MTFCA Forum

I am building a 15 model T based ALF fire truck and the bed is made of white oak. I was told today that white oak is difficult to get paint to adhere too. Any truth to this? Any one have experience painting white oak?This is a picture of the hose bed on it end. Thanks!

It should take paint fine. Start with a good primer.

My advice would be that if you are starting with fresh/new white oak I would NOT make the surface smooth as glass before painting.

Finish it out at 140-180 grit.

Do you or don’t you want the chance of grain bleed in the finish product?

If you do, any alky primer would be good as an exterior finish. If you don’t then I’d go shellac based (zinsser bin exterior).

The next trick will have eyes roll. Roll it on using Mohair rollers. For the alky one coat maybe two max. For the BIN, follow the between application times to the letter and add coats until slick as glass.

You will want a good enamel for your finish. The trick is to find one formulated to work best with the specific primer below. Also, do be careful of the open time on the primed surface before applying finish coat. There’s a science to that “after so long” and “before so long”. They warn you on the can with the proper times for the product.

The possible problem with White Oak is sheeting due to lack of bite of the base. Read the above, it bites. Some say that grain bleed leads to thermal splits in the final coat which eventually fail. That is not my own personal experience, good bite is good bite!

I’m a believer in BIN’s...be quick, it dries fast!

What George said ....

I would add that base coats over rougher surfaces will get a REALLY good bite, that
can be sanded after subsequent coats to get a smoother top coat, ... but you get that
superior bite from the first coat. Just my .02

BIN....???

Am I the only dummy that needs to read whole words? I HATE acronyms!

I believe this is what they speak of. Jim

The boat i live on, a 1948 fishing cutter, has a white oak wheelhouse, i use Epifanes Spar varnish on it, it is out in the weather all year and holds up better than anything i tried in the past !
Very important though is that before you apply the first coat, you wipe down all wood with dry cleaning naphta, which incidently is also the apropriate thinning agent for the varnish.
First and second coat should be diluted with aprox. 30% naphta, first two coats can be done within one day as soon as just tacky. next coats within 24 hours of each other without sanding in between coats.
Before the last coat allow to dry for two days than lightly sand very fine and put on last undiluted coat for a mirror finish.
About four or five coats should give a great finish with some slight grain showing, If you are looking for a mirror smooth finish at least 7 coats.
After a couple or more years (depending on exposure to weather) you can give a new coat after a light sanding (allways sand after thorough cleaning with water and a detergent) and a light wipedown with naphta.
All of this info is on the can, so just remember the Epifanes name and ask for the spar varnish, any well stocked boat shop should carry it, oh and it is not cheap, sorry

Thanks to all who replied here I believe all of it to be great information. I live on Long Island NY very close to Montauk point.I spoke with two local boat yard owners and would like to work with Epifans, if one question could be answered, to Kaiser,have you ever painted enamel over this product? Thanks Again , Craig

No Craig i have not, but Epifanes makes paint also, they should match.
I have put some lettering on the Varnished wood wheelhouse with OneShot lettering enamel after it was allowed to cure for a couple of months and that was no problem, so should be o.k. i think, you can allways make a small test panel, just put a dab of the varnish on a scrap of board or plastic whatever, leave to dry for a day or two and put on a dab of enamel, it should react pretty quick if they don't go together, if all is well after a day it should be fine to cover the varnish with enamel.
Most problems with finishes not matching is with the older cellulose based paint products and modern enamels, also you can experience some problems with modern acrylic paints adhering badly to oil based paints.
A good clue to what will match with what is to check what the cans give as the stuff to dilute and/or clean brushes with, if the stuff is the same on both cans, the paints will probably match without problems, simple
Good luck painting.

Thanks I will do exactly that a test,I do appreciate your help very much.—Craig