First big project..Prefinish & staining questions.

[Juicegoose]

I'm in the process of building my wife a buffet style entertainment center. The dimensions are as follows. 73" wide x 30" tall x 20" deep. There are three bays with the center bay being larger for media equipment.

I plan on using the general Finishes antique white with a vandyke brown glaze effect and have a couple questions about what you guys would do.

My thoughts are to prefinish the insides of the carcass before it's assembled for ease of spraying and no drips.

I was going to spray a sealcoat or two, sand it, then spray several coats of the antique white on the inside surfaces finishing up with a clearcoat.

How far would you guys go on the prefinish part of the interior of the cabinet? Just the sealcoat or all the way through the finish coats and just spray some touchups if needed.

Also the top and case moulding around the top will be stained with a dark expresso stain the clearcoated. Problem is the plywod I've selected is Birch and the moulding is some other form of wood. Are there any hints and tricks to get the two different species of wood to stain the same color?

Thanks for the advise guys.

[Beechwood Chip]

Are there any hints and tricks to get the two different species of wood to stain the same color?

Experiment with scraps of the two woods.

[TimV]

Yeah, what BC said. I've had a similar situation and I used offcuts of the molding and top to match. I ended up using the same stain. There was a slight color vaiation but my molding was tucked under the top edge slightly so the lighting was different on the molding than the top. Never could tell any different.

Tim

[bois]

I'm sort of curious why you are planning to apply two seal coats under the milk paint. Since you are painting the surface, I see no real reason to do so (other than to add additional time). However, I would definitely apply a seal coat over the paint and under the glazing otherwise you could get some bleed-through. I might go as far as applying the antique white coat to the inside before finishing (just be sure to cover any surface that will be receiving glue). The glazing coat is likely better done post-assembly since the coverage will naturally vary in corners or raised areas and that could be hard to duplicate before assembly. I've also never sprayed a glazing coat, I've always brushed on for a more traditional look.

[Juicegoose]

Bois

Thanks for the Tips. I'll stick with one coat of preseal. Also I wasn't planning on spraying the glazing, sorry for the mix up,

I was planning on brushing the glazing.

[AceHoleInOne]

Since the case is going to be entirely painted?????? Why not paint the molding a color similar to the stain? Or if you want a more transparent color. Mix Milk Paint to General Finishes Natural Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and make your own water-based stain. By mixing the natural with the Milk Paint you get a more transparent color. A stain vs paint.

General Finishes milk paints are self priming, however, use the General Finishes milk paint primer, It has a tannin blocker in it. So if your painting woods with knots or that are sappy and prone to bleeding, the primer helps stop that. They sell it in gallons and it is mainly used on the professional side.

Sure, do as much "pre" finishing as you can.

-Ace-

[Juicegoose]

Over the weekend I was able to spray the case inside surfaces with a coat of Sealcoat and then two light coats of the GF milk paint.

When I first opened the can of of milk paint I thought to myself.."there is no way my HVLP will spray this gunk!". I was in my 90 degree shop and the paint was pretty thick. But after about 10-15% addition of water the paint flowed nicely. Couple things I learned from the first coats

1. I'm gunna nead more paint - I already went through a pint of paint after two light coats. Mecfeely's came through with a supply of the Antique White in Gallon sizes.

2. Light coats aren't going to cut it. I'm going to need to spray slower and put on a thicker coat or go buy a 2.5 needle to put on thicker coats.

On my test piece I sprays a slightly heavy coat and it dried out beautiful. Now the wait begins for my gallon-oh-paint.