What kind of paint to use to refinish table?? Also could I paint while set up?

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sneaky_pete

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I just got a pro 8 GCIII from Jedi and some of the black paint is a little rough. What is the most durable paint one could use to refinish a table. I would like a smooth but not really gloss finish, not really flat paint either because its not smooth and gets dirty looking really fast. I'm looking for a paint that won't scratch or chip easily. Also could I paint it while the table is set up if I just put plastic sheeting over the top and feet or should I wait till I move in a year or so.

I thought of doing black 1/32" formicas but the guys at lowes said the rounded corners would be really hard to do because you'd have to make a jig to hold the formica till the contact cement dried.
 
sneaky_pete said:
I just got a pro 8 GCIII from Jedi and some of the black paint is a little rough. What is the most durable paint one could use to refinish a table. I would like a smooth but not really gloss finish, not really flat paint either because its not smooth and gets dirty looking really fast. I'm looking for a paint that won't scratch or chip easily. Also could I paint it while the table is set up if I just put plastic sheeting over the top and feet or should I wait till I move in a year or so.

I thought of doing black 1/32" formicas but the guys at lowes said the rounded corners would be really hard to do because you'd have to make a jig to hold the formica till the contact cement dried.
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I'm not sure what kind of material is under the paint on your table, but I can tell you how I did my table.
I have a Diamond Pro and I have sended down the wood on rails, painted with Wood Stain and finished with Clear Gloss Winmax.
Looks pretty good and thats why nobody wants to buy my table :)
 
sneaky_pete said:
I just got a pro 8 GCIII from Jedi and some of the black paint is a little rough. What is the most durable paint one could use to refinish a table. I would like a smooth but not really gloss finish, not really flat paint either because its not smooth and gets dirty looking really fast. I'm looking for a paint that won't scratch or chip easily. Also could I paint it while the table is set up if I just put plastic sheeting over the top and feet or should I wait till I move in a year or so.

I thought of doing black 1/32" formicas but the guys at lowes said the rounded corners would be really hard to do because you'd have to make a jig to hold the formica till the contact cement dried.
Click to expand...
Go to an auto/body store that specializes in mixing automotive paint..talk with them ..also for a clear coat i have heard that the clear polyurethane for a Corvette is the most durable...check the phone book first for the stores then call and ask them about it...good luck.......let us know what u find out..
 
Wouldn't auto paint require a special spray gun? I'd really like to stick with something that can be brushed on. I assume the GCIII has the original wood underneath the black. I may sand it and just stain the wood but I'm still considering black. Also I don't wanna clear coat as I don't want a gloss finish however I'd be open to using some type flat or semigloss sealer.
 
sneaky_pete said:
Wouldn't auto paint require a special spray gun? I'd really like to stick with something that can be brushed on. I assume the GCIII has the original wood underneath the black. I may sand it and just stain the wood but I'm still considering black. Also I don't wanna clear coat as I don't want a gloss finish however I'd be open to using some type flat or semigloss sealer.
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I have a GC2 and when we first set it up it looked awful. It was the original white color. I just took the sides off and sanded and rolled them with a semi gloss latex and it looks great, that was like 10 years ago. The room is about 25 x 28 and when the table was white it was all you could see in the room, it looked like a white elephant. I painted it a light gray to match the fireplace and then did some of the trim in the room the same and it tied it all together. The room looks like it was designed to have the table in there.
 
Hi Pete, If you are not removing the existing paint you need to find out what it may be. Wipe a small inconspicuos are with alcohol, isopropyl, denatured either is fine. If it comes off on the rag it is likely a water based product if it does not it is probably a solvent based product. Do not do this test with goof off as it will soften both water based and solvent based finishes. Once you have some idea what you have on the table you can decide what to finish it with. I would reccomend a good sanding no matter what finish you end up using and if you are unsure of the finish I would sand it and prime with XIM primer, which adheres to just about anything, you can then topcoat with water based or solvent based paints. I would reccomend an oil based satin or semi gloss paint. It will stand more abuse and look better as long as you apply over a clean dust free surface.
You can pm me if you like more info.
Dan
 
