Painting MDF

If you have the equipment spraying is the best way to go.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I’ve had good results with priming the MDF using Zinsser BIN and then used General Finishes Enduro Var Poly that was tinted white as the top coat. It came out great (look at my projects, well, the only one :)

As Jim said, I sprayed it through my Earlex 5500 (both the primer and the poly).

-- Matt, Illinois, http://www.reintroducing.com

I’ve used General Finishes milk paint w/ good results on MDF.

-- Bondo Gaposis

another tip. If any cut edges, bull nose, “end grain” will be exposed seal it first with a light coat of drywall compound. Just use your finger to rub it in then sand it smooth. It makes a nice finish.

-- Dan, Naperville IL, I.G.N.

Murphy bed for the office. Good grief, don’t let HR know that you’re doing this!

-- - Crud. Go tell your mother that I need a Band-aid.

making a murphy bed from MDF ?……… poor choice as it doesn’t stand up to the stress/force of the hardware.

-- "Good artists borrow, great artists steal”…..Picasso

I just finished a murphy bed a few months ago. I would not use MDF. As moron says I don’t think it would stand up to the stress of the hardware.

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

Thanks for the responses. I was not specific enough. I was only going to use the MDF for the surround built in, shelves, parts of the desk, and cabinet. Maybe I should just use plywood for it all?

Plywood is stiffer in spans like shelves, holds most fasteners
better (I use confirmats in MDF and they are an exception),
stays less flat than MDF, and is lighter.

You can get some of MDF’s stability benefits in a plywood
by using the plywood that has 2 or 3 layers of 1/8”
MDF in it. I’ve used it and found it offered a good
blend/compromise of both materials.

Using MDF will save you some money and eliminate
some of the hassles of dealing with (especially cheaper
grades of) plywood.

I would personally use plywood.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

I just finished SMS cabinets for my shop. I used MDF as the panel inside all of my doors…. I primed it, sanded it flat with high grit paper, did a few coats of good white paint with flotrol and thinned at 75/25, then brushed on some poly thinned to 75/25…..

It cam out very flat and smooth…. I lightly sanded between poly coats, but only to get out dust and freakin cat hairs hat no matter how I tried could not keep then all out!

Itf you can’t spray I would try that…. Be sure to prime well and seal MDF end grain….

try throwing the cat outside

confirmats and associated hardware, as Lorne said, if properly installed into MDF, will last longer then you will

-- "Good artists borrow, great artists steal”…..Picasso

If you do decide to use MDF, I’ve found that with zinsser BIN primer, sealing the edges isn’t necessary. Just prime, lightly sand with 320, another coat of primer, lightly sand and you’re good.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

+1 to what NiteWalker said. I didn’t seal edges and did two coats exactly as he stated and it came out perfect.

-- Matt, Illinois, http://www.reintroducing.com

Like others have said, I have also had great success without sealing the edges. The key is a good primer. (zinsser, Stix, etc..) As far as the paint goes, I’m a big fan of the Benjamin Moore Advance. It flattens beautifly and once fully cured, it is very hard/durable. The trick to it is not to apply heavy coats. If you put it on too heavy you can end up with some nasty sags.