Paiting Floating Pannel Doors

[julvr]

I'm redoing my bathroom, and I've built (but not glued) several new floating panel doors (cope and joint). I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to go about painting them.

I plan on using an opaque white paint (primed first, and then painted). I'm a bit worried about the following things:

1) For the grooves that accept the panel, how do you paint it to prevent the paint from beading? Is it ok to use a different type of paint for inside the grooves (or is it ok to just prime it, and not paint it?)

2) I'd like to glue up the upper end of the frame and sand it flush prior to painting. The pannel would slide in from the bottom -- it isn't as important that the bottom be perfectly flush.

3) Besides the groove, should the frame be painted before or after it is glued up? (or a combination of both?)

4) Are there any tricks to prevent the frame from warping during the painting process?

Thanks,

John

[Tim W]

First off, forgive me if you know this but it is often not well understood - the panel only needs to be loose/floating if the panel itself is solid wood. If the panel is ply, mdf, veneered, anything stable then glue it in even if the frame is wooden.

Assuming you have panels then of softwood or something for painting it is normal to paint the panel before glueing up the panel & frame so that if and when the panel shrinks it doesn't expose an unfinished strip. That's all. painting inside the grooves is not necessary, and you can't paint the frame members because you will need to flush up the joints.

I don't know what you mean by 'cope and joint' or paint 'beading'.

Tim w

[C&S]

understood -

Ditto what Tim said, I would just add that I pre-paint the edges of the frame where it meets the pannel to that I do not have to paint the seam, which as you guessed would cause the paint to bead up. I do this with clear finishes too.

He means profile the ends of the rails to they mate with the profiled stiles

Where the panel meets the frame the seam will wick in the paint a bit, rounding in the corner. If the panel shrinks later, you are left with a ridge.

[julvr]

Thanks for the info. I'm still a bit weary of not painting the grooves, as this is going in a bathroom, where the moisure levels will vary quite a bit, and the wood is pine (which will rot when exposed to moisture). I will try to paint these with a very small brush and thin paint.

John

[bent]

or if is made, use a small piece of trim, make or buyL}, then u can paint it and the panel seperately

[Pig]

If you're worried only about sealing the wood, tint some shellac with the color and give it a light coat of 4 or 5 lb cut of shellac, as I would be concerned about the paint being too thick and binding the panel when you insert it.

Mutt