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Baron[_3_] Baron[_3_] is offline
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Default Best primer to avoid raising the grain...

"blueman" wrote in message
...
I am going to be painting a cabinet I bought with Benjamin Moore
interior semi-gloss latex paint. The cabinet is made of Baltic Birch
plywood and Poplar.

I want to avoid raising the grain on the cabinet when I apply
primer and having to sand everything again. Which of the following
priming techniquest are least likely to raise grain.


1. Zinnser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-base Primer
(advantage is easy-clean up but worried about water-based)

2. Zinnser BIN Shellac-Base Primer
(will shellac-base be less likely to raise grain? But it's marketing
seems more targeted at stain-killing)

3. Standard latex-based primer (e.g., Benjamin Moore)

4. Shellac as a sealcoat +/- followed by primer (is primer necessary if
you have a shellac sealcoat?)

5. Oil-based primer? (Do they still exist? I have seen it for exterior
where it is recommended for Cedar but not for interior recently)

6. Suck it up and sand after priming? It's good for you...

7. Other suggestion?


BIN is simply white pigmented shellac so you can use BIN or unpigmented
shellac as a sealer / primer. I prefer BIN since it provides me with a
white "canvas". Just make sure that if you use shellac, it is dewaxed.
Sealcoat is already dewaxed.
Any solvent will raise the grain but some do it to a much lesser extent.
In general, water raises it the most followed by alcohols followed by
hydrocarbons which raise it the least.
I appreciate that you do not want to sand before applying top coats but
you will always get a better finished product if you do so. Perhaps only
sand the most visible parts of the cabinet.

Good Luck