Laminated/Vanity look

[shiftyshivy]

Hi All,

I hope someone can help me with this: I am building a 12-foot cabinet for a saltwater aquarium. The main structure is a GalRHS metal stand that supports the weight of this enormous tank. I wanted to clad the stand with timber. I am after a sort of vanity/laminated wood look. Black color in particular. Does anybody here know how to achieve this look out of MDF board or something with a primer/paint/polish or am I just better off buy the timber from LAMINEX?

Your help is much appreciated. Ta.

[Master Splinter]

Given that it's a fish tank stand, I'd say that a sheet of laminex in the colour/pattern of your choice would be the best (and lowest maintennance) solution. Anything else will be less durable, long term.

[Chipman]

Hi Shifty,

It can be done with mdf.... I made a cabinet with a fish tank in it and fully enclosed (except for the front obviously)

It was sealed and filled with oil based undercoat. After sanding, it was sprayed with oil based enamel. I was concerned about the build up of humid air between the glass top above the tank inside the cabinet so I fitted a 12v computer fan to keep the air circulating. I recently gave it to my niece who has a pet shop and after 13 years it was still in excellent condition with no water damage.

Alternatively you can buy black melamine or use a black laminex...

However, any particle board (chip or mdf) laminated or painted will not survive long term with water unless you take precautions.

Cheers,

Chipman

[shiftyshivy]

Thanks for the advice & suggestions guys. So laminated seems like a good avenue to take. But what do u reckon about 2-pack paint? A polyester & polyurethane coat thats oven baked or something. I went to a Mirothon distributor today here in Dandy and gave them some measurements to see if they could come up with a quote. Do you reckon this would be moisture AND salt-creep resistant to say the VERY least, considering its hefty price in comparison to other methods? The finish is OUT OF THIS WORLD I tell you. I just have a feeling that Im gonna turn the quote down because of price.

Yesterday evening I tried to experiment a bit with an MDF off-cut. I bought a liter of Deluxe Super Enamel, a liter of MDF primer & a roller to apply the stuff. I laid on one coat of MDF primer then waited 30min for it to dry, before I laid a coat of Deluxe Super Enamel black...the results were $#@%! But to tell you the truth I was really impressed with the glossy surface - the dust particles and fiber floating through the air hitting the paint on the other hand made a mess of things. I just wish there was another way of applying the paint or maybe I just need a better environment to apply it...can anybody suggest anything that might help???

Thanks for your time & effort by the way!

[Chipman]

Ah, the finish is in the technique!

To get a good finish when painting mdf, you MUST get a good build of primer and when it is really dry, sand it back so it is really smooth....this is especially important with the edges, make sure they are well sanded before and after painting. Or better use a filler first.

Obviously spraying gives the best finish. On small jobs, you can use pressure pack cans but it works out a bit more expensive. Rapid set lacquer or enamel will enable you to get it dry before clouds of dust settle in it.

Chipman

[Master Splinter]

Nothing will be as durable as laminex; it's basically layers of paper embedded in urea-formaldehyde resin.

You just need one little scratch in your polyurethane for water to sneak in and start rotting the MDF underneath - whereas you have to work pretty hard to scratch through laminex.

I'm assuming that you want panels to effectively enclose the entire base, so I'd probably use something like 10mm plywood (even marine grade if you are feeling flash) as the substrate as it doesn't tend to get quite as skanky when subjected to tiny little water leaks as MDF and chipboard do.

Seal the ply with epoxy resin (see some of the boatbuilding threads), apply the laminex, use some aluminium sections to hide edges and it should stand up to going inside the tank, so going under the tank should be fine! I'd expect the steel stand to go rusty before the panels deteriorate.

Actually, if you are after a wood grain finish, you might get a nice result from staining marine ply to the colour you want, and soaking in/building up a few layers of epoxy as the top coat...again, browse the boatbuilding threads - it works for boats! You can polish the epoxy to a higher gloss finish if that's what you want (the same way car paint is buffed).

Otherwise, if you want to see the steel frame, paint (powdercoat) on the steel is your best option, but because of the galvanise you might not get as smooth a finish as you desire.