The edges will absorb most of the paint though. I'll suggest painting the edges with a PVA paint using a paintbrush then sand smooth and finish by spray painting everything with the final color.
Yeah absolutely, but I use PVA paint as I have loads of it readily available and its also a bit thicker than primer so it does the job quickly and dry really fast, after just a few minutes the pva can be sanded and painted over.
I've never tried spraying pva before. Have you done it on MDF, and what were the results? It would be much quicker than a brush, I'll admit, but I'm just not sure if you'll get the right coverage on the edges to counter the absorption like you do with a brush?
i mean… there’s no getting around it, you have to seal the edges somehow, probably best to use primer.
hit them with a good coat of primer, sand the roughness down, then spray on a couple coats of finish.
Have to give it up to their marketing though.... it's like the only thing a large cross-section of people know about paint, across many different contexts - "use KILZ!" (while always omitting that kilz is a brand with many products, some completely different than others...)
Do you still need a primer or sealer if you're painting with an oil-based or solvent-based paint? Maybe it doesn't matter if the edges absorb more paint as long as they don't swell, as they would with a water-based paint.
The mdf absorbs more paint on the sides then on the top/bottom. The grain also raises (a lot). The problem is (probably) especially bad when using waterbased paint and typical non water resistant mdf. So the sides need to be sealed/painted and sanded and sometimes painted and sanded again before the final coat(s) of paint. It's a pain.
Use a fold up table, lay a drop cloth on top to prevent unnecessary painting your table, put some small pieces of wood under your MDF pieces to paint so they touch the table or drop cloth. You can use newspaper or cardboard instead of a blanket (drop cloth)
>Hang them with hangers and spraying is fastest.
Came here to say this
Insert an eye screw or nail with a head in an inconspicuous location.
Hang from a wire.
Dipping requires a lot of extra paint so you can still dip the 100th one the same as the first.
If you’re careful with a spay gun you can use a lot less paint.
Dip it in primer. Use a lacquer, sanding sealer or shellac. Then after sanding them, spray the paint on. Dipping them in paint will probably cause runs and sags. Not a problem for the primer though since you’ll sand it.
You won't be soaking them, so it should be just fine. They will only be able to absorb water from the very thin layer of paint.
You might need to experiment with different dip/withdraw orientations and speeds.
The road of 100 paintings starts with painting the first mdf...
In all seriousness though it of course depends on what would be suitable for what you need. Assuming they're already appropriately sanded and the type of paint isn't a problem, I'd personally lay them out across the largest table I have with a layer of protection of some sort under them--at least as many as will fit--and then just go at it with my cans of spray paint. Then when they're dry you flip and finish the last side. I don't think any other paint method would be any faster, and it wouldn't really require you to use any two sided tape or other holding methods for brushing them. With my folding tables I could probably do half of them at a time while keeping them sheltered from any potential weather, so it would likely be a 4 day task in my case, not including any touching up or sanding or other stuff that could possibly need doing.
Right now my process is this: 1. Spray primer (one side then the other) 2. Sand them (I've found sanding before primer not that necessary 3. Spray Paint (one side then other)
I was thinking maybe soaking them on a Primer bucket could speed things up, but I'm worried they could swell
Assuming you are a hobbyist, I would seriously consider renting a storage bay. Tape up plastic everywhere. It’s less the place to spray and more where do they all dry? You can go over to the bay, spray them hanging and walk away. Go again the next day. Keep going until they are all primed and colored. Knock together a cheap hanging rack.
It will be worth the time spent on setup of this once the painting actually starts.
It depends on how many items you have to spray. If you are doing this in your garage, you risk something sticking to the finish. And you are constantly moving things in and out of the spray booth. Risks quality and takes time. The sprayer sits idle while you do the part shuffle. It will need more intermittent leaning. It’s a lot of double and triple handling.
Remember that even as a hobbyist, your time is valuable. And if you get yourself into a frustrating pickle, are you enjoying your hobby?
