Painting MDF gloss black - help

somethinggolden

I've built a unit and clad it in MDF and the finish I need is glossy black. I initially bought a water based undercoat but then I did some more research and was advised to buy an MDF primer instead so the MDF would not swell so I bought that, however they don't do it in grey which I understand would be a better undercoat for black paint?
I bought Crown Solo Gloss in Jet black however after reading some threads on here I am now thinking that this may not be the best idea due to consistency, actually needing 2 coats anyways etc
I was wondering if anyone could reccomend what I do about this, which paint I should buy and if it is okay to paint black gloss onto white primer? I am going to be using a roller to apply the paint. Also any other tips which will help me get a high quality finish would much appreciated as I am an A level student making my final product and not too experienced with paints!
I haven't started painting anything on the unit yet however I need to have it sorted by the end of this week, or at least have one coat of gloss on it so I can photograph it.
Again, any help is much appreciated!

Thanks

jax.26

Hi
I have made many items with MDF and have always used PVA glue as a primer. I think 1 part PVA to 5 part water will do the job. As well as a primer for paint I have also used PVA as a primer for varnish and tiles.
I have never had any problem using this as a primer.
HTH

jax.26

Forgot to say you will need 2/3 coats of PVA and always allow each coat to dry before applying the next.

phill99

An acrylic combined primer and undercoat would be suitable also. Again 2 / 3 coats. Avoid Solo gloss as it never does what it says on the tin.

Alternatively for a very high shine use a black japlac or smmoth hammerite. Both give a good depth to the shine.

andrew-b

Would recommend this stuff: http://www.international-paints.co.uk/products/info/furniture_and_cupboard_paint.jsp that you can paint straight on.

ormus

if you want a super duper finish you might want to spray the top coat on.
let it dry for a few days, and then polish it with a fine polishing compound.

jcb208

Cant see a problem in using a dark grey water based primer/undercoat on mdf it will be fine, if your worried just use an oil based dark grey undercoat thinned out about 10%

somethinggolden

jcb208 wrote: »

Cant see a problem in using a dark grey water based primer/undercoat on mdf it will be fine, if your worried just use an oil based dark grey undercoat thinned out about 10%

Thing is, MDF primer only came in white so I haven't got a dark grey one, should i mix some black paint in or would that be really bad?

I can't really use spray paints for health & safety reasons in school.

Also, can anyone reccomend a good black gloss paint which I could purchase from somewhere such as homebase or B&Q?

phill99 wrote: »

Alternatively for a very high shine use a black japlac or smmoth hammerite. Both give a good depth to the shine.

Would I need to use the Jalpac primer also or would the MDF primer be sufficient?

phill99

somethinggolden wrote: »

Thing is, MDF primer only came in white so I haven't got a dark grey one, should i mix some black paint in or would that be really bad?

I can't really use spray paints for health & safety reasons in school.

Also, can anyone reccomend a good black gloss paint which I could purchase from somewhere such as homebase or B&Q?



Would I need to use the Jalpac primer also or would the MDF primer be sufficient?

Just use a standard primer. Japlac primer isn't necessary.

BandJB

somethinggolden wrote: »

Thing is, MDF primer only came in white so I haven't got a dark grey one, should i mix some black paint in or would that be really bad?

You should use an undercoat over the primer and before you gloss, anyway, so just use a grey one.

somethinggolden wrote: »

Also, can anyone reccomend a good black gloss paint which I could purchase from somewhere such as homebase or B&Q?

Dulux Trade Exterior High Gloss from any builder's merchant is far and away the best black I've ever met. I'm currently doing my house in it. It's very thin, however, so you need a good technique to avoid drips.

somethinggolden wrote: »

Would I need to use the Jalpac primer also or would the MDF primer be sufficient?

Some time ago I looked into painting some MDF the cowboy builders had used to cover up a botch in our house. In every DIY help/tips site I visited the 'professionals' insisted that the special MDF primer was the only proper stuff to use. Make of that what you will - I still haven't got round to painting mine!