Craftisian

Ron Stewart

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Giraffe Bookcase #9: Painting

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This is part 9 in a 9 part series: Giraffe Bookcase

In my last painted project (a sideboard), I used General Finishes Milk Paint, and I painted the parts before assembly. I don't think the GF paint is durable enough for a child's bookcase (unless I added a separate topcoat, which I wanted to avoid). I had mixed feelings about pre-painting, so I decided to skip it this time.

I read several positive reviews of Benjamin Moore's Advance paint for furniture (including two here at LumberJocks). It's a water-based alkyd enamel that supposedly combines some of the durability of oil-based enamel with the easy cleanup of latex paint. My wife does all most of the painting in our house, and BM is her favorite paint brand, so I decided to give it a try.

For the color and finish, I consulted with my wife and daughter and settled on satin Bold Yellow.


The sample board I painted looked good, so I was ready to start.


I had sanded all parts with 80/100/150 grit before assembly, and I decided to follow up with 180 and 220 grit before priming.

When I paint, I prefer to do it in the garage (mainly because I worry about spills), even though I always worry about the weather and my wife always urges me to do it inside. This time, I had little choice. The weather has been rainy lately, and the BM Advance paint is slow drying (4-6 hours to dry to the touch, 16 hours between coats). There's no way we'd have five clear, low-humidity days.

I set up a drop cloth in our bonus room, then placed my trusty WorkMate in the middle. I started by placing the giraffe upside down and applying two coats of Zinsser 1-2-3 primer to the legs and shelf undersides. Then I flipped it over and primed the rest.

I used a brush for the corners and a 1/4" nap Whizz mini roller for everything else.




For the horns, ears, and tail, I built small holders. I used the roller for the ears and tail, and a 1/2" brush for the horns.


After the primer dried, I sanded everything to 220 grit again, and I was ready to paint.

To paint, I used a similar process. I started with the bookcase upside down and applied two coats to the legs and shelf undersides. I finished by flipping the bookcase and applying two coats to the remaining surfaces. It just took a lot longer than priming, because I had to wait a day between coats.



I'm no master painter, but I'm satisfied with the result. The paint was easy to apply (not too thick or thin), and the finish, while showing some roller stipple, is reasonably smooth. How durable it proves to be is an open question, but I'd definitely use the paint again.

I let the paint cure for a week before gluing on the tail. With that done, the bookcase was officially finished, and I had reached…

The End


It was a challenging but fun project. For anyone who has read this far, I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you! 
primer paint benjamin moore advance

4 Comments

Eric - the "Loft" commented almost 2 years ago
Nice write up Rob, and the Giraffe turned out great. I bet it will look great in a child's room.

Main Street to the Mountains

Ron Stewart commented almost 2 years ago
Thanks, Eric. My grandson is 17 months old now. It’s always fun seeing it in his room.
Steve Rasmussen commented almost 2 years ago
It's fun to read through this again - thanks for the very detailed blog!
Ron Stewart commented almost 2 years ago
I can’t believe you took the time to read this again. :-). I kept the tail pattern and the drill guides in case I ever need to build another one.

Someone on Instagram contacted me once to ask if I would make one for her. She politely backed away after I told her I’d have to charge her $1000, not including shipping (however I’d even do that with something so big). As slowly as I work, I’d still have earned less per hour than a teenager at a fast food restaurant.

I also toyed with the idea of coming up with a few other child- and parent-friendly bookcase designs (whale, fox, trucks, rockets, etc.) to see if I could sell them locally. I spent a few days trying to design a cat one. That’s when I realized just how hard it is to create something that captures the essence of the animal while remaining functional (with reasonable amounts of horizontal shelving, etc.) I’d like to shake the hand of whoever designed this giraffe, because they did it so well.

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