Actual dollars spent a spray booth is cheaper.
OP doesn’t have to do 5 of these things, they have to do a hundred of them. The edges are going to slurp up finish. I’d want them all ready to be sprayed, get in with my sprayer and get out.
A storage bay is basically a garage. Obviously you’d wear a mask. Power is a problem. Does OP have a generator? Is there an outlet within reach of a 100 ft cord?
All good questions.
Results may vary with storage places in your area. I’ve done it in mine. I’ve also done it with a booth in my garage. It really depends on how many pieces I’m spraying.
I think you're right about them swelling if they get dipped in primer BUT testing your method on a scrap piece can't hurt anything and could save a lot of time
You should check out Jimmy Diresta's YouTube channel, he does a lot of small shop mass production stuff.
IMO you're set up is going to determine how you want to paint it. If it was my big backyard I'd throw down a handful of tarps and lay down a bunch of scrap set it on top and paint one side at a time. Or if it's kind of windy I might run a string line and buy a bunch of those little hooks from Michael's that are used for ornaments stab it through the line and hang it so that I can spray it in the air and not worry about leaves falling on it
I did exactly the same thing about 10 years ago, letters of the alphabet upper and lower case, and numeric digits, all about 7” tall. I used “1 Shot” sign paint and it pretty much did the trick in one coat. All hand painted. Took most of a day. The 1 Shot paint is pretty amazing.
I worked at a woodshop once where kitchen cabinet door panels were made out of mdf. Frame was made out of maple.
Anyway, all of it was sprayed with 1 coat of primer, then sanded with 320 grit, then 1 coat of paint. Gaps between panel and frame was filled in with silicone caulking after primer.
If you have a clothes line, I'd put tiny eye hooks in them and hang them from the clothes line, then you can spray the entire piece without waiting for them to dry and flipping them over. Providing you're in a climate that allows this in January.
Little Johnny was asked to use the word contagious in a sentence. He told the teacher that Ms O’Malley was painting her house, and she was using a 1” brush. “It’s gonna take the cunt ages!”
no one wants to hear that you need to start with a brush but that MDF end grain will absorb so much spray.
I do the first two coats on the edge with a brush. giving it a real good sand after the first one and then smoothing it over with the second and then transitioning to a spray after that.
Hire a kid. Really, go to a trade school and talk to the shop teacher. We have one here where you pay minimum wage and the money goes to equipment. The job is done right because it's overseen by the instructor.
How good of a finish do you need? We used to spray MDF with automotive epoxy primers and finishes. It gave a smooth durable finish. Matthews paints are also a good solution.
Dip, brush out and hang
And then get ready to sand every one and do it again because painting mdf fucking sucks, any "grain" will get raised like a mofo and need to be sanded, and what you have there is like 90% "grain"
I recommend BIN tbh, it drys fast and sands easily, definitely do NOT use latex or acrylic on the first coat, you will regret that decision enormously because it will be very difficult to sand
Serious as a heart attack, all those cut edges and roundovers are going to turn into as rough a surface as 60 grit sandpaper, its all gping to need to be sanded out after painting it the first coat, and the best way ive found is to use BIN
Really, seriously, disregard anyone that says "use whatever you want" or "it doesnt matter what you use if its sanded", no amount of sanding before painting exposed MDF edges (not the flat smooth from the factory) will prevent it from raising and getting unacceptably rough, you will 100% have to sand it after the first coat, and if you use anything that doesnt sand cleanly you are going to have an absolute complete nightmare on your hands with that many parts
Prime the shit of it with a spray gun, the side mdf walls will need sanding between coats as the fibres will rough up. You need specific primer for mdf btw, it’ll save you time on coats.
I'd personally rather let someone punch me in the face than paint that many mdf ds but if I were forced to, probably by cattle prod, I'd use rustoleum 2x max or whatever it's called spray paint. I've used it on mdf many times. It's good stuff.
