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mdf finishing

9/23/18       
William Member

If your makeing a mdf 1 piece shaker style door how to get the finish to look like the rails and stiles. I can get the edges to look like it but i am struggling at the panel .

9/23/18       #3: mdf finishing ...
Dan

The million dollar question.
You can prime the tar out of it,but it'll never be perfect.
Duller the finish the better

9/23/18       #4: mdf finishing ...
Leo G Member

Are you using a double refined MDF like Plum Creek? That is a game changer in most cases.

9/23/18       #5: mdf finishing ...
mauricio poli Member

First you have to sand the edge with 150/180/220 untill itīs perfect.
Then you have to apply a primer with the color of the base of the style.
For eg. for a cherry it will be a yellow oxide.
After dry, sand it 320.
With a sponge , or a brush, you will apply another coat, with te color of the grain or something to keep the final color very close.
And use a lacquer to create that color.
Finally you will apply a mate lacquer, with a similar gloss.
It a lot of color work
Hugs

9/24/18       #6: mdf finishing ...
mastercabman Member

If your makeing a mdf 1 piece shaker style door how to get the finish to look like the rails and stiles. I can get the edges to look like it but i am struggling at the panel .

I don't know if I understand your question
Are you asking how to finish MDF?
Or are you asking how to make a Shaker style 1 piece MDF door?

9/24/18       #7: mdf finishing ...
William Member

To msatercabman

yes to finish the mdf to look like the stile and rails before the center panel was router out on a cnc machine. I sand with 180 /320 then spray clawlock on it sand again and spray another coat of clawlock followed by the white lacquer but still cant quite manage to get the center panel to look like the rails or stiles.

9/24/18       #8: mdf finishing ...
mastercabman Member

Got it!
So you are cutting into center of doors to get the look of Shaker style
And of course you are loosing that flat sleek finish of MDF
The better way of making doors like that is to make it out of 2 pieces
So if you want 3/4" thick doors
Use 1/2" MDF and then use 1/4" MDF and picture frame the 1/2" MDF
So like that you end up with that factory MDF face in the center
Does that make sense?
You will have a seam on the edges but clawlock should seal that pretty good
Hope this helps

9/24/18       #9: mdf finishing ...
kevin

We do the same as mastercabman but instead of filling the seam on the edges we edgeband them.

9/24/18       #10: mdf finishing ...
William Member

ok got it .
Stupid question
what kind of glue you guys use to stick the 2 pieces together. and you got to carefull as to square them up correct?

9/25/18       #12: mdf finishing ...
Adam

You need to use a product like Plum creek super refined mdf.

your finish process is correct. Sand the exposed surface to 320. prime with Clawlock or BIN. sand 320 and prime the whole surface.

We have done a few thousand of raised panels for 5 piece cabinet doors, and raised panels for wainscoting.

That process was good enough using the older "double refined" mdf. The plum creek is even better.

9/26/18       #13: mdf finishing ...
JM

We struggled with this too until we switched to a 2K primer and topcoat. Much higher solids content, fills better, and you dont need to be nearly as concerned about thickness limits.

We sand machined surfaces to 320, spray panel then immediately spray a second pass of primer over the entire door. Basically, the machined panel gets two wet coats of primer. We then sand back, and topcoat.

When we were using products similar to clawlock, we ran into some coating thickness issues (cracking) and it still didnt fill nearly as well.

9/28/18       #14: mdf finishing ...
William Member

JM

Who makes the 2k primer that you use.

And when you talking about sanding back
do you mean till you can see the substrate or just untill flat. My problem is i dont like to see some of the divots when you get close up to panel.
Thank you

And yes to everyone else this is all been using the plum creek mdf.

9/28/18       #15: mdf finishing ...
JM

We use Alcea FB1090 primer and Alcea 531A/MSBB topcoat. This just happens to be the brand that our coatings supplier carries.

Pretty much all the big names carry a 2K poly. Since you're already using MLC, take a look at Polarion.

When I say sand back, I just mean until its flat. No need to go all the way to the substrate. The 2K products fill much better than the conversion varnish and you can build a dry film up almost twice as thick as a conversion varnish without fear or wrinkling/cracking. The only real downside to them is the short pot life.

We use a Mirka Deos 3"x5" to sand the raw MDF panels with 320grit, prime, then sand them again with the same sander and grit, then topcoat.

We previously used conversion varnish and this has been a night and day difference since the switch.


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