Best paint for wood trays

[Michael Firstlight]

Picked up four wonderful 16x20" custom wood trays from a generous Photrio member. They appear watertight, but Id like to refinish/repaint them. What is the best paint that would enhance the watertightness and provide a smooth glossy white (or gray finish? I've seen folks building custom water-tight wood sinks - what's the best paint, epoxy, or whatever to use?

Mike

 

[jtk]

Variarithane or epoxy.

 

[AgX]

In the long past I wold have used PVC varnish which is PVC in organic solvent, thus making it similar to trays from PVC sheets, but such varnish has been prohibited here.

 

[Stephen Prunier]

I think some use marine paint. Your best bet would be to go to a real paint store where employees know what's what and ask them. The big-box stores may or may not have a clue what would be best for you to use.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

I think some use marine paint. Your best bet would be to go to a real paint store where employees know what's what and ask them. The big-box stores may or may not have a clue what would be best for you to use.

Great idea! I think marine paint might be just the ticket. Some of them for boat bottoms leach copper, so I'd avoid those types, but something more like a topside mix might be ideal - which is for wood and contain one-part polyurethane.

https://www.amazon.com/TotalBoat-To...ade+paint+for+wood&qid=1639849167&sr=8-2&th=1

Mike

 

[gone]

The color shouldn't be important, they make trays in many different sizes and colors. If they're custom made wood trays, I'd try and preserve the wood finish by light sanding followed by steel wool, then fill in any cracks or seams w/ plastic wood to match the original wood if possible. A few coats of clear polyurethane should keep chemicals away from the tray itself. They'll still discolor on the inside over time, but I suspect that anything you paint it with is going to discolor. Even the old white porcelain trays get stained.

 

[Roger Thoms]

You could use West System epoxy with their grey pigment https://www.westsystem.com/503-gray-pigment/ . West System epoxy is popular for coating wooden dark room sinks and although I haven’t used it for that, I did the floor of my power shed and battery compartment and it turned out great.

Roger

 

[Doremus Scudder]

I'm assuming that they are painted already. It might be wise to find out what kind of paint was originally used. Since you got them from a member here, that should be simple. The reason for this is that some paints don't go on well over others.

FWIW, I use marine topside paint on my darkroom sink, but it stains badly, especially with pyro developers. No problem with the big sink; I can sand and repaint small areas easily when needed. For trays, I might try to find something more robust and chemical resistant. Specialty paint stores might be your best bet for advice.

Best,

Doremus

 

[Hilo]

I'm assuming that they are painted already. It might be wise to find out what kind of paint was originally used. Since you got them from a member here, that should be simple. The reason for this is that some paints don't go on well over others.

FWIW, I use marine topside paint on my darkroom sink, but it stains badly, especially with pyro developers. No problem with the big sink; I can sand and repaint small areas easily when needed. For trays, I might try to find something more robust and chemical resistant. Specialty paint stores might be your best bet for advice.

Best,

Doremus

My thought as well. I built a wooden sink that lasted me 25 years using epoxy paint. It could have 3 trays for 20x24in. and then 4 trays for smaller print sizes. On one end there was the drain and I built a drawer underneath that with a flexible drain tube, this for one more 20x24in. tray for the water. All this was done with untreated wood (Multiplex). 2 components ground paint, 2 components filler and 2 components finishing paint, all medium grey. It never leaked water and the chemicals never hurt the paint. I gave it new coats of the same paint at one point. But in the end the wood wore out and I had to give it up. Then I had one made from pvc exactly the same size. That's what I use now.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

Thank you all for the great suggestions and advice. I'll likely not get to refinishing them until it warms up a bit,but I have a lot more information to consider to decide the best option.

Mike