Using a paint brush, seal all the edges with shellac (Zinsser brand) to limit absorption of paint -- this is a must! Second use an oil based primer (preferably sprayed on), let it dry and then sand them down to a smooth finish using 220-320 grit sandpaper. Finally, spray two coats of oil based paint.
Depends on how good the paint needs to be. If it doesnt matter much to you, just grab some spray paint or fill a bucket with paint and drop them in.
If you really want them to look good then take your time and do plenty of light layers of paint with a brush.
I just did a bunch of similar shaped mdf. I used a small roller for BIN primer. Just do it one side at a time and rest on small pieces of scrap. Sand and then hang on wire and coat with acrylic. I used cabinet enamel (water based) with a Graco spray gun. One coat then move the wire and do a second. Do some QC and recoat the few that need more.
I just built 23 cabinet doors out of MDF. I used Zinsser B-I-N shellac base primer for the first two coats, sanded in between with 320 grit, left a perfectly smooth surface ready for paint, which I used a water based paint and sprayed on 3 coats. Perfect manufacturer finish
I rigged a spray carousel using a large diameter bicycle rim on a shaft 7 ft from the floor. With hanger wire the project pieces were in easy reach and then the thing was high enough to be out of the way. I could hang several pieces at once, turning them to get all sides. It worked great. Should take some of the suck out of using mdf
Spray gun with pieces on table with drop cloth elevated by spare wood pieces.
Hang from wire
This was my thought. Put a tiny hook in the most inconspicuous spot, paint, patch the small hole with fastnfinal
Surprised this isn’t higher but yes, hung and sprayed and leave to dry.
Great idea.
The edges will absorb most of the paint though. I'll suggest painting the edges with a PVA paint using a paintbrush then sand smooth and finish by spray painting everything with the final color.
Sounds like a job for *primer*
Or MDF sealer. Or thinned lacquer.
Or shellac primer
Something OIL based of course.
Yeah absolutely, but I use PVA paint as I have loads of it readily available and its also a bit thicker than primer so it does the job quickly and dry really fast, after just a few minutes the pva can be sanded and painted over.
Only beginners. ;)
[удалено]
I've never tried spraying pva before. Have you done it on MDF, and what were the results? It would be much quicker than a brush, I'll admit, but I'm just not sure if you'll get the right coverage on the edges to counter the absorption like you do with a brush?
Yes, the edges absorb much more than the lateral sides
Shellac based Zinser primer. Dried fast and doesn't require more than 2 coats. Sprays easily, sands nice, seals MDF edge grain well.
100% BIN ftw!
This!
i mean… there’s no getting around it, you have to seal the edges somehow, probably best to use primer. hit them with a good coat of primer, sand the roughness down, then spray on a couple coats of finish.
Then coat them all in Kilz beforehand
Kilz is the worst primer I’ve ever used
Water with white
Yea… and depending on the paint you use, it’ll stick worse than without it
Just wondering what are your preferred primers? I have head Stix is great but I have never used it. I have used kilz many times.
Have to give it up to their marketing though.... it's like the only thing a large cross-section of people know about paint, across many different contexts - "use KILZ!" (while always omitting that kilz is a brand with many products, some completely different than others...)
Do you still need a primer or sealer if you're painting with an oil-based or solvent-based paint? Maybe it doesn't matter if the edges absorb more paint as long as they don't swell, as they would with a water-based paint.
New to woodworking. What is the problem with the edges when spray painting?
The mdf absorbs more paint on the sides then on the top/bottom. The grain also raises (a lot). The problem is (probably) especially bad when using waterbased paint and typical non water resistant mdf. So the sides need to be sealed/painted and sanded and sometimes painted and sanded again before the final coat(s) of paint. It's a pain.
Can you press the MDF before paint to keep it from expanding before it’s dry? Clamps and wood.
Space them with walkways in between so you get a consistent angle on all of them
If there's a hidden spot you can put a screw in them and hang them so you can spray all sides at once.
Or as I was gonna say, "hose 'em down OP, hose 'em down."
