I am building a few iTopies with a friend and we are considering staining or painting the mdf frames. Does anyone have any experience staining or painting mdf frames and do we need to seal the edges of the mdf?
I like what Thomas Sanladerer did for his iTopies with paint. Would stain still prevent warping and look nice?
Mdf sucks up moister, if you are looking for a clean look then I would use clear lacquer to seal it first then paint it or use spray paint as it doesn’t contain water.
Yes it does, that is what we are wondering about. I know @Thomas_Sanladerer painted his, is there any reason for that over stain or would stain still work if done right?
There are a lot of instructions on staining MDF, just google it. I have worked in construction for 22yrs and MDF needs to be sealed before you add any wet product to it or it WILL SWELL.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjH1p-ZiZHTAhUH62MKHTRNAGwQFggiMAI&url=http://www.wikihow.com/Finish-MDF&usg=AFQjCNEE8ChH6puE70dFJ7HkzhYt6WKYdw&sig2=hXCxmVU7UJ1u1IbMzlZ9GA
Actually I’ve had great luck with MDF frames. We built 30+ machines out of it last year and have had no issues. All I did was sand the surfaces, prime, sand, and paint have had absolutely no problems since. Using 6mm MDF. I would highly recommend staying away from stain simply due to the makeup of MDF. Light coats of spray paint shouldn’t be an issue.
@Griffin_Paquette That seems to be a good option. Did you seal any edges before painting and did use use spray paint on all the frames? Also how much did you sand? How much is enough?
MDF is a great material to work with, but there seems not to be much information on the “proper” way of finishing it.
@Aaron_Spaulding nope! Just took it off the laser cutter and left the edges. What I did for sanding was used a rotary sander till the face was smooth. Really high grit sandpaper. Then I primed it and resanded it to the same smoothness. Then just painted it.
@Griffin_Paquette That sounds good! I’m surprised no edges swelled! I might just try that! Thank You!
Yeah no problem! Any issues just let me know @Aaron_Spaulding