What paint for furniture

LOL... bet you are right. Still use it, still love it. Can't brush it, but if you can spray lacquer, you can spray this stuff.

A lot of speculation on what to use on furniture, and for me, no question i t would be alkyd. Latex is considered a permeable finish, and alkyd is alm ost impermeable. With alkyd finishes the abrasion resistance is much great er and its light resistance is higher.

Green strength of alkyd is 48-72 hours depending on site conditions such as ventilation, temperature and humidity. Full cure is about 21 days accordi ng to SW, Coronado, Pittsburgh etc.

Latex is not a favorite for horizontal surfaces, high abrasion surfaces, or surfaces exposed to water. NOTE: I specified horizontal surfaces. Latex will shed water when given a chance (vertical surfaces) but is still a per meable surface. I have seen green/cure times vary so wildly over the years I wouldn't speculate on either.

So as a contractor, I need something I can control and something I can rely on for specific performance. I use latex on walls, some trims, alkyd on ev erything else.

To see a brief discussion on permeability of paints, check out this link:

Robert

If abrasion resistance matters to you you want urethane. Some time back I spent a good bit of the taxpayers' money evaluating the abrasion resistance of various paints to use on military aircraft and the result consistently was that urethanes were as a group the most abrasion resistant paints available. There were more resistant coatings (thick nickel plating or boron carbide for example) but they could not be applied with a sprayer.

No doubt there are superior finishes of all types for any application that address specific aspects of coatings.

Working within the context of the OP's question, I would not suggest a coating that he probably could not apply without training, would no doubt have to purchase additional specialized equipment to apply, and would cost more than the desk itself.

Doubtful a well meaning hobby/DIY guy (but certainly not excluding the possibility) of application of true industrial related coatings (NOT paint) that you speak of.

Just in case, this is my first resource:

Robert