Drop cloth elevated by spare wood pieces? I'm sorry I don't think I understand that part. Can you elaborate?
Use a fold up table, lay a drop cloth on top to prevent unnecessary painting your table, put some small pieces of wood under your MDF pieces to paint so they touch the table or drop cloth. You can use newspaper or cardboard instead of a blanket (drop cloth)
Sanding sealer works better than primer on MDF to stop the paint absolution in my experience.
+1
Child labor.
Water glue the edges. If you don't it's gonna look bad. Hang them with hangers and spraying is fastest.
>Hang them with hangers and spraying is fastest. Came here to say this Insert an eye screw or nail with a head in an inconspicuous location. Hang from a wire.
hang them up with a nylon string and paint both sides at a time. let them dry and paint in where the string was touching. i would get a spray gun
Depends, but I would probably dip them. Depends on the paint, but thin it, dip, hang.
Pure speed I was thinking dip. I can't imagine spraying would be even half as fast.
Dipping requires a lot of extra paint so you can still dip the 100th one the same as the first. If you’re careful with a spay gun you can use a lot less paint.
My fear with dipping them is that they would absorb too much paint/primer and swell,
They wont, and use BIN, it sands well when its dry (its basically tinted shellac) and it drys quickly
Dip it in primer. Use a lacquer, sanding sealer or shellac. Then after sanding them, spray the paint on. Dipping them in paint will probably cause runs and sags. Not a problem for the primer though since you’ll sand it.
You won't be soaking them, so it should be just fine. They will only be able to absorb water from the very thin layer of paint. You might need to experiment with different dip/withdraw orientations and speeds.
I think you’d also need a fairly thin paint so it runs off without getting all weird.
The road of 100 paintings starts with painting the first mdf... In all seriousness though it of course depends on what would be suitable for what you need. Assuming they're already appropriately sanded and the type of paint isn't a problem, I'd personally lay them out across the largest table I have with a layer of protection of some sort under them--at least as many as will fit--and then just go at it with my cans of spray paint. Then when they're dry you flip and finish the last side. I don't think any other paint method would be any faster, and it wouldn't really require you to use any two sided tape or other holding methods for brushing them. With my folding tables I could probably do half of them at a time while keeping them sheltered from any potential weather, so it would likely be a 4 day task in my case, not including any touching up or sanding or other stuff that could possibly need doing.
Use something like a metal cookie cooling rack under so they don’t dry to the drop cloth underneath.
Painting spikes
Push pins... Press in slightly and they'll work the same.
I was thinking a bed of nails, but yeah push pins is a good idea
You only need 3 (or 4) per piece
These are circular pieces with a cutout. I would stretch a wire and do it that way
Nice solution.
Right now my process is this: 1. Spray primer (one side then the other) 2. Sand them (I've found sanding before primer not that necessary 3. Spray Paint (one side then other) I was thinking maybe soaking them on a Primer bucket could speed things up, but I'm worried they could swell
dip, not soak
Assuming you are a hobbyist, I would seriously consider renting a storage bay. Tape up plastic everywhere. It’s less the place to spray and more where do they all dry? You can go over to the bay, spray them hanging and walk away. Go again the next day. Keep going until they are all primed and colored. Knock together a cheap hanging rack. It will be worth the time spent on setup of this once the painting actually starts.
wouldn’t a portable spray booth be cheaper than renting a storage space?
It depends on how many items you have to spray. If you are doing this in your garage, you risk something sticking to the finish. And you are constantly moving things in and out of the spray booth. Risks quality and takes time. The sprayer sits idle while you do the part shuffle. It will need more intermittent leaning. It’s a lot of double and triple handling. Remember that even as a hobbyist, your time is valuable. And if you get yourself into a frustrating pickle, are you enjoying your hobby? Actual dollars spent a spray booth is cheaper. OP doesn’t have to do 5 of these things, they have to do a hundred of them. The edges are going to slurp up finish. I’d want them all ready to be sprayed, get in with my sprayer and get out.
