Painting a Pine Shelf

[patlaw]

I made a sort of medicine cabinet to hang on a wall. There's nothing stained in the room (except the carpet) so I painted it white. My first coat is water-based Kilz, applied with a good quality, nylon brush. It doesn't look so good because the brush strokes are clearly visible. It certainly has enough primer on it. Does Kilz primer on bare wood generally require two coats? If so, do I sand after the first coat? If so, what grit sandpaper? The final coat will be Rustoleum enamel spray (gloss white).

Another thought I had is whether the primer should have been thinned a little. It goes on very thick. I believe my future paint-over-bare-wood projects need to be sprayed.

 

[Canuck]

I use a good quality brush and a 4” mohair (short nap from SW) roller for both the Kilz 3 primer and at least two coats of SW ProClassic Extra White. I hand sand with 180 grit paper between coats. Rarely have had an issue.

 

[Oka]

If I use kilz or others like it, I usually sand 140-220 depending on how it dries. If I am concerned about leveling the surface more for the final coat, then I uses thinned down shellac. It dries in a couple of minutes, and you're off to final finish

 

[patlaw]

If I use kilz or others like it, I usually sand 140-220 depending on how it dries. If I am concerned about leveling the surface more for the final coat, then I uses thinned down shellac. It dries in a couple of minutes, and you're off to final finish

Leveling is what I guess I'm questioning. I just looked at the first coat, and it leveled some. I took some sandpaper to it, and it smoothed out a little more. I like your and Canuck's suggestions. I've never used shellac except for spray. Will that level?

 

[patlaw]

I use a good quality brush and a 4” mohair (short nap from SW) roller for both the Kilz 3 primer and at least two coats of SW ProClassic Extra White. I hand sand with 180 grit paper between coats. Rarely have had an issue.

I'm using Kilz2. Is Kilz3 a lot better?

 

[Canuck]

I'm using Kilz2. Is Kilz3 a lot better?

I think it has marginally better knot and defect hiding capability. The excellent self leveling characteristic comes from the Sherwin Williams Pro classic and Emerald lines of paint for your top coat.

 

[Berta]

Sand to 320 grit and buy quality paint.

 

[tvrgeek]

Secret to paint finishing is always sanding. It can be very time consuming as you really need to let the primer cure really hard before sanding. I like the cheap lacquer primer used in traditional auto repair. Dries in a few minutes, easy to sand. Usually down to 800 before top coat. Sometimes 600. Almost always spray, but have brushed. Just more sanding.