GG.and.UN. wrote:
I have one more pressing question:

I should have everything sanded down to bare wood in a few hours, now
what are the recommendations on priming? Should I still prime now
that it's bare wood? I used the oil-based Zinsser Bulls-Eye 1-2-3
before but that was over a TSP-washed poly gloss. I've read a lot of
places that it's not absolutely necessary to prime if using a top-
quality paint. I went to the paint store and decided on some Sherwin-
Williams ProClassic Alkyd paint. If priming is still recommended, what
are some best of the best primers and what would be a kind I'd look
for in a Sherwin-Williams store? Thanks for all the help!

Primer is usually applied over fresh bare wood. The idea is to seal
the wood grain and prevent it from soaking up too much paint or varnish.
If the wood soaks up the solvent too fast, the paint doesn't have time
to level before its dry. For old work, even sanded down to "bare
wood", I would expect the wood grain is still full of the old coating,
what ever it was, and therefor a prime coat isn't going to do much for
you.
The last time I did a good paint finish on kitchen cabinets, starting
from bare new wood, I did one coat of ordinary shellac, let dry over
night, sand it out with 220 grit in a pad sander. Then a coat of oil
based gloss enamel (trade name of "Larcaloid" or something like that).
Dry overnight so its hard enough to sand without clogging the sandpaper.
Then sand again. The sanding rubs down the high spots, and makes the
surface flatter. Wipe down with a tack rag to get all the sanding dust.
Apply a second coat of enamel. Let dry. Sand again. At this point my
cabinets looked good enough so I hung them, but you can do a third coat
and they will look better. The last sanding leaves a flattish finish.
A coat of Butcher's wax brings out a nice semi gloss look. I used a
good quality bristle sash brush to apply primer and enamel. Do the
best brush cleaning you can to keep the good quality in the brush for
the second coat.
Now aday's the paint stores are moving to all water based paint. The
water is getting better, and it might be good enough, but back then you
had to use oil based enamel to get a decent finish. A lot of "interior"
paint is good only for a flat finish on sheetrock. I've been told that
good water based gloss enamels exist but I haven't used one and I'm
still a little suspicious of anything that doesn't have oil in it.

David Starr