Building a Wooden Baby Crib
Copyright Randy Melton 2005
Section 5 - Finishing, Painting and
Decorating the Crib
paint.
I read that latex paint is the safest painted finish for children's
furniture
Gain Sealer
I sealed the grain to make it "stand up" for better sanding and future
painting. I used about half a 1 quart can of minwax "sand-n-seal"
(costs around
$10 a quart from a home improvement store.) I probably over sanded
after
this step. I tried it on the spindles for the back and decided to skip
this step on the front rails because I thought it made the back
spindles rougher and there is no easy way to sand them. They come
pre-sanded and are pretty smooth. I think they take paint fairly well.
I should have sealed the oak side rails on the front gate, but didn't.
I think this cost me a few extra sand/paint cycles in the finish
painting.
Spray vs brush
I've never sprayed on a finish prior to this but wanted to try it. I
bought 2 sprayers at
Harbor Freight. A hvlp gravity feed sprayer on sale for $45 and a
normal can sprayer on sale for $15. I practiced with Kilz primer on the
hidden parts of the drawer box using the hvlp gun. I used trial and
error to get a feel for the correct viscosity. I thinned the kilz with
water. I should have kept better notes since I'm sure these are
critical indicators of needed adjustments (pressure, viscosity.) Some
mixes were too thick and
spurted on/off. others were too thin and ran. After I sanded most of
the primer off one headboard I was in a rush so I brushed the primer on
at my
dads prompting. The brush strokes are still slightly visible even after
3 coats of finish latex. I switched to the cheap sprayer and at higher
pressures (50psi) I got a decent finish. The viscosity is still
important and I don't know how to consistently mix the paint. (the cans
say do not add more than 2 oz of water per quart. I added 2 or 3 times
that.) I mixed between a 1/4 and a 1/2 quart at a time. If it seemed
too thin I added paint, too thick I added water. Once the mix was good
the entire batch produced good results. I eventually switched back to
the hvlp
sprayer since it seemed to have less over-spray. If I decide to spray
on a finish in any future projects I might try to find a good turbine
hvlp spray system.
Once properly mixed and adjusted the guns produce a really smooth
finish. It looks like little splatters up close when wet, but dries to
a good smooth finish.
Crib Design
/ Crib Components
/ Crib Frame Construction
/ Crib Drawer Construction
/ Crib Painting & Finishing
/ Crib Picture Gallery
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