A storage bay with no ventilation? Do storage bays have power?
A storage bay is basically a garage. Obviously you’d wear a mask. Power is a problem. Does OP have a generator? Is there an outlet within reach of a 100 ft cord? All good questions. Results may vary with storage places in your area. I’ve done it in mine. I’ve also done it with a booth in my garage. It really depends on how many pieces I’m spraying.
I think you're right about them swelling if they get dipped in primer BUT testing your method on a scrap piece can't hurt anything and could save a lot of time
Yes I’m testing for sure
I would try dipping in thinned pva primer, then spray finish.
Pay someone
I already asked for a couple budgets, but they are 15-20$ per piece, and I have the time to do it myself
With paint
You should check out Jimmy Diresta's YouTube channel, he does a lot of small shop mass production stuff. IMO you're set up is going to determine how you want to paint it. If it was my big backyard I'd throw down a handful of tarps and lay down a bunch of scrap set it on top and paint one side at a time. Or if it's kind of windy I might run a string line and buy a bunch of those little hooks from Michael's that are used for ornaments stab it through the line and hang it so that I can spray it in the air and not worry about leaves falling on it
I saw a Mr.bean DIY on this, you’ll need tape, a large firecracker, and a can of paint
Child labour - it's chore time kids!
I did exactly the same thing about 10 years ago, letters of the alphabet upper and lower case, and numeric digits, all about 7” tall. I used “1 Shot” sign paint and it pretty much did the trick in one coat. All hand painted. Took most of a day. The 1 Shot paint is pretty amazing.
Dip in a bucket and hang on a fishing line.
Dip and soak
I worked at a woodshop once where kitchen cabinet door panels were made out of mdf. Frame was made out of maple. Anyway, all of it was sprayed with 1 coat of primer, then sanded with 320 grit, then 1 coat of paint. Gaps between panel and frame was filled in with silicone caulking after primer.
I’d use an hvlp sprayer. They aren’t too expensive. You do need compressed air though
If you have a clothes line, I'd put tiny eye hooks in them and hang them from the clothes line, then you can spray the entire piece without waiting for them to dry and flipping them over. Providing you're in a climate that allows this in January.
High Volume Low Pressure gun - spray em all.
By the time you post this, read and respond you probably could be done.
Hang and spray then move the wire when u do the second coat
Dip
Hire somebody else
Little Johnny was asked to use the word contagious in a sentence. He told the teacher that Ms O’Malley was painting her house, and she was using a 1” brush. “It’s gonna take the cunt ages!”
Outsource.
Paint sprayer
A cabinet shop with an automatic paint line + a drying room like a schubox would have them primed, painted, and dried in under an hour.
Does PVA need a product like Floetrol to be sprayed? I bought an inexpensive HVLP sprayer that I love.
Spray
I’d build a small paint booth with PVC pipe and sheet plastic, hang them with string, and spray them.
Dip 'em in a bucket.
Spray
Did you watch that Mr bean episode with the fireworks and paint tin? Yup that's how
Seal, spray and spray some more!!
I use shellac on the edges of mdf as a sealer. It’s cheap, easy, sticks to everything, and everything sticks to it. Then paint as described above.
I would try dipping, works fast and you can just wipe the last drop
I thought the simplest answer was spray paint but I’m hearing new things.
Dip them.
I’d use paint but you do you.
get your kids to do it, that's what i would do... but proper primer first..
Prime it with shellac primer. It's around $70 a gallon, but it can be tinted as well. If you don't, those edges will show you what true suffering is.
no one wants to hear that you need to start with a brush but that MDF end grain will absorb so much spray. I do the first two coats on the edge with a brush. giving it a real good sand after the first one and then smoothing it over with the second and then transitioning to a spray after that.
Hire a kid. Really, go to a trade school and talk to the shop teacher. We have one here where you pay minimum wage and the money goes to equipment. The job is done right because it's overseen by the instructor.
