I have just completed the construction of a solid cherry table, with a 1 1/2 inch thick, single plank top about 2 1/2 by 4 feet, three drawers underneath the top and a full length shelf about 6 inches off the floor, also about 1
1/2 inches thick. I want a glossy finish on it and can't decide between oil-based or latex-based white paint.
Which one will give the best finish with the fewest coats of paint? Which would be the most durable?
With a top of 1 1/2 inches, I wouldn't consider anything except white, two-part epoxy paint. This stuff is tuff. Will last a lifetime except it isn't totally stain resistant. Magic marker and ball point can be hard to remove.
Don't ruin that lovely cherry. Nail or staple a sheet of good exterior grade plywood over it and paint it. When it wears, you can replace the plywood without affecting the cherry.
Nice wood when you can get it, but single planks that size are getting hard to come by. After being inspired by square Japanese watermelons (grown inside a square glass container), I'll be doing the same with cherry trees. I'll just make a mold the size of a finished piece of furniture and grow a tree inside it (patent pending). After about 30 or 40 years, all you need to do is break the mold, peel the bark off, sand a bit, and finish with white oil-based or latex paint.
Anyone know where I can find some venture capital?
This looked like a really good idea, so I tried it. I used aluminum roofing nails to match the aluminum sheeting you recommended. I had one heck of a time trying to pound the aluminum nails into the cherry. They kept bending, and when I tried to straighten them, some broke off. Aluminum nails are just too soft, so I gave up on this whole idea.
I think maybe the problem was that the cherry plank was defective. It wasn't straight grain, but all curly and swirly, like it was one big knot. I know from nailing other stuff that it's very difficult to nail right into a knot.
I shouldn't complain, though. I should have known that there was something wrong with the big cherry plank when the guy sold it to me so cheap--$14.00.
Maybe I'll try Robert Galloway's suggestion of white two-part epoxy paint. But I guess I'll have to spend time putting wood putty in the nail holes first. Bummer!
You're going to paint a solid-cherry table? Ouch. Why didn't you use a less expensive wood if you were just planning on covering it up? As far as the paint [shudder] goes, I usually use a latex based enamel for high gloss, with a good primer coat underneith, carefully sanded before applying the enamel.
I was kidding, as almost everyone realized. Most of the responses really made me laugh.
Actually, I did just complete such a table, and it is giving me fits in the finishing process. (Just like every other piece I've done!) Painting it white did go through my mind, sort of as a punishment of the cherry for being mean to me, instead of as an attractive finish. Upon consideration, I realized that wood probably can't feel any pain.
Then it occurred to me to have a little fun with the white paint idea.
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