Clear Coat + laminate?

Aeolus7

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I'm getting ready to restore 2 Rock-ola cabinets and wondering if I am safe to put clear coat on after sanding and before adding laminate? I'm wanting to seal everything up after sanding. I've done this quite a bit with paint and decals, but not yet with laminate

Typically, I like to use Polycrylic which is a water-based brush on clear. Planning to use contact adhesive to apply the laminate to the cabinet.

Thank you!
 
It should be fine but does it need to be a clear coat if you'll put laminate over it?

I'd use something like a zinsser sealer.
 
Thank you - agree it's not really an essential step. These are MDF, so very porous. Just wondering if it would make the surface too smooth for adhesion. Not 100% sure what grit I need to be at, and that may help make the decision
 
I don't think they ever sealed the MDF back in the day as evidenced by all the water damaged cabs. :)

If I was concerned about sealing the MDF I'd do an oil or shellac based sealing primer on both sides, then scuff sand the side to be laminated at maybe 120? 180? The wood will already be flat, you're just trying to take off any highs that the primer made which should be very minimal.

Do a little test piece first, couldn't hurt.
 
There's absolutely no need. Do you want to seal any exposed MDF? Sure, but sealing under laminate isn't necessary, and could even inhibit adhesion. Think about it, you're basically now adhering your laminate to a layer of sealer rather than to the actual substrate itself. So your laminate job will only be a strong as the layer of sealer it's attached to.
 
Yep, don't do that.

Adhesive needs some irregularities in the surface to get a grip on the surface.

The slipperier the material, the harder it is to stick.
 
The beauty of laminate is that you don't have to mess with coatings.

Just a nice amount of contact cement and you'll be good. You want that contact cement to be able to soak into the MDF.
 
Rock-Ola MDF is horrible and will swell up at the drop of a hat, so be careful. Don't do what I did:

 
I wouldn't!!! The glue to hold down the laminate will sometime react with paint and cause the laminate to lift. If the MDF is swollen or punky, sand it down to flat, then use wood hardner/petrifier. Roll or brush it on, give it 24hrs to harden, sand again, then use contact cement to adhere the laminate.
 
Rock-Ola MDF is horrible and will swell up at the drop of a hat, so be careful. Don't do what I did:

I actually read through your thread when I picked up the first Rock-Ola cab, which is basically a shell with a bunch of loose parts & a nice looking monitor. It's in rough shape to begin with with some swelling at the bottom, but I appreciated your post because my first instinct is always to clean the crap out of cabinets when I first get them.

Side note, it was a Warp, Warp, but the cabinet was black instead of blue, so I'd like to believe it was a Pioneer Balloon that was converted at the factory, which is what it's about to become (again).
 
I actually read through your thread when I picked up the first Rock-Ola cab, which is basically a shell with a bunch of loose parts & a nice looking monitor. It's in rough shape to begin with with some swelling at the bottom, but I appreciated your post because my first instinct is always to clean the crap out of cabinets when I first get them.

Side note, it was a Warp, Warp, but the cabinet was black instead of blue, so I'd like to believe it was a Pioneer Balloon that was converted at the factory, which is what it's about to become (again).

Was it completely black? If it was originally black there is a slight chance it was actually a Rock-Ola Demon. Maybe the vector monitor died and thats why it was gutted/converted.

1165619460.jpg


Does it still have the Rock-ola plate on the back? Should be a model number.
 
Nope, standard white sides, with black in the front. I've dug around for evidence of what it might have been, but not much there. No back door, which I think would house the serial plate? Didn't come with a power supply, so I had to track one down. It came with a Warp, Warp control panel and the faded outlined where the large sideart used to be.
 
I wouldn't!!! The glue to hold down the laminate will sometime react with paint and cause the laminate to lift. If the MDF is swollen or punky, sand it down to flat, then use wood hardner/petrifier. Roll or brush it on, give it 24hrs to harden, sand again, then use contact cement to adhere the laminate.
This. I thought it would be great to spray all the edges black before putting on laminate. The laminate glue ended up reacting and melting the fully cured paint causing a big mess when I rolled the glue on. You live and learn.

As per the instructions on the laminate glue can, it says to rough up the surface for the best results. So simply sand it down with 80 or 200 grit sandpaper. Use a tack cloth to get off all the dust and apply the glue.

I did a video on the whole process on my Gaplus build. I even mention the part about the paint and the mistake I had made (and not to repeat my mistake). :)

Del
 
I would not paint the sides...but if you do, I would consider rolling kiltz oil based (not Latex) or other oil based paint. I always prefer to seal the edges when using MDF (which I avoid using if I can) with some black paint (maybe Rust-Oleum black with a roller). Just a me thing.

Brian
 
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