# DIY ADA stand, which paint??



## Alastair (14 Apr 2012)

Just wondering, which paint would be best for my DIY stand. I've seen the Matt black chalk board paint relatively cheap, but is there a specific type of wood paint I should get or does it not matter? 

Cheers everyone 




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## hinch (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

depends what wood you've made it out of.

mdf usually needs a primer for example and you can get an edge sanding sealant to stop it from going fluffy on the corners where you're sanding.


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## Alastair (14 Apr 2012)

hinch said:
			
		

> depends what wood you've made it out of.
> 
> mdf usually needs a primer for example and you can get an edge sanding sealant to stop it from going fluffy on the corners where you're sanding.



It's Mdf mate. Got primer, just don't know which paint is best. Rustins do the blackboard paint, and also a metal and wood Matt paint. Both roughly same price. 


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## Morgan Freeman (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Use an off cut of MDF and try a few test paints.


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## Aqua sobriquet (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I think blackboard paint is more durable by design than simple matt paint. May be harder to get a decent finish with it though. If you have the choice, spraying rather than brushing would probably be best.


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## hinch (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

as long as you've got a primer pretty much anything will do 

wouldn't really recommend matt though for a stand as water marks / streaks will be a horrible.  go with a gloss or if you have to use matt use acrylic matt varnish ontop of the undercoat it comes in spray cans but I've never seen it sold anywhere apart from games workshop


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## Antipofish (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Are you going for a matt finish then Alastair ?  Might be worth thinking about what will look best after its been splashed with water every time you do a water change.  When I make a stand I will be using a hi gloss finish I thing


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## Alastair (14 Apr 2012)

Well yeah I really fancied a Matt finish, but to get a nice high gloss finish I'd need to air brush the paint on and that more expense id have thought 


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## Antipofish (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				Alastair said:
			
		

> Well yeah I really fancied a Matt finish, but to get a nice high gloss finish I'd need to air brush the paint on and that more expense id have thought
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Its all money, no doubt about that.  You could go to a paintshop and get them to do it for you. You might be pleasantly surprised at the cost.  By the time you buy the paint and everything, plus your time it may be worthwhile.  I had one sprayed in NZ, by a bathroom cabinet maker who had their own paint shop.  It cost about £40 and had the same perfect finish that you see on gloss bathroom vanity units.  It was vibrant orange !!!  I wish I had not only kept it when I came back to the UK but also that I still had the disc that the pics were on


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## Alastair (14 Apr 2012)

Extra cost though, I'm trying to do it as cheap as possible 


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## darren636 (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

my next cabinet will be rough- but new rail sleepers.


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## Kristoph91 (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Saw that reef tank with the bricks and sleepers on the PFK site today. It looked great Darren!

Kris


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## Antipofish (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				darren636 said:
			
		

> my next cabinet will be rough- but new rail sleepers.



Now that I would love to see   I think there are two extremes with cabinets... an rail sleepers is at one end with perfect glossy modern being at the other.  I like both ends of that scale.


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## darren636 (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

someone did it already? Hmmm... Oh well !


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## Alastair (14 Apr 2012)

Never thought of sleepers. Dam!! 


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## Antipofish (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				darren636 said:
			
		

> someone did it already? Hmmm... Oh well !



You could use bamboo canes tied together if you really want to be different.  Or just clad a frame in it.    

I reckon the sleapers will look great whether its been done before or not.  You can always put a personal stamp on things somehow


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## darren636 (14 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

sorry about the hijack! But yes- i will make my own. And it will be very, very rough.


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## Kristoph91 (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Darren check this out. I'd love to see it done on a planted tank though! Would look much better. 
This tank is s beast though. 
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/m ... p?sid=4966
Kris


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## Alastair (17 Apr 2012)

Wow a meter front to back?? I thought mine to be was big at 70cm lol 


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## darren636 (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

mine is tiny in comparison!


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## Kristoph91 (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Yeah its pretty epic. Too much like hard work though keeping that running successfully! 
Hijack over, sorry mate 

Kris


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## AverageWhiteBloke (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I wouldn't use blackboard paint, I use it for painting shadow battens to go round the perimeter of ceiling trims. It marks very easy and just about everything that comes in contact with it leaves a white residue. Also very difficult to clean.


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## Alastair (17 Apr 2012)

AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> I wouldn't use blackboard paint, I use it for painting shadow battens to go round the perimeter of ceiling trims. It marks very easy and just about everything that comes in contact with it leaves a white residue. Also very difficult to clean.



I'm just going to go for a grey or black Matt emulsion but an endurance one  


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## Aqua sobriquet (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Have you thought of a Satin finish? It's normally available in aerosol cans in DIY shops.


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## Alastair (17 Apr 2012)

Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> Have you thought of a Satin finish? It's normally available in aerosol cans in DIY shops.



No I didn't actually. Probably would look better too 



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## Aqua sobriquet (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Here you go:

http://www.rustoleumaerosols.co.uk/prod ... cts_id=168


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## Antipofish (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> Here you go:
> 
> http://www.rustoleumaerosols.co.uk/prod ... cts_id=168



Hi matey.  Will those sprays give a really high gloss effect  ?


