making MDF glossy

[95Prober 10+ year member]

hi

im wondering, is there a tutorial on how do make a glossy finish on a sub box? id like to get a ittle more creative than just carpet and make it look a little nicer.

id kinda like to have a black or grey finish and a glossy clearcoat look

tips?

thx

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[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

resin, paint, clear coat etc...

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

fiberglass over it

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

i remember that someone explained how they did theres, and had pics and all. but i dont remember the name of the thread. try searching around, but if you cant find it, bump your thread around 7 or 8 tonight, during the traffic hours, and someone is bound to remember

 

[95Prober 10+ year member]

resin, paint, clear coat etc...

looking for a little more details

like do i gotta sand well first? and i never worked with resin before. is there a certain product i need to buy? a specific kind of paint? spray?

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

resin would be the easiest unlike poylurathane 1 coat of resin should do the trick with no sanding //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Poly would take about 7-9 coats to equal 1 coat of resin. Mix up the resin like you would fiberglassin and apply the resin to the mdf, just watch for the runs when applying it. Best advice I can give ya is purchase a can of resin at walmart or somewhere and follow the directions apply to a scrap piece of wood to get the feel of it.

egg

 

[95Prober 10+ year member]

resin would be the easiest unlike poylurathane 1 coat of resin should do the trick with no sanding //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Poly would take about 7-9 coats to equal 1 coat of resin. Mix up the resin like you would fiberglassin and apply the resin to the mdf, just watch for the runs when applying it. Best advice I can give ya is purchase a can of resin at walmart or somewhere and follow the directions apply to a scrap piece of wood to get the feel of it.

egg

ok thx

so apply "one coat"of resin first over the raw mdf without sanding, then apply paint over the resin?? just your regular spray paint?

 

[PurposeSoap 10+ year member]

you dont need resin. Just bond any holes or flaws in the wood first, and sand it all flat like the MDF. Then primer the wood.. couple of coats. Then mostly ANY spray paint (your color choice) will work.. apply several coats. Then ... do the same thing with clear coat....I typically shoot at least 5 coats of clear.

Then use 2000 grit sandpaper. Use water and the 2000grit paper and wet-sand the clear coat. After sanding the clearcoat it will look flat and smooth but will have a hazy/cloudy finish.

Last few steps are a paint cleaner...a polish.. and last a WAX.

I wouldnt skip any steps.

It'll be very nice in the end, no dust specks, no orange peel..nothin

Most the work is in the sanding.

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

if your using paint Id prime it first, buy sandable spray primer, paint it it up with sandable paint with really fine sandpaper than apply your resin or you can use the sandable primer sand it, and purchase a gloss spray paint sand it with fine sand paper and apply the final coat.

 

[CrazedCat 10+ year member]

You can do it without applying resin. I also remember a guy posting a photo tutorial on it about 3 years ago on another forum. Can't find it right now but here's what I remember him doing (quoted from another forum):

My recommended way of getting that glassed look to it would be to get a high-build primer/sealer for the enclosure. Build up several medium-light coats on your enclosure (usually 3-5 coats if you are going to simulate FG) Then hit that with 400 grit sandpaper to even that all out and get rid of the "orange peel" from spraying. Then use 600 grit to even out the 400 grit. Spray your paint on and clear coat on that. This is assuming you are using spray cans and don't have an HVLP paint gun available.

A note/warning about spray paints (after the primer sealer) It is stressed that you get paints that come from the same brand and series of paint for your projects. Using different brands, and in some cases even different series from the same brand, will often chemically react to each other and create "tears" in the top layer of paint. If you must use different brands/series of paints (say color availability is limited) wait for the lower layer to fully cure before adding another layer of color)

After you get your colors you're then ready for clear coating. Get several light layers (and I mean several) of clear on... Take your time. Rushing will screw this up. Once you have several layers of clear coat on (I like a dozen or more at least... yes it seems excessive but trust me on this one) and that is fully cured and dried, wet sand the project with 1200 grit sandpaper to polish the project up. Hit it with a automotive liquid wax (meguire's for example) and that will get you a FGed automotive finish that will look spectacular.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I don't know why some people are saying you need fiberglass resin, that's just completely unnecessary. All you are going for a is a glossy paint finish right?

Do what PurposeSoap said. Prep the surface, sand out any imperfections, and dust it off really well. Then shoot multiple layers of primer, sanding as you go to continue fixing imperfections. After a couple layers of primer you're ready for paint. You'll want multiple LIGHT layers. This will help avoid drips. After you are satisfied with the color, you're ready for clear coat. Again, many LIGHT layers is the way to go, you definitely don't want dripping at this stage. Another tip, specifically for clear coat, is make sure you do it when it is hot, otherwise it might dry slightly more opaque than normal. If necessary use a heating lamp during the clear coat stage....just don't forget about it and have this happen to you //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/*******.gif.a649d21efc0d1fd4890a6428166586c1.gif :*******: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/*******.gif.a649d21efc0d1fd4890a6428166586c1.gif :*******:

 

[95Prober 10+ year member]

how many coats of spray paint do i use? ill be using spray cans.

also , i assume you can get the primer/sealer in cans? any particular kind that works well on MDF? its not a wooden box. its all MDF

 

[zyklonb 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211639&highlight=gloss+finish

 

[SHiZNiLTi 10+ year member]

I'm pretty good at getting a glossy finish with using basic black lacquer spray paint and wetsanding...

Step 1 - Round over all the edges with a router, then cover all the cut edges of the mdf with wood filler.

Step 2 - Brush on and entire quart of Miniwax sanding sealer primer.

Step 3 - Sand down that sanding sealer with 400 grit.

Step 4 - Spray on the cheap Rust-Oleum black lacquer spray paint, use 5 cans total, 1 can each coat. Don't waste time westsanding in between coats. I don't and look how good my box came out.

Step 5 - Wetsand the entire box with 2000 grit, then uses some buffing compound on it, then wax with mcquires gold class wax or any other type of polish type wax.

$25 - 5 cans of Rust-Oleum black lacquer spray paint

$12 - 3 packs of 2000 grit sand paper

$12 - 1 quart of Mniwax sanding sealer

$5 - Elmers wood filler

Total cost is only $54 to get a 5-7 cuft box in a black hi-gloss mirror finish as shown above.

Here is the finished shine after wetsanding with 2000 grit...

PM me with your AIM and I can walk you through it step by step. It's best to practice all these steps on a spare piece of mdf 11st before you go all out.

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

Nice looking box.