Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

On 12/21/12 5:35 PM, Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.


I don't see that turning out very well.
Shellac based primer would work very well.
Zinsser B-I-N is what I use. If one coat doesn't fill the nooks and
crannies, level-sand the first coat, and the second should be baby-butt
smooth.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"Searcher7" wrote in message
...
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

I'd use bondo before wood filler.

On 12/21/2012 6:35 PM, Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Particle board can finish up nicely. I would use zinnser sanding sealer
50/50 for the first coat, then straight after for 2 or 3 more coats to
build up. Then sand, and you are ready to prime and paint.

Searcher7 wrote:

Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?


Ugh! No.

After your last experience with primer fills I would have thought you'd
already have an idea what direction to go with this.

Wood filler is garbage so drop it from your vocabulary.

--

-Mike-

Thanks everyone.

The reason I asked about wood filler was because it seemed the
cheapest way to cover the entire cabinet, which would be about 50
square feet.

I don't know how many coats I'll need to apply, but how much Zinnser
or Bondo would I need?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

"Searcher7" wrote:

I don't know how many coats I'll need to apply, but how much Zinnser
or Bondo would I need?

-----------------------------------------------------
Forget the Bondo.

Start with a gallon of Zinnser and play it by ear.

You don't have a glue how much the surface will suck up
until you get into the project.

Lew

On 12/22/12 4:02 AM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Searcher7" wrote:

I don't know how many coats I'll need to apply, but how much Zinnser
or Bondo would I need?

-----------------------------------------------------
Forget the Bondo.

Start with a gallon of Zinnser and play it by ear.

You don't have a glue how much the surface will suck up
until you get into the project.

Lew


One nice thing about that Zinsser BIN is the first coat does a pretty
good job of sealing thing up.
When I used it to seal the edges of some MDF (nothing sucks up like
mdf!) panels for cabinet doors, one coat was all it took to seal the
edges. The subsequent coat laid on top and sanded very smooth.

BTW, to the original poster, BIN is tintable. Have the paint shop add
some pigment to your can so you can get by with one coat of paint.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Searcher7 wrote:
Thanks everyone.

The reason I asked about wood filler was because it seemed the
cheapest way to cover the entire cabinet, which would be about 50
square feet.

I don't know how many coats I'll need to apply, but how much Zinnser
or Bondo would I need?


You don't want Bondo. You'll just make way more work for yourself, and for
no good reason. Can't tell you how much Zinnser you'll need. It all
depends on how much the particle board soaks up, and how well it builds up
with subsequent coats. I suppose I'd get a couple of quarts and see how far
that went.

--

-Mike-

Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can think of nothing
that sands any easier.

There are two general types of drywall mud: setting and drying. The setting
type comes in a powder to mix with water; the powder is calcium sulfate -
gypsum (aka "plaster") - and it binds chemically with the water' once dry,
it cannot be dissolved again with water. The drying type comes pre-mixed in
a bucket. It is just fine calcium carbonate with starch as a binder; once
dry, it can be "melted" again with water. The fact that drying type DWM is
absorbent means that anything you use as a top coat will soak into it
further binding it.

The only worry I would have - and it is a minor one - in using water base
DWM on particle board is the fact that particle board and water don't play
well together; however; water base paint is used on particle board all the
time. If the PB swells from DWM the problem is easily solvable by giving
the PB a coat of whatever first.

I note that people have recommended both Zinsser B-I-N and Bondo. Either
would work well too but a bucket of DWM is cheaper and will cover a lot more
than a gallon of B-I-N; it is MUCH cheaper than a gallon of Bondo and will
also cover much more. Bondo is talc with polyester resin as a binder; it
sets when a catalyst (supplied) is mixed with it. I like Bondo and use it
but even though it sands relatively easily it is much harder to sand than
DWM.

Speaking of talc, I often use it mixing it with lacquer as a binder. I
don't generally use it all over, more as a putty to fill dings. Once
painted, it is good inside or out.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can think of
nothing that sands any easier.


I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

On Dec 22 2012, 10:18*am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. *Even drywall mud. *Yes, drywall mud. *I can think of
nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:25:21 -0800 (PST), Searcher7
wrote:

On Dec 22 2012, 10:18*am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. *Even drywall mud. *Yes, drywall mud. *I can think of
nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

No, it either falls out, is blown out, is picked out by the roller, or
is brushed out by the brush. Great stuff. (Now you see why Bondo was
suggested.)