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## Aqua sobriquet (17 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

The one linked is satin finish so no, somewhere between gloss and matt. I've not used the gloss stuff myself only the satin and matt. How good a final finish you get depends on your prep and base coats.


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## Kristoph91 (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

+1 for the satin finish paint.

Kris


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## Antipofish (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

   GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS


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## darren636 (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

kawasaki  green  gloss  or  nothing.


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## Wallace (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				darren636 said:
			
		

> kawasaki  green  gloss  or  nothing.



Good idea. Kwak green has changed over the years though. 

I've been told I must paint my cabinet the same colour as the kitchen.


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## Antipofish (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				Wallace said:
			
		

> darren636 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well paint the kitchen the colour you want the cabinet and then paint the cabinet


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## Aqua sobriquet (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Nothing wrong with a Satin Grey kitchen...


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## whinnie (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> The one linked is satin finish so no, somewhere between gloss and matt. I've not used the gloss stuff myself only the satin and matt. How good a final finish you get depends on your prep and base coats.



Just out of interest, i've built a cabinet, its had 3 layers of greyprimer so far rollered on, last 2 layers have been sanded back down slightly with 400grain paper, appears to my untrained eye and touch to be extremely smooth. I am thinking of going the spray route for the final coats, local b and q stock the satin grey you linked. Is there any other things i should be doing as prep before spraying? and any top coats/sealers that would work well?

Thanks in advance sorry for the hijack and questions


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## Aqua sobriquet (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I'm not a painter by trade but good prep and a clean working area are key points, also get yourself a "tack" cloth to wipe down the cabinet before applying the top coat.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165614


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## hinch (18 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> I'm not a painter by trade but good prep and a clean working area are key points, also get yourself a "tack" cloth to wipe down the cabinet before applying the top coat.
> 
> http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165614



if you wanna prep the primer first you're better off using a very very fine wet and dry and then kitchen roll + meths to clear the dust off after treat it almost as if you were spraying a car panel.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I was a panel beater spray painter by trade so I guess the same principles may not apply to spraying wood. The only suggestions I have are spraying high gloss colours is a risky business. Any imperfections would stand out like a sore thumb but if your looking for high gloss my advice would be to firstly prime the would with a few coats then put one very light misting and I mean light of your chosen matt colour over the whole thing. Hand sand this down with 800 grit wet and dry paper with water. The guide coat will now show up imperfections as any little marks will be visible as two different colours which you continue to flat until gone. Then apply your chosen colour in matt finish and if it looks the part job done. If you fancy high gloss it would probably be better to go over the top of the colour with a clear lacquer. The benefits of this are if the finish looks a bit ropey you can then flat it without breaking through with 1200 wet and dry paper with plenty of soapy water then bring it back up to a high gloss with polishing compound and a cloth, stuff like t cut is ok.

Tack cloths are essential as the flatting process will cause a white residue which needs removed before painting. Be careful with spirits. A lot of them are synthetic versions which don't really mix with paint and due to the solvents present in aerosol may even soften up the paint. I understand where it's coming from in the motor industry the paint surface can often get contaminated by things like wax oil protectors and wd 40, oil, silicone and plenty of other things that paint doesn't like but in the case of wood in your house should be fairly safe. The paints used in automotive are baked dry and use very little solvents to get then out of the gun because of the high pressure used also a hardening component is used so if the paint was dry even paint thinner wouldn't affect it but in the case of an aerosol there's a lot of solvent to get it out the tin and too harsh of thinner or spirits would soften it again if not just wipe it back off.

For what it's worth


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## Antipofish (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Crikey AWB !!! I reckon I'm taking mine to a paint shop, hehehe.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

http://www.thevinylcorporation.co.uk/ec ... nomy-gloss

Don't know if these would work out financially better than all the painting materials, might work out a bit tricky if there are any rounded off corners to get round.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



> Crikey AWB !!! I reckon I'm taking mine to a paint shop, hehehe.



A paint shop would use either 2K paint (2 component) which not a lot do these days due to EU emissions but is still available from paint suppliers, the second component is the hardener so when its dry its egg shell dry and doesn't  easily mark. The down side of these are the contain isocyanates which is a derivative of cyanide. NOT to be sprayed without air fed masks and some form of extraction or the newer water based paints which I'm not too familiar with as I've been out the trade for a fair few years but would be very expensive I guess.

I have been looking at doing a bit of spraying again, I have my own business doing suspended ceilings, partitioning and plastering for the last fifteen years but I have space in my workshop currently being habited by my old golf vr6 highline which has been sat there for about 3 years   I'm thinking of using my old spraying equipment to do up this car and get it out and look at doing a few light cosmetic damage or restorations just as a bit of a sideline and keep my hand in. I did enjoy it but the money wasn't in it when I did it anyway, also plenty of health risks (see my previous comment on 2K)   

Speaking to a few of my old panel beating friends some of the aerosols you can get now are supposed to be really good used in automotive factors. They have nozzles you can adjust to get a better fan pattern so you don't get streaking or an orange peal effect but never really tried them. The beauty of this is you can look at the colour chips they match with cars by getting the colour codes and they will mix the aerosol to your chosen colour.

