Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Anyone ever used plain white emulsion as a base coat for a bass?


tommorichards
 Share

Recommended Posts

Ive wanted to start spraying my basses, but i cant justify the price for the spray cans of primer. I instead used a large tub of white emulsion paint. Applied with a paint brush, about one coat a day over 2 weeks, then sanded flush. I got a really smooth finish from it for the bass im spraying, and im just wondering if anyone else has tried it.

Also, can someone tell me why there are tiny little bubbles in the emulsion when i paint it, which turn into dimples once sanded? Im not sure of the exact cause.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a horrible feeling that when you spray it the "spray" paint will react with the emulsion and melt it I think it has some thing to do with emulsion being water based I cant remember off the top of my head, You can pick up cheap cans of auto primer in places like Poundland etc myself I would rather use the proper primer etc as a good paint job is all in the prep, your sanded emulsion may look great now but when you start putting the colour on you will see every slight brush stroke dimple and imperfection its just not worth skimping I cant stress enough that it is all in the preperation.

This primer is grey OK for dark colours but just to show it can be bought cheap :)

[url="http://www.poundland.co.uk/grey-primer-spray-paint-300ml"]http://www.poundland.co.uk/grey-primer-spray-paint-300ml[/url]

Edited by Thunderbird
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, i started spraying it with orange, and it did show up the little imperfections, but thats because i went lazy and didnt perfectly sand it mirror flat. Im not too bothered.

The orange spray was going well until it fell over while wet onto the sawdust caked floor :(

Thanks for the advice though, ill keep an eye on it to see what happens

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The primer serves two functions. Wood contains lots of water and air, the primer acts as a barrier between that and the top coat which may not be compatible with water. You might be restricted to using water based top coats now and your emulsion may be porous to water and air and so is not sealed. The second function is to stick the paint to the wood. Your finish is possibly going to peel and will chip more easily than if you used an appropriate primer. Traditional wood primers contain very little pigment because their primary function isn't to colour the wood. In spray based systems the primer is designed to be compatible with both the wood and the paint and if it is a two coat system should be coloured to work with the top coat.

If you want a relic'd finish you are probably going to get it very quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much does the spray primer mentioned by the OP cost to make it unjustifiable? Seems you can get some oil based primer for reasonable cost ? Could use brush on oil based primer. Don't use emulsion paint as not good to combine water and oil based paints and in any case it doesn't do the job of priming the wood as outlined above. I'd suggest primer then undercoat then top coats.with plenty of rubbing down between a few coats of each.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...