--
The door of opportunity is marked "PUSH".
--anon

On Jan 22, 10:13*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:25:21 -0800 (PST), Searcher7

wrote:
On Dec 22 2012, 10:18 am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can think of
nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

No, it either falls out, is blown out, is picked out by the roller, or
is brushed out by the brush. Great stuff. (Now you see why Bondo was
suggested.)

Or the most popular finish for particle board, Formica.

Searcher7 wrote:
On Dec 22 2012, 10:18 am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres
decently could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can
think of nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

First coat of what? Filler? Paint?

If filler, you don't make multiple coats...you smear on a coat of sufficient
thickness with a spatula or broad knife, let it dry and sand off excess
using nothing coarser than #150 sand paper, finer is better.

If paint; what kind? Oil? Water?

If oil, then you are sanding off too much and/or using too coarse a grit.

If water, then you are a masochist...water base acrylic paint doesn't sand,
it tears and balls up into a mess. OK, you *can* wet sand it with better
results but doing so is still masochistic. Even if you *could* sand water
base acrylic, doing so would tend to remove filler if you removed much paint
as the filler is water soluble and will have melded with the paint.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Jan 23, 7:45*am, "dadiOH" wrote:
Searcher7wrote:
On Dec 22 2012, 10:18 am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres
decently could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can
think of nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

First coat of what? *Filler? *Paint?

If filler, you don't make multiple coats...you smear on a coat of sufficient
thickness with a spatula or broad knife, let it dry and sand off excess
using nothing coarser than #150 sand paper, finer is better.

If paint; what kind? *Oil? *Water?

If oil, then you are sanding off too much and/or using too coarse a grit.

If water, then you are a masochist...water base acrylic paint doesn't sand,
it tears and balls up into a mess. *OK, you *can* wet sand it with better
results but doing so is still masochistic. *Even if you *could* sand water
base acrylic, doing so would tend to remove filler if you removed much paint
as the filler is water soluble and will have melded with the paint.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? *Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out...http://www.floridaloghouse.net

Ok, let me back track.

I primed a particle board surface after I removed the adhesive vinyl
and sanded the surface. This is what I got:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/Primed2.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/Primed1.jpg

The inconsistency is obviously due to me alternating between using the
heat gun and pulling the vinyl off.

Even sanding afterwards didn't help even the surface:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...dingPrimer.jpg

So I tried drywall mud as per advice here, but I still didn't get the
consistent surface and now I might just try priming again before
tryign some latex paint in opes it fills in enough to make the surface
smooth.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

"Searcher7" wrote in message
...

On Dec 22 2012, 10:18 am, "Pat" wrote:
It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres
decently
could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can think of
nothing that sands any easier.

I have used mud on a couple of projects and it worked well.

Ok, I tried the mud first. But I don't think it works well. After
sanding following the first coat it seemed I was back where I started.
Am I sanding too much off?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

I cannot find the beginning of this thread so I'm coming into the middle...
new computer, new mail reader...

Anyhow, I often use Plaster of Paris as a filler. It adheres well, fills
well, and disappears under oil based "clear" finishes. It dries fast and
hard also. It works very well on woods with open grain like red oak. I've
even used it on cherry that had a lot of "character" (e.g., knots, punk,
insect holes) as a means to fill but not necessarily hide defects before
putting on myriad coats of oil finish. By the time I was done with 20+ coats
of finish, sanding in between, the wood was consolidated and filled well and
the plaster was invisible.

I'd read that Plaster of Paris was used as a filler in furniture factories
in the past... I found this to be true when I restored an old oak kitchen
table. Keeping with that I refilled it with plaster as part of the
finishing process.

John

On 12/21/2012 5:35 PM, Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?


Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer/Sealer

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Friday, December 21, 2012 3:35:07 PM UTC-8, Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Not OK. It's expensive and time consuming, and using particle
board with a preapplied paper layer (MDO, the 'O' is for overlay)
is the better solution.

Particle board is 100% endgrain, it's a finishing time sink without
any redeeming moral or aesthetic value.