staining mdf

[tEh koRnDog 5,000+ posts]

In that case, expect it to look like shit. Not becuase you yourself can't paint, but painting speaker enclosures isn't something that you just go and try, you spend weeks doing to get everything just right. Some lacquers used by audio companies take weeks to cure fully.

and how do you know hes not gonna spend some time doing this? Give the guy a chance before you say its gonna look like shit jackass.

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

hey man. it will probably look fine for what you are looking for.

There is this great rattle can paint you can use if you want a satin finish Krylon H2O. It's Wal-Mart and thus fairly inexpensive but it gives a great finish if you are patient. I just finished a shadowbox and I love how smooth the coat is.

Fred

 

[UCF52 10+ year member]

Did you sand it before you stained it? Or just slap the stain on.

I think you are referring to Immacomputer, but if this question is for me - i have sanded it to 220 grit and have not applied a finish to it yet.

In that case, expect it to look like shit. Not becuase you yourself can't paint, but painting speaker enclosures isn't something that you just go and try, you spend weeks doing to get everything just right. Some lacquers used by audio companies take weeks to cure fully.

For my needs, i dont need the enclosure to look absolutely perfect. i am in college and this is just for my apartment. i feel confident in my abilities to apply a quality finish to my enclosure (i will prob use the write-up that someone recently did for his box in a blazer i believe).

and how do you know hes not gonna spend some time doing this? Give the guy a chance before you say its gonna look like shit jackass.

thanks buddy. and i will definately spend a lot of time doing this as this is the first component to my HT setup - so no rush to get anything done.

hey man. it will probably look fine for what you are looking for.
There is this great rattle can paint you can use if you want a satin finish Krylon H2O. It's Wal-Mart and thus fairly inexpensive but it gives a great finish if you are patient. I just finished a shadowbox and I love how smooth the coat is.

Fred

thanks man! i appreciate the help. any pics of the box?

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

and how do you know hes not gonna spend some time doing this? Give the guy a chance before you say its gonna look like shit jackass.

I didn't insult him you ****, I stated that getting a great painted finish is 95% prep work. Most often you have to decide to paint the box BEFORE it's built. Like I said in the post, I didn't say that he wasn't capable, but it sounds like he just wants a quick finish, not something with 30 layers of paint, sealer and primer and a week's worth of sanding.

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

Sure. These aren't like really awesome quality pics, but I tried to get the finish in.

It's painted 1x4 pine, I think.

No primer, just one and a half cans of paint and some fine sandpaper in between coats.







For MDF you might want to do a nice coat of primer.

 

[UCF52 10+ year member]

interesting. thanks for the reply with pics. i still havn't had a chance to lay a finish on the box - it's sanded to 600 grit as it sits. i have been really busy with finals and work. i have decided to paint it black though. gonna follow the tutorial someone created a while back. i will def post some pics of the finished product. thanks everybody for all of the replies and input!