Painting box?

[kpllk]

Alright so I've been riding around with a plain, unfinished box the last few months because I was waiting for an idea of how I wanted the finished product to look, and I've finally got it. I have a couple of questions for you guys though

First, how many times to you guys think its safe to unscrew something from MDF and put it back before having to use T-nuts? I'm guessing one time shouldn't really be a problem, but MDF seems like it would be pretty unforgiving with things like that. I was thinking I could probably put some wood putty or wood glue in the holes before I screw them back in for a little extra strength? I have my amp screwed to the side of the box which is my only real concern.

What's the best way to fix some pretty big fuck ups? I made a really stupid mistake when building it and I predrilled all the holes through the baffle, took it off to lay down the glue, and somehow it must have gotten flipped or turned because nothing really lined up. The baffle pulled to the side so it wasn't flush, and screws started going through the wood The part that isn't flush is about 3/16 off for the most part. I tried using wood putty thinking it would work, but either it doesn't go good with MDF, or it was alright screwed up because it didn't seem right straight out of the can. I see a lot of people use body filler, but do you guys think it would be thick enough to smooth that gap out? In a few lighter coats of course. Or would I need to resort to something like fiberglassing the whole thing to make it look nice?

And finally, anyone want to give me a quick run down of how you all paint your boxes? Like what type of paint and tools you use. Usually I'd do my research on this before asking, but since I'm already posting I figured I'd see if someone can save me some time. I'm going for all black with a splatter red finish

[MrSkippyJ]

you shouldn't be able to take your box apart, it should be glued. what is holding it together if you haven't glued it?

[bigmizzle99]

Alright so I've been riding around with a plain, unfinished box the last few months because I was waiting for an idea of how I wanted the finished product to look, and I've finally got it. I have a couple of questions for you guys though

First, how many times to you guys think its safe to unscrew something from MDF and put it back before having to use T-nuts? I'm guessing one time shouldn't really be a problem, but MDF seems like it would be pretty unforgiving with things like that. I was thinking I could probably put some wood putty or wood glue in the holes before I screw them back in for a little extra strength? I have my amp screwed to the side of the box which is my only real concern.

What's the best way to fix some pretty big fuck ups? I made a really stupid mistake when building it and I predrilled all the holes through the baffle, took it off to lay down the glue, and somehow it must have gotten flipped or turned because nothing really lined up. The baffle pulled to the side so it wasn't flush, and screws started going through the wood The part that isn't flush is about 3/16 off for the most part. I tried using wood putty thinking it would work, but either it doesn't go good with MDF, or it was alright screwed up because it didn't seem right straight out of the can. I see a lot of people use body filler, but do you guys think it would be thick enough to smooth that gap out? In a few lighter coats of course. Or would I need to resort to something like fiberglassing the whole thing to make it look nice?

And finally, anyone want to give me a quick run down of how you all paint your boxes? Like what type of paint and tools you use. Usually I'd do my research on this before asking, but since I'm already posting I figured I'd see if someone can save me some time. I'm going for all black with a splatter red finish

Rip a piece of mdf 3/16 wide the length of the gap. Use wood glue and glue the "filler" strip in the gap. Clamp it tight. Once dry, use your favorite body filler to cover the seams of this fix, then use it to cover the rest of the seams, the screw holes, and the mdf edges.

Sand it smooth, then prime it. After priming, fix all the mistakes that are now visible because of the priming. Sand again. Re-prime. Sand again. Then paint.

[Triticum Agricolam]

It depends on how much work it will take to fix the error, but my general opinion is that MDF is cheap, just rebuild the box. With the experience you gained building it the first time your next one should be that much better. If you have to do anything with fiberglass in attempt to fix the mistake you will almost certainly be better just building a new box.

[frogcase2002]

Can you post pictures of what your talking about

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

Liquid nails is good for filling holes and gaps.

[Jessica]

if you rebuild, and you can get access to a router get a flush trim bit. it will at least save you some sanding later

[Nightshade]

I would use Bondo to fill in any gaps that you mentioned. It works great on boxes especially ones made out of mdf. As far as painting goes I usually use birch and stain the box and then to a polyurethane over top of it to keep it nice. For mdf you will need to primer the wood first to get it ready to accept paint and look good in the process. You can just paint the raw mdf but it will look much better if you primer it with a coat or two first before you paint the box. Once you put a coat of paint on then I would suggest sanding it and doing another coat or two sanding before each new coat.