Kitchen cabinet refinish suggestions wanted

[Steveanson]

It seems I have been handed a winter project of a kitchen upgrade. (great news) Our house is of 1952 vintage, with 3/4 plywood framed floor and wall cabinets.

My plan is to fill, sand, prime, and paint the cabinet frames/ shelves, and build/paint new cabinet doors. I feel very confident with all of the actual woodworking aspects of this job, but have many questions concerning the final painting.

I would like to use a sprayed satin finish oil base enamel, but have little experience with anything other then wagner handheld. Costco had a multi-gun spray kit reasonably priced, but before I buy anything, thought I'd try the 'brain trust' on this forum.

As a practice session, I plan to spray out my shop and cabinets. Any suggestions, and warnings will be really appreciated.

Thanks, Matt

[don_hart]

Well the only thing I would want to make sure you are aware of is that spraying of opil based products creates a flammable mixture so be sure not to have any heat sources around while you are doing it. Be sure to waer a respirator and have good ventilation. Other than that the spraying should go well with the right spraytip and the right thinning.

[dlminehart]

You might look into whether the advantages of oil paints outweigh their disadvantages, given modern 100% latex acrylics. The oils are probably easier to dilute for spraying, but their slower drying makes for more potential problems with dust. I've heard, but can't confirm, that they're more likely to absorb odors, as well as obviously being more odorous when fresh.

[jAngiel]

Are you talking about spraying IN your kitchen? You have more guts than I do, I did some spraying out in the garage(shop) and the overspray went EVERYWHERE. Even under the plastic that I had covering the stuff that I didn't want coated. I won't even consider spraying inside my house, I'll have to stick with brushes and rollers and Benjamin Moore paint (levels out extremely well).

Good luck.

[Steveanson]

I appreciate the advice given to date. Does anyone know of a web site or forum for finishing and or spraying furniture? Thanks, Matt

[RainShadow]

MATT: We just finished our kitchen remodel and we sprayed our old cabinets and then put on new drawer fronts and cabinet doors.
We used a medium green (semi-mint) with Alder (natural finish) for the fronts/doors.
I had the base cabinets professionally sprayed (oil) and the guy sprayed everywhere. Do ALL the prep work yourself -- TSP the cabinets, sand, prime and tape off everything for about two feet away and then the next day call in the pro to spray. We also used Ubatuba granite top. The kitchen looks fantastic; but there were a few runs and overspray.
Good luck, Randy from Oceanside, CA
PS: go to your local contractor paint store and ask for an old time painter. The young guy we had cut too many corners.

[Andrew Benedetto]

http://www.gleempaint.com/hvcongunnew.html

This gun can be set to spray any configuration even upsidedown. I have sparayed latex and car paint. Excellent quality and little overspray. The compressor has to be midsized at least and use hi flow connectors(Lowes has them too)
http://www.gleempaint.com/prespotac.html

[silverfox]

So, Andrew...this price impresses me if what you are saying is that you can spray latex with this unit without thinning it. I am still looking for a unit to paint this old house someday but have been told I am better off to just rent one. Since you have sprayed latex with this gun....what's your take? Can I paint a house with this unit using latex without thinning it to a water like form? Thanks.
Mike

[Steveanson]

Andrew... Thanks so much for the recomendation. I already have an 8gal 3hp compressor that I feel would handle the task. This gun appears to have the flexability for just about any chore my lovely bride can dream up.

I have used a borrowed airless in the past, but didn't want that expense. I appreciate the response. Matt

[w973]

It looks like the paint gun has several sizes of orifices. A size 4 is listed for latex paint. These orifices cost about half again as much as the paint gun though.

-Walter

[looneytools]

Matt,

You might also check into Target USL water base. It is intended for kitchen cabinets and can be pigmented. Latex is somewhat soft and prone to blocking. Furr also makes a pigmented water base. You can check these out at homesteadfinishing.com or targetcoatings.com

Bob

[Steveanson]

Andrew and Bob... Thanks so much for pointing me in a good direction. I found the converson gun locally, and it's really an incredable little machine. Overspray and airborne mist is minimal, and my learning curve was actually quite short. I sprayed out a garage closet this weekend, using up an old half-gal. Thinned 20%, it worked perfectly.

Bob, both sites are what I've been looking for. Thanks so much...Matt

[gjensen11]

About the plywood cabinets. I recently had to re-do some flat Plywood cabinets for a friend. I found some door stop??molding at the lumber yard that was made from plastic foam( can you say CHEAP)? One edge was ( Like regular door stop) the other edge has a roman ogee profile..
I used my miter saw and added the Molding around the face edge with the Ogee profile toward the panel ( they kinda look like stiles and rails now). I glued, Brad Nailed, then Calked them and painted them with an airless sprayer..(in the garage) (PS. airless sprayers dont care how thick the paint is). They really surprised me on how good they looked..
More of that "Lipstick on a Pig" re-modeling I'm getting famous for.(grin)

[gjensen11]

I re-read you original post and thought I had better offer more info. about the paint sprayer. I have a Titan 440Ex airless with a Graco Gun & tips (you can rent good airless machines, I hate those little Wagner sprayers) I used a 3 11 worn/used tip. a New 11 thousants tip is pretty small for thick paint and a 3/13 is really putting out the paint. When using a professional airless rig you must remember that they are designed for really putting out the paint. .75 gals per minute aproxx. so you better already be moving when you pull the trigger or you will have runs/sags..
those cabinet doors looked better than Brand New Thermofoil cabinets .
the tip sizes I just mentioned have two parts the first number
"3" in this case you would double that number and that is the size of the spray fan ( for a Number 3 it is six inches wide)
Then second number is that actual size of the orifice in thousands.
Typical numbers are 11 for really thin stuff Lacquer etc..
a big number 18 21 can shoot the thickest houst paint there is .021
at 3000psi..
using a big number tip my rig will spit out a gallon a minute.. Yes I can (spray) a whole house in about thirty minutes..

[silverfox]

Well...now I'm REALLY confused. I was excited about the GLEEM gun that Andrew posted and now Greg tells me about his gun. I was ready to spring for the GLEEM but now would like to look into the TITAN I guess. This subject is very confusing to me. I just want to paint a house with latex and want a good gun to do it with. Do you have a site or link that I can go to and review the TITAN, Greg? Thanks.
Mike