I am trying to paint my kitchen cabinets.

I want to fill in the woodgrain and have a semi gloss finish.

It has been a fiasco.

I used Aquacoat grain filler and Valpar oil enriched cabinet enamel.

I filled, sanded, filled, sanded, then filled and sanded again. And then
repeated.

Figured I had a pretty smooth surface.

Then I tried to paint it. Spray gun wouldn't work, too thick and nothing will thin it.
Brushing left streaks so I settled on a foam roller.

Seems to be better but even at 2 coats you can still see grain. Also the face is oak and the sides are sanded whiteboard 3/4" plywood.
It is noticeable how the wood absorbs the paint differntly.


If it were a car I'd use a high build primer but everything I have tried didn't work well.


Any good suggestions?

you could use an airless sprayer like a wagner

In my opinion oak was never meant to take paint. Pine can take paint without the grain showing as long as there are NO knots. Poplar will also take paint. Plywood ... forget it.

Maybe shoot everything with a coat of truck bed liner then paint it ... it won't be smooth but it'll hide the grain and be consistent !!

The can said it could be sprayed hut it wouldn't spray worth a crap.

I looked at a can today and the label changed to say a 2000 psi airless sprayer for spraying.

I started looking and for one to do it right would cost way too much.






Ouch

Not what I wanted to hear but more importantly it is what I need to hear.

Thank you.

I am looking at maybe trying this instead of bed liner.

Is it any good?

Aquacoat grain filler and Valpar oil enriched cabinet enamel

I wonder if the paint reacted with the filler to expose the grain.
Happens with car paints, where sand scratches show thru the top coat.
Why couldn't you thin the paint.
Assume it's oil base.

When I first tried to spray it the label no thinning required.
It came out of the hvlp power painter like buckshot.
Since it said oil enriched enamel I tried traditional thinner. It turned to pudding.
Cleaned the cup and tried water to thin it. I got a blast of water and then a buckshot blast of paint.

Apparently its a laytex oil hybrid that hates being thinned.

It has an obvious sheen difference between all the woods..
The highly inexperienced and unqualified professionals at lowes said that particularly plywood and those paints would work. I should have asked first.

I’ll try to help, been painting cabinets for over 40 years, I have a cabinet business. Oak can be filled with a grain filler, it’s a very thick paint, it’s spread in with a squeegee. Then block sanded but here’s the secret trick. Get a pack of the razor box cutting blades, the ones that are beveled on both sides. Used like a squeegee to scrape across the finish and it’ll leave it flat and smooth, you’re taking off the high spots but leaving the grain filled. Work with the back of a door to get the hang of it. Then beg borrow steal cabinet grade catalyzed lacquer. Then spray with a good HPLV garden hose gun-turbine, you might be able to rent one. I’ve used the same one forever, Croix brand but most all are the same. After the first coat I go back over with the blade again, dust off, spray the last coat, I thin 2-1 with high grade lacquer thinner. Dries in 30 minutes or less but hardens up over 7 days. M L Cambell is the paint name. Never Never use polyurethane that’s for floors! Any latex is junk
This filler works ok