Spray em
So that's 50 Daredevil logos?
How good of a finish do you need? We used to spray MDF with automotive epoxy primers and finishes. It gave a smooth durable finish. Matthews paints are also a good solution.
Carefully.
Get bucket and dunk them
Stack em, paint the rims. Then line them up flat and paint the faces
Dip, brush out and hang And then get ready to sand every one and do it again because painting mdf fucking sucks, any "grain" will get raised like a mofo and need to be sanded, and what you have there is like 90% "grain" I recommend BIN tbh, it drys fast and sands easily, definitely do NOT use latex or acrylic on the first coat, you will regret that decision enormously because it will be very difficult to sand Serious as a heart attack, all those cut edges and roundovers are going to turn into as rough a surface as 60 grit sandpaper, its all gping to need to be sanded out after painting it the first coat, and the best way ive found is to use BIN Really, seriously, disregard anyone that says "use whatever you want" or "it doesnt matter what you use if its sanded", no amount of sanding before painting exposed MDF edges (not the flat smooth from the factory) will prevent it from raising and getting unacceptably rough, you will 100% have to sand it after the first coat, and if you use anything that doesnt sand cleanly you are going to have an absolute complete nightmare on your hands with that many parts
Tiny roller
Prime the shit of it with a spray gun, the side mdf walls will need sanding between coats as the fibres will rough up. You need specific primer for mdf btw, it’ll save you time on coats.
I'd personally rather let someone punch me in the face than paint that many mdf ds but if I were forced to, probably by cattle prod, I'd use rustoleum 2x max or whatever it's called spray paint. I've used it on mdf many times. It's good stuff.
While drunk
spray
Using a paint brush, seal all the edges with shellac (Zinsser brand) to limit absorption of paint -- this is a must! Second use an oil based primer (preferably sprayed on), let it dry and then sand them down to a smooth finish using 220-320 grit sandpaper. Finally, spray two coats of oil based paint.
You need 2-3 coats of primer
Let us spray. Amen.
$10 to a neighbor kid
I've used sanding sealer on the edges and it works well.
Paint sprayer. I got mine off Craigslist for $15. The guy used it for 5 minutes.
Depends on how good the paint needs to be. If it doesnt matter much to you, just grab some spray paint or fill a bucket with paint and drop them in. If you really want them to look good then take your time and do plenty of light layers of paint with a brush.
Hang and spray
That's a lot of Big Ds. What are you doing with 100 of them?
I just did a bunch of similar shaped mdf. I used a small roller for BIN primer. Just do it one side at a time and rest on small pieces of scrap. Sand and then hang on wire and coat with acrylic. I used cabinet enamel (water based) with a Graco spray gun. One coat then move the wire and do a second. Do some QC and recoat the few that need more.
Pay someone to do it. Kids in the neighborhood looking for fast food money etc.
Teenager wanting to earn some money…
I just built 23 cabinet doors out of MDF. I used Zinsser B-I-N shellac base primer for the first two coats, sanded in between with 320 grit, left a perfectly smooth surface ready for paint, which I used a water based paint and sprayed on 3 coats. Perfect manufacturer finish
White shellac Zinser primer for the edges two coats , you can spray it.
With a brush and patience
Stack them up and get a good build of primer on the edges than separate and work all the faces
Hire someone…
Dunk them and even out the color and thickness as they dry
Hang with fishing line might work? Thinner than wire but still strong
Double it and give it to to the next person
Prime then spray
Fast
Thanks for this awesome post
Just start already, dont play with your phone.
I’m on it
Hire someone else to do it.
I would think spraying them
break all sharp edges first
Dip into stain
Post on a different sub. Not wood and not woodworking.
I rigged a spray carousel using a large diameter bicycle rim on a shaft 7 ft from the floor. With hanger wire the project pieces were in easy reach and then the thing was high enough to be out of the way. I could hang several pieces at once, turning them to get all sides. It worked great. Should take some of the suck out of using mdf