Painting plywood so grain does not show

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tomtheelder2020

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The custom cabinets in my 70 y.o. house are made from painted plywood. 25 years ago I removed the doors from one cabinet because my wife wanted open shelves. Now she wants the doors back - but they long ago became pieces of other projects. I did a test run on a piece of AB Marine Grade plywood running through 80, 120 and 180 grits on my random orbit sander. After a coat of primer followed by white semi-gloss the piece looks like it was intended to display the grain. The original doors show no grain whatsoever. The only thing I can think of to do to hide the grain is apply a high-build primer (I use Kel-bond Ultra), sand it down, then repeat as necessary until I have a thick, uniform layer of primer. Does anyone have an alternative approach?
 
This guy skim coated his cabinet with Bondo.
I have used Bondo for plywood edges several times, but not for the full surface. Basically sounds reasonable though. Don't put on too much filler.

hmmmm. lLink won't display preview, but I think you can still click on "watch on Youtube" . If that don't work, you can go to Youtube and search for the title which is
What Paint Finish Is Best For Plywood? How to Paint a Side Table | Best Finish


 
I have added plaster of paris to water based paint and have used a thin coat of vinyl spackling on small surfaces.
 
Steve123 said:
I have used Bondo for plywood edges several times, but not for the full surface. Basically sounds reasonable though. Don't put on too much filler.
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I am a big fan of Bondo but suspect the epoxy primer is a key to the process shown in the video. Since I am only painting about 10 sq.ft. most of that very expensive paint would be left over. I might run a test board just to see how it feels.
 
Eddie_T said:
I have added plaster of paris to water based paint and have used a thin coat of vinyl spackling on small surfaces.
Click to expand...
Interesting idea. Plaster of paris in my primer just might be the ticket - and it should sand much easier than bondo. I will run a test board to see how it works.
 
I used a spray-on filler primer for a small table that had developed grooves. Smoothed it out fairly well.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-11-oz-Gray-Filler-Primer-Spray-249279/202097276You have to shake it really well-- I think 90 seconds to 2 minutes and shake in between spraying. Which was fine for me. I shook it for 2-1/2 min just to be on the safe side.

It works on wood, plastic, metal, etc. I first saw it being used by a cosplayer who 3d printed armor pieces. The table had some deep ruts so I probably need another can to hide the grain completely, but it did a good job.

Just remember to do sanding between coats. I think using finer grit sandpaper toward the end might help. Think the stuff I used was too course of a grit.
 
If you like Bondo then you need to know this trick. Bondo Is a Poly Resin thickened with some filler. You can thin the Bondo with the liquid Poly Resin used with fiberglass cloth and then use the hardener as normal. Thinned down it is easy to spread a very thin coat that can be sanded glass smooth. Play around on some scrap wood first. :coffee:
 
Your original doors may have been birch veneer plywood. Very smooth with almost no visible grain. My kitchen, original from 1956, has those, now painted.
 
DFBonnett said:
Your original doors may have been birch veneer plywood. Very smooth with almost no visible grain.
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Interesting! Since I already have excess plywood with heavy grain I am going to try tests of some of the other methods of getting a smooth surface but will look into this if none pan out or are too much work.

My local has two birch veneer panels in stock: 2' x 4' for $47 (I would need 2) and 4' x 8' for $64. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in the veneers.
 
I have never tried it but another option might be a peel and stick veneer. I have also heard of people gluing kraft paper over plywood.
 
OP here. I ran a test on a piece of scrap plywood in three sections: 1) three coats of a high-build primer (Kel-Bond Ultra); 2) Ace wood filler; and 3) Dry Tex joint compound (because I had some). All three were applied with a putty knife and spread thinly then sanded with 120 and 180. The primer hid the grain almost complete but the other two still clearly show the grain. If I can convince myself to shell out $16 for fiberglass resin I will try Bondo.
 
Some of the peel & stick vinyl stuff isn't so expensive now. They sell it on Amazon. But it probably costs around the same as the Bondo.
 
I am using some texture paint at present and it is almost as thick as drywall mud. It is easily covering drywall repair areas where I cut windows to access plumbing. I didn't think to try it but I am sure it would have covered even the grain of fir plywood.

Someone on a woodworking forum recommended this (available at Lowes):


Screenshot 2021-08-20 12.25.41 PM.png
 
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Actually the key is in the sanding. Anything that can be sanded smooth will work if it's thick enough to cover grain.
 
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