that horizontal surfaces are subjected to.

Sanding off the old stuff may prove pretty challenging. I usually use chemical stripper instead. However you go about it, you need to get the old softer paint off before applying anything harder.

I'm sure there are alternatives by Rustoleum and others to ProClassic; I just not familiar with them.

[Mishkin Derakhshan]

So I ended up getting ProClassic.

I've now built up enough coats and it looks good, except the final layer still has some dust nibs and isn't super smooth to the touch. If this was the final clear coat on my usual woodworking projects I would just do the brown paper bag trick. Can you still do the brown paper bag trick (i.e., buffing with a brown paper bag) with paint or is there some other method?

Also, just to be 100% sure, you guys are saying that there is no clear coat I can successfully (i.e., without cracking) put on top of this ProClassic that would help protect it more than the paint itself?

[Jim Becker]

Yes, you can use the bag or a white pad to remove any nibs. Unfortunately, they are not unusual when painting within a house as it's virtually impossible to avoid some small amount of dust in the environment. Try to do spot removal.

You "can" put a waterborne clear coat over ProClassic once it's fully cured but it's not going to buy you much. It's already a similar product that just happens to be colored rather than clear. I've found it to be very durable. In fact, my kitchen lower cabinets are painted with it when I refreshed things a few years ago.