How do I paint a floating panel without effectively gluing it to the frame?  I've seen many such panels split by humidity.

 

Is it nothing more than paint it, then score the paint with a knife?

Just winging it here Tony, but my first thought was paint your panel first, and your frames, but don't paint the grooves the frames go into obviously, let dry well, then before assembling apply a little paste wax to the edges of the panels and assemble.

31 minutes ago, tony ennis said:

Is it nothing more than paint it, then score the paint with a knife?

That would prevent the failure that you have seen, but you'll still have an unsightly bare wood on the sides of the panel showing when the panel does contract.

14 hours ago, tony ennis said:

Is it nothing more than paint it, then score the paint with a knife?

I have done this and those cabinets have never failed, must be 20+ years old.

 

 

If you finish the panel after assembly into the frame, any shrinkage or movement of the panel may reveal a non-finished stripe.  Finishing the frame, and the panel itself, after assembly (but finishing the panel tongue before assembly) should be fine.  If you get significant panel movement after assy/finish, the paint won't stop the movement, so I don't know if you need to score it.

This is what I call "tan lines."  The Chinese manufacturers either need to learn about this (or learn to care.)  I don't know that I've ever painted raised panels, maybe once on some old exterior doors.  But I always stain and put at least one coat of finish on the panel before assembly.  It might not hurt to make the groove just slightly oversized, too.  I like the idea of waxing, but I'd probably do the grooves in the stiles and not on the panels themselves.   Latex paint has the property of "blocking" -- essentially making a glue bond between itself and stuff it's in close contact with for extended periods of time.

6 hours ago, kmealy said:

Latex paint has the property of "blocking" -- essentially making a glue bond between itself and stuff it's in close contact with for extended periods of time.

I used latex paint once on some furniture.  Oh, maybe twice because I'm a slow learner.*  Latex essentially never dries, which is a good feature on house paint because it lasts a long time before chalking.  There is an additive that's supposed to help latex dry, but I was told that enamel works a lot better, and that has been true.  Took a lot of sanding to get the latex off so I could replace it with enamel, but the legs don't stick to the floor any more.  Or to the baby.  But I think latex and enamel both handle wetness (baby...crib...yeah) well.

 

 

*okokokok, maybe four times.  

49 minutes ago, PeteM said:

...but I was told that enamel works a lot better, and that has been true. 

 

Oil paint is a pain, but you can't argue with the result.  I bought a Home Depo (Ridgid) toolbox last year to discover it was nothing more than a huge cavern. With great hardware on it :-D

 

I built tool trays to go inside it and painted them with oil paint. Very nice result.

 

5 hours ago, tony ennis said:

 

Oil paint is a pain, but you can't argue with the result. 

Awkshully, I used a water based enamel.  No smell (moms get upset with cribs/beds/dressers that outgas), great cleanup.  

Panel 101 construction by me.

1. Size the panels so they cannot fall out of the groves in the frame.

2. Finish completely and fully cure before assembly.

3. install in the door with anti rattle devices (balls, weather stripping, screen rope).  Keeps the panel center in the frame and never allows contact between the door and panel and creates a great feature of a shaddow line.

4. Carefully finish the door masking off the panels.

5. Has worked on shop cabinents for 20+ years.

6. Because the panel never touches the frame and no finish is permitted to bridge the gap you never has any glueing on latex paints but I always use acrylic paint anyway.

 

 

Edited May 1, 20197 yr by Michael Thuman
Correct wording.