On a side note probably worth mentioning if you go down the route of a base colour topped with clear lacquer you would have to get the clear over pretty much as soon as it is touch dry so the lacquer solvents will eat into the base and key. If you leave it too long between the two the base colour would need keyed with a grey scotch brite pad which runs the risk of seeing the scratches under the lacquer which no amount of flatting or polishing will take out.


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## ian_m (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> .... isocyanates which is a derivative of cyanide.


Not quite, a very common confusion.

Inorganic cyanides eg sodium cyanide are human toxic (as we all know), however an organic cyanides, called isocyanides,  generally is not so human toxic and are quite commonly encountered in nature as objectionably smelly substances eg in creosote, rotting things etc

Isocyanates are similar to isocyanides but generally more toxic.

Either way air fed masks and extraction is necessary.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I stand corrected   All I needed to know at the time was it wasn't nice stuff. A lot of the time I was in contact with this stuff either directly of third party, from what I could make out it can also be absorbed through skin pores. H&S wasn't what it was then as it is now and very few body shops would provide the correct equipment. The compressor feeding the mask was often situated in the body shop instead of isolated in a clean environment which defeated the purpose of air fed masks. The clear plastic rip strips which were used to cover the masks were not always available and because you couldn't see because of the over spray I would often resort to using a plain charcoal filter mask which didn't cover the whole face.
The overspray was filtered through floss and water filter which often never got cleaned due to costs and ejected it straight out into the atmosphere. I guess that is why the industry has now moved on to water based products although I hear that the clear lacquers are still a 2K product it is only the base coats that are water based. Most modern vehicles today even if not a metallic finish are done with a base coat covered in a clear. It prevent UV rays oxidising the paint and making it fade as anybody with an old red or white car can testify to after polishing the life out of it.


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## Aqua sobriquet (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I guess it's too late to say these folks do really nice plain grey doors in high gloss ...  :? 


http://www.howdens.com/

They do end panels and doors in a variety of sizes so you could make up a cabinet to your own spec within reason.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Just thought I'd add to that that anyone considering using automotive aerosols that I wouldn't have thought that isocyanates would be present in them but a well ventilated room with charcoal mask would be a minimum. The paper masks just don't fit the bill as the aerosols atomise the paint and the particles too small to make paper masks effective.



> I guess it's too late to say these folks do really nice plain grey doors in high gloss ... :?



You just got in before me   I was just going to say that, howdens carcasses for kitchen units can now also be got in colours they just used to be white which meant buying extra panels for the sides of whatever usually wood finish you wanted unless you just want to use the doors on your own frame. The units would need strengthening I would guess for the weight of the tank but nothing a 2x2" frame wouldn't sort out inside the cabinet.


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## ian_m (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> ....All I needed to know at the time was it wasn't nice stuff...


I just find it all fascinating that inorganic cyanide with the extremely toxic CN group (which I think stops energy production in cells mitochondria) is so toxic but when paired up with an organic molecules is no longer toxic.


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## Aqua sobriquet (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*



			
				AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> You just got in before me   I was just going to say that



Ah, great minds and all that!

There is also another option, laminate:

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=21022


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

I found this http://www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/ ... inters.pdf I don't like the sensitised part   would probably at the time explain when people came to me saying they didn't know how I could work in there but I couldn't even smell it any more. Just shows H&S does have a place! None of this information was made available to me at the time. Makes me wonder why such a dangerous chemical was even used at all.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

@ Aqua I have seen that vid before somewhere. Another option I have also considered if looking for a new cabinet would be just to get a nice cabinet from the likes of Argos, strengthen it up then get the tank made to fit it. These also custom build high gloss cabinets for fish tanks http://www.valleyaquariums.co.uk/index-3.html not sure what sort of money they would be looking for but no harm getting a quote. After buying all the bits it maybe worth while just getting one made. Unless your a serious DIYer I reckon the whole thing would be quite a difficult task and the last thing you want is a load of time and money and end up with something that looks rubbish. Also http://www.coralcabinets.co.uk/highglosstanksan.html


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## Aqua sobriquet (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

It really depends how handy you are and what tools you have to hand. Unless I could make a serious saving, or wanted something special I don't think I'd bother. Having said that I did make my last cabinet!

Looking at the Howdens catalogue the "Glendeven Flint Grey" looks good if the parts are not too expensive.


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## whinnie (19 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

this topics gone rather heavy on more professional painting! i ended up giving my cabinet a  few layers of primer/undercoat and finished off with some grey satin plastikote spraypaint. finish isnt perfect but good enough considering my aim was to save money. Seeing as i used mdf (error i know) i was thinking about trying to use something to seal it now its painted, any suggestions?


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## Aqua sobriquet (20 Apr 2012)

*Re: DIY ADA stand, which paint??*

Maybe a clear satin top coat?

http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/Product/pc ... ode---3620


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