What primer?

ozzman8

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What is the best primer to use on cabs? Ive seen people use automotive and some use some other different kinds. Ive heard some are better then others. What is the best to use and why??
 
IMO

Primer is primer for the most part, the high build stuff tends to cover up some fine scratches a little better. personally i just get the cheapest, but depending on the project i might switch to a high build or when working with metal i tend to use something with an etching ability.
 
I have had the best results with the All In One paint.. primer/paint together. Plus it speeds up the work. And really it doesnt cost that much more since you dont need to buy the primer/paint separate. Also I use a wagner sprayer and Latex paint only, mix the appropriate amount of water (says on the back of the can) and it sprays out great for a perfect finish. Took me 2 minutes to paint a coat on my TMNT cab with the sprayer. After 3 coats I was done.
 
Here is my sprayer.. it has saved me many hours of painting by hand.. I hate painting by hand. And I painted my truck with it using plastidip. :)

Wagner Sprayer

H25.jpg
 
wagner power painters run on 110v and compress the paint to spray it, whereas air guns use air to atomize and spray the paint. Pros and cons to both, if you want a super smooth finish youll need to spray with an hvlp gun and possibly wetsand and buff when done.


If you want to go air :

Harbor freight sells a nice cheap hvlp sprayer. Paint has to be thin though.

I use car primer and car paints, but i'm in the business so i get a deal on it. I prefer urethane based paints either one step or basecoat/clearcoat. Both produce nice results.

Picking compressor size is kinds tough. Depends on electric you have available, what you plan to do with it, and what toolsd you plan to use. Horsepower doesent matter as much as cfms. That's the real factor. The larger the tank and larger the cfms, the better.
Ideally youll want a compressor with the same or more cfms than the tools you plan to use most. However, as you'll see, that will easily break the bank. You could go down to about half the cfms the tool consumes, this will work, but you'll have to work a few mins, let the compressor catch up a few minuites, work a few minuites, let it pump back up, etc. If you have time and don't mind, that's fine, but if you are impatient or don't have alot of free time for projects, youll want a bigger comressor.

THIS GUN: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...ow-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-66222.html

is the schiznit for the money. Hands down the best cheapie gun you can get.

Ive also used this one and its "good enough" http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=x9wRULy-Aoqi9QS7xICgCw&ved=0CGYQ8wIwBA
However, i actually prefer the harbor freight one, and its less than halff the price!!

Whatever you pick, make sure to spray some lacquer thinner through it to clear the oils and whatnot out of it before using with paint.
 
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The wagner has the compressor at the end of the tubing separate from the sprayer which is nice, the little bit cheaper model has the compressor built into the sprayer and gets kind of heavy. HVLP guns are great if your going to paint something besides wood or need super smooth results.. like painting arcade metal pieces. But for just the purpose of doing cabinets the wagner IMO works out perfect.

ALSO... if you ever need to paint a bedroom or even the outiside of the house.. the wagner is made for that.. painted our room in minutes.. flippin great!

Nice price on sprayer. Does that hook to compressor? What size?
 
HVLP guns are great if your going to paint something besides wood or need super smooth results.. like painting arcade metal pieces. But for just the purpose of doing cabinets the wagner IMO works out perfect.

Uhhh I prefer my cabs smooth and no orange peal or texture.
 
Orange peel on a cab? Your kidding right? Just don't use such a glossy finish and you won't have orange peel. To each his own but I guess it comes down to what you want it to look like.. a dam car paint job or semi gloss arcade wood paint job. :)

Uhhh I prefer my cabs smooth and no orange peal or texture.
 
Orange peel on a cab? Your kidding right? Just don't use such a glossy finish and you won't have orange peel. To each his own but I guess it comes down to what you want it to look like.. a dam car paint job or semi gloss arcade wood paint job. :)

I want it to look like what it originally did.
I use satin or semi gloss.
A wagner just can't compare to HVLP.
Either rolling or Wagner will have some surface texture.
You won't find that on an original finished cab.
Orange peel comes from improper atomization not sheen,by the way.
Either gun is not adjusted properly,wrong size tip or paint not thinned properly.
 
Back to the primer question...Krylon white primer is horrible. It covers nothing...I needed 5 cans to do my Pac Man. I've had good luck with Rustoleum Auto Primer. Goes on well, and is thick enough that you can sand it and have it fill very minute scratches.
 
good old rattlecan primer works great yes. grey or red, black (depending on the color you are going to paint red or black for dark colors grey for lighter colors)

White primer blows, unless you are going to paint white or light yellow and dont want to spend a ton of time topcoating with color.

this stuff:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=DmUTULXyN5Cg8gSwvoGYAg&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAQ

Is great because its high build. You can lay on a few coats, let dry, lightly sand, recoat , dry, lightly sand, etc it will fill imperfections and scratches if you do the coat and sand method a few times

heres a different brand in black:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=wWUTULTpDJCg8QTDwoCQCg&ved=0CJcBEPMCMAg
 
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If you have rough, multiple surfaces to prime, The Sherwin Williams all purpose latex is a nice, heavy primer that can help smooth surfaces out.
If your surfaces are already smooth, the Sherwin Williams oil based primer is a favorite of mine. Just to gum up all these arguments, I can get high density foam rollers to look as good as any air based paint job but I am an artist and it takes incredible finesse to get rollers to look that good but it can be done and members here have seen my work. We are talking about painting a cabinet here, not a car...
Good luck!
"No one is hatched from an egg painting like Rembrant" - me
 
Just to gum up all these arguments, I can get high density foam rollers to look as good as any air based paint job but I am an artist and it takes incredible finesse to get rollers to look that good but it can be done and members here have seen my work. We are talking about painting a cabinet here, not a car...

Well most here are not artists and can not get an acceptable job with rollers.
Also everyone's opinion of acceptable is different.
I have seen cabs rolled that others loved and I didn't like the texture,though light,at all.
I don't want any texture what so ever. No cabs had it coming from the factory.
I bet I could get both sides sprayed and clean up before you are even done finessing one side of a cab.;)
 
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