sneaky_pete said:
Wouldn't auto paint require a special spray gun? I'd really like to stick with something that can be brushed on. I assume the GCIII has the original wood underneath the black. I may sand it and just stain the wood but I'm still considering black. Also I don't wanna clear coat as I don't want a gloss finish however I'd be open to using some type flat or semigloss sealer.
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gun to use woul;d be a HVLP.. if sides are metal the auto store will have what u need ..if wood go to a woodworking speciality store .....like another posted stated he sanded his ,stained and put clear coat....for a dueable job u have to use aclear coat..semi-gloss preferred ...good luck
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I ended up sanding down a small area tonight to see what the wood is and I believe it to be mahogany possibly but it looked a little light however I believe that to be because wood normally looks pretty dull after sanding. I went and bought a ass load of sandpaper and some "red mahagony" minwax stain and some satin sealer. I decided to go with the stained wood look over plain black since it is easier to do.

I don't however plan on removing and dissassembling the top portion of the table to get into all the crevices of the skirts. I can access probably 98% of the wood which is fine for me. It too the installers some good time and effort to get it put together which I don't wanna try myself. I'll just have to make sure that it gets reassembled exactily the same if I ever take the top apart. Honestly though when I move in a year it will probably only be like 15 minutes away so I'll just keep the top intact and jsut transport it like that.

Again thanks for the help. I'll post pics of the finished product.
 
Here's the tiny picture minwax has on their site of the red mahogany stain. I can't believe they don't have a bigger picture of it.


redmahog.jpg
 
Man this refinishing is more than I bargained for. There's 3 layers of paint, the top is black then a cream color then a grey primer. I thought at first I could hand sand the whole thing, boy was I wrong, after 45min I had only finished like 1/3 of a side rail. I went to Lowes and got some paint stripper, that still takes quite a bit of work, it takes about 3-4 coats to get the black and creme off and i put another 3-4 on to try and get as much primer as possible, primer is weird it doesn't really peel or scrape up like regular paint it kinda liquidizes. If you don't get as much up as possible then you're stuck sanding an ass load of it off by had which takes forever. I've spent about 10 hours so far and probably have 6 hrs left. I got a panel done and sanded and tested out the stain, it looks SWEET, much better than the black, the wood really comes through and I haven't even put the satin sealer on yet. I'll post pics when I'm done. The only thing I'm worried about is the possibility of the fumes from something messing up the felt however the paint stripper can says that it's fumes are heavier than air and they fall not rise so I don't have to worry bout that just maybe the sealer. I think it'll be ok. Hopefully pics will be up by Monday.
 
It came out decent however I'm gonna strip off my sealer and stain early summer because I messed it up a bit. It looks good however I didn't apply it right. It took about 14 hours to strip all the paint and sand. In previous wood staining projects I've done I usually just put a thin coat of stain and that was it. Well it didn't work that way on the table, I put one pretty thin coat but it didn't soak in as well as I expected. Then the next day I put a satin coat on it. It went on wierd and the stain kinda reliquidized when I applied it. I knew I was in trouble when it did that. I went to the minwax forum and they said you have to wipe away the excess stain after 15 minutes of letting it sit. I guess I had gotten luck in my previous project in that I dont' remember ever doing that. So in essence I painted the table with stain instead of staining it. I plan on stripping the stain and single layer of poly clear coat off with mineral spirits when I get 2 weeks off before summer classes, I don't wanna bother now since I"m busy with grad school. It looks pretty good except the stain looks a little splotchy in spots where the poly clear coat liquidized it. So the moral of the story is to always wipe down the project after 15 minutes of letting the stain set. I have properly restained one small area and I can tell you that if you do it properly it is much lighter, I'll probably have to do 3 applications of stain to get the same color as when I did it inproperly. I'm not really too pissed because the bulk of the work was in the paint stripping and the removal of the stain will only take a couple hours. I'll post a pic next weekend of the semi finished table. I do love the color though of the red mahagony stain.
 
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