Question on painting flatwork

[Dale Allen]

Hello all. I hope everyone is well and making the best of their situation.
My sister asked me to build some shelves for her and since she intends to paint them, I made them out of hard maple.
My question is about preparing the wood before they are painted. I want to be able to protect the surface against oils from hands.
I was thinking of doing a light wipe on with some shellac. I tried a test board and latex paint sticks very well to it.
Would this be a good or bad idea?

Thanks for your help.

Dale

 

[jttheclockman]

This is a wood crime Using a beautiful hardwood such as maple as a shelf that is going to be painted. Shame!!! Poplar wood have been my choice if you did not want to go plywood and trim. Not sure what you are talking about protecting from oils from hands. Nothing you put on any wood will do this if you are top coating such as with paint. you still need to clean before top coating. Maple is a hard wood and does not absorb paint well. I would use a latex primer and not shellac. Then if you are worried about stains and fingerprints on top coat I would use an oilbased top coat. Now there are steps between the primer and top coats such as sanding and vac the dust before you top coat. The primer may need 2 coats. Now if there are knots or discolored stains then shellac can be used but should be dewaxed shellac. Many times people uses Bins which is a white primer shellac. This is a quick drying primer so need to work quickly. 220 grit sanding after and clean and ready for top coat. Any paint sticks to it. Now this is only my opinion and as I said I would never ever ever paint maple wood. Just me.

 

[Charlie_W]

A couple of years ago, our daughter picked up a dresser from Craig's List. It was solid but the finish had talked abuse and wear over the years. This was a cherry dresser. We sanded the body and drawer fronts and used General Finish's Milk Paints. First was a sealer/primer folded by tow or three coats of the milk paint. After plenty of drying/curing time, I added several coats of their latex satin finish to protect the paint. The paint was a deep blue.
On the top which was solid cherry, I scraped and sanded the old finish then still using General Finish products, I stained the top with two coats to desired color then proceeded with sealer and finish coats.
The General Finish products were at our Woodcraft Store.
I did sand just before beginning the finishing process to avoid the oils from handling the pieces and also to minimize any grain raising from ambient humidity.
I will look for a pic.

And like John, hard maple would not have been my choice for a paint grade shelf. My choice would have been 3/4" Birch or Maple cabinet grade plywood with a solid strip glued on the front, sanded flush both sides.
Using solid wood is fine but note that a wider shelf should be glued up from several strips with alternating end grain to help prevent cupping.

 

[Charlie_W]

Here are the pics. Just needed drawer pulls.

 

[RKB]

Hi Dale, I also use shellac in the form of B-I-N primer for painting wood. It does great job of helping adhesion and stopping stop any bleed thru. Don't forget to show us the pictures of the project. Take Care.
Rod

 

[Dale Allen]

These would not look good with plywood. They look good enough for staining but it is up to her and since they will go in a bathroom, paint may be a better choice. They are 2-piece corner units and are 4" x 4" x 32" long. The 2 at the top of the image are positioned like they would be mounted at about eye level or higher. The other set is laying down so you can see the construction.

 

[jttheclockman]

What do you put on 4" shelves that is not going to fall off 100 times?? Something that small solid wood is the way to go. We had no idea that is what you were talking about. Plywood is not a good choice.

If determined to paint I highly suggest spray painting and not brushing. Too many small crevices and you will see brush strokes. I would paint before installing and also plan for screw holes and use buttons to cover holes and paint those as well. Would not use nails. Again my thoughts only. To even add to this I believe this is a build on site project because every wall is not perfect 90 degrees and I would have did something decorative in the corner like either a larger angled block or even a square black and marry the 2 smaller shelves in leaving the corner stand proud. Sorry but when I see projects I start thinking what I would have done if confronted with that situation. Just who I am.