Its been years since we have been asked to do a high gloss white finish, last time we did it was with a waterborne poly that we had to buff like crazy but came out nice. I have been using white pigmented cv for a few years and its nice but haven't used it in high gloss yet. Just got a job to do some high gloss white cabinet doors and we are thinking of either using sw's gloss white cv or go the other extreme and use one of those acrylic laminates out now. My question for the guys experienced with this gloss from SW, how glossy is it straight out the can without buffing it? Yes i know buffing is not just about making it shinier but also taking out the imperfections, so lets just assume we can get it sprayed out nice and flat, would it be shiny enough to pass as a high gloss? Like those italian kitchens :)

Put Gloss over the White and buff it. That is if your going the CV route. Oh...and no; it wont look anything like the Italian finishes unless its buffed. Have you looked into Polyester, might get you closer to what your after quicker than a CV would.

Hey Antonio, have you looked into the automotive finishes yet? The high build primers only take one coat to set you up for a perfect finish (yes even on raw mdf edges)

And the top coats are thick, spray very well, and lay so flat that a quick buff will give you a next to perfect finish. It makes me wonder why I ever played around with the water thin lacquers etc.

On top of that when the customer hears what you're using, they're always thrilled. Just try spraying a car with the soft wood finishes and see how well that holds up.

Robert - thanks , no i haven't used polyester at all i wonder what the pros and cons are for that product are? Sounds like i have to look into that. We used to put clear gloss over our finishes before and buff it and it worked well, however, i always thought it made the white look kind of off, kind of like a white shirt that was worn out, this was back when we were using strictly waterborne finishes, maybe we were doing something wrong? It worked awesome for every other color except white.

Nick - i have been very curious about automotive finishes but honestly kind of a scaredy cat to venture into them because of my lack of knowledge of them and the uncertainties such as how white is automotive white? will it yellow? i also have heard of a rule that the finish should not ever be harder than the substrate and in most cases automotive finishes are harder than typical plywoods & mdf etc. Do you think this holds true to some extent?

I'm glad you asked! Those were all the things I debated in the beginning myself, luckily I have the city's best automotive shop right next door so I was able to pick his (and his rep's) brains a lot.

First off, nothing I build is more or flexible than a urethane bumper or more rigid than the side of a 55 Mercury, so I'm comfortable in saying that the flexibility of the product isn't an issue.

As far as whites go, you wont find a whiter white, and I've have never in my life seen a car yellow over time. I think the high build primer does wonders for that as well, there is no part of the substrate that shows or telegraphs through it. Keeping in mind, the body guys use it for their final sanding it's so thick.

I've heard some complaints from others about the cost of the products, but I guess some people would rather pay half for the finish and 4x on the labor.

I would suggest finding a shop that does more than just fender benders and getting some help. Luckily for me we already had a good relationship, now he's even happier to supply mark up and sell me the paint/primer, and I have a gloss white that makes the European imports look like Peugeots.

Also, matching cabinets to the Merc in the driveway gives you a pretty good edge over the other guys.

We do a ton of high gloss and we use sherwin williams.. H66W51. You will get FANTASTIC results if you have a very clean environment. The key is putting gloss clear over the top (V84F80). It really gives it the "wet" look.

Nick,

What brand and types of automotive paints are you using? Every so often usually with metallics I have to source through an automotive supplier and it's never been easy. What you describe is the opposite of my experience minus the expensive aspect of it all. Are you painting mostly flat MDF; what about with solid wood with typical joinery and details/moldings?