2pac?

[tong]

Hi to all you experts out there.
I'm a newbie at this altho I have been lurking for a few days and am trying to absorb as much as possible (osmosis? hehe).
I have recently bought a second hand kitchen (well 2 of them actually) which I am modifying to fit in my new old house which I am renovating.
Some is melamine over particle board and the rest has been built-in in marine ply. Can I spray both with 2 pac as used in cars? I have a small compressor and spray gun (bunnings el cheapo). I have seen 2 pack finished cupboard doors which look 'triffic' but I'm unsure whether I can duplicate this in my shed. I understand that wiping with a product called ESP prior to painting works ok but under 2 Pack?
I'm not concerned about bench tops at this stage as they were beyond redemption. I have cut down the melamine carcases to make overhead units and need to match them with the marine ply and frame type cupboards.
any and all advice appreciated.
thanx in advance

[Shane Watson]

In short - Good luck...

In long - From someone who did this for years, what your thinking of trying to achieve isn't out of the question. But your basically asking for trouble if you have no experience.

Firstly, Two pack is not applied (painted, sprayed whatever) to laminated chipboard. It is only ever applied to laminated MDF. You cannot, well should not paint over the edge tape as it will lift and therfor so will any paint. So once you take the edge tape off you then have to deal with the raw substrate and we all know what particle board is like.....

Secondly, you don't need to use any product like ESP when painting laminate. Just a damn good sand and use the proper 2-pack undercoat for the top coat you use. And by a good sand I mean you have to rid the surface of its 'glossy' appearance so if your laminate has a textured surface.......... :eek:

Thirdly, Even in a 60k spray booth & years of practice & experience its near impossible to achieve perfect results. So trying to spray in a garage.........do the math.........

Fourthly, To spray this stuff its done in a film thickness thats damn thin. The paint is basically water viscousity. A 'Bunnies' el-cheapo spray gun ain't ideal....

While all this sounds negative, I would again say 'what your thinking of trying to achieve isn't out of the question.' But would add, goodluck..!

Cheers!

[mag]

Tong,

I have recently done what you are about to embark upon.

I purchased a good quality 17 CFM Compressor and an expensive HVLP conversion gun.

I sprayed the 2k in my garage and achieved very good results with the following method.

The cupboard doors were routed from 18mm MDF.

Two Coats of Undercoat were applied, sanded with 600 Wet and Dry between each coat.

Two coats of 2K finish applied - The first coat is sanded with 600 wet and dry, and the top coat is de-nibbed with 1200 or 2000 wet and dry and then cut with good quality cutting compound and then polished with car polish.

The finish is more than acceptable. The 1200 and cutting compound can rectify a lot of mistakes.

I haven't tried this with a cheap compressor but I did start the project with a cheap gun, which I promptly returned and purchased a very good quality auto finish gun.

Hope this helps.