Sorry, missed the questions (and the compliments, thanks!) Pleased with the outcome, but that is a job I shall not likely tackle again in this lifetime. Well, maybe wait a few more years and I might change my tune... Pardon the length, I have answered your questions and also point out mistakes I made, so you won't make the same, not worth it ; ) I did this job (all twelve days of it) in a state of total burnout and aching muscles from repainting the entire house, and staining/poly coating stairs/railing that DH had installed after he installed our hardwood floors. House was in total disarray. It's been 2 years I still find things in boxes I didn't know I had. So a job like cabinets in that frame of mind led me to mistakes and shortcuts and I knew better. Weariness clouded my judgment. So if you're doing an overhaul, save the a cabinet job for when it is your sole focus and you've got lots of stamina. First, clean well. Really well. Think of the years of built up oil-based polishes, airborne stuff from cooking, etc. Oils absorb into woods, and a half-hearted wipe with a rag and Dirtex doesn't cut it. My first mistake, should have scrubbed the dickens out of them with Dirtex and #0000 steel wool. Second mistake: I did not scuff sand to get even more gunk off outer surface of wood and prepare for better adhesion of primer/paint. Third mistake: I did not use oil-based primer. I love Bullseye 123, has served me well on all types of jobs. But because of mistakes 1 and 2 above, an oil-based primer probably would have covered my tracks. I have a couple chips here and there where something has bumped the paint, the tiny chips go right down to the old finish. That tells me my primer is not adhering well which tells me my prep was too lame. (I am not in any frame of mind to tackle fixing this at the moment, but will be forced to this year, so plan to turn to Michael for his infinite wisdom if he's willing ;) The reason I know I failed in several areas with prep on the cabs is because the interior room doors pictured above (new and pre-primed) are still pristine. No pin head size chips, nada. bud_wi, my hinges were a nightmare. Somehow, we got The Most Unique Hinges Known To Mankind. I shopped everywhere for replacements, none to be found (even online). I could easily have replaced them with like kind by myself (stick to the existing holes, go easy with the drill so screws don't strip). However, I did not want to remove and replace with a totally new style, which as Michael suggests is best choice (and I agree). The reason I did not switch hinge styles is because it would involve a bit more work and DH's participation. He was equally burned out, and my request to add yet another job would have been met with his favored 'have you lost your mind' look. Now I am married to one of the handiest guys, and he is a perfectionist. Trick is to get him motivated. Because he is also the last great procrastinator. So when he's burned out but says 'I'll get to it next weekend', that means I could be facing months and months of cabinets with no doors. Couldn't bear the thought. So I painted 'em. Mistake number four (I am up to four now, right?). Two years, four months later hinges are flaking (I primed with Bulsseye 123 first) primarily where hinges rub. That really accelerated just in very recent past to where it's noticeable, and will only get worse. I cannot put off addressing this development much longer, as old brass peeking through bright white is not attractive. Oddly enough, back when I was doing this job, someone suggested auto touch up paint. (Comes in a 3" tall bottle ala nail polish.) Unfortunately, I had already painted all but a few hinges when I got that tip. The hinges with auto touch up paint (in a white I picked that closely matched CC) are holding up well. For now. For anyone who needs to remove paint from hinges, I just saw a tip on This Old House: get a cheapy crock pot (not ever meant for food), put water in, turn it on low, let hinges soak for 12 hours (or overnight) and paint will fall off in a big glob. (Not sure if that applies to oil-based.) Whether I go that route and buff them out (I don't like brass) or ask DH for new is a nasty toss up. Replacing our deck is pending this spring, so for new hinges I might as well ask him to hang the moon ;) I left the doors up. I did not paint the insides of the cabinets (good condition = no need). I used a Purdy XL Dale 1 1/2' angle brush (my favorite) for tight nooks, small areas. I applied paint to doors with a 4" foam roller (speedier and better control) and followed up with a final single stroke, top to bottom, with a half-loaded brush (Purdy XL Dale 3" flat). I say half-loaded because fully loaded brush with CC would only create excess paint which then runs everywhere as it seeks it's level. Dry would drag through existing paint leaving a gummy trail. So half loaded pulls out any bubbles from the foam roller, keeps the work surface sufficiently wet but not drowning in paint, and paint will then level well. Learn from my mistakes, so that you do not stand in your kitchen 2 1/2 years from now and see what I am beginning to see.

Lacquer can be clear or coloured. For the coloured, a pigment is added basically the same way you mix a paint. You have a base, light or dark and colourant is added to a 'recipe', blacks, browns, reds, yellows, etc. In my past, I was a custom cabinet manufacturer, I'm a Cabinetmaker by trade. When a customer wanted a 'painted' finish, I would have them choose a colour from the paint brands, Ben Moore, Sherwin, even Home Depot. I would then take the paint chip to my lacquer supplier and he would generate a formula the same way you would if you took a paint chip to have a paint mixed. It's just different products. For a DIY'er you can buy a cup gun at the home improvement/hardware store, and then find a finish supplier who sells lacquer. You can buy a pre-catalyzed (one that has the hardner added at time of purchase), have it tinted to the colour you want, and spray it yourself. However, lacquer is volatile (unless you use a water-based) and for that reason you need to use it in a well ventilated. free from spark area. To be honest, I wouldn't recommend it for the average person to do just because of it's volatile make-up. If you did find a water-based lacquer, you would be a lot safer and it would be better for the environment if you're using it without a proper filtration booth. Although, water-based lacquers are more finicky to work with. Spraying also takes quite a bit of finesse and talent to properly achieve the best look, but it can be done by a DIY'er. Every finisher started off with not knowing anything about finish but with practice, became proficient. It's all about practice and patience. As far as cracking goes, the only time I've seen lacquer crack is when it wasn't applied or mixed properly. Too thick and it will definitely crack. Too much hardner and it will crack. You don't want lacquer to pool in areas where the wood moves such as around the inner perimeter of a panelled door. Lacquer is meant to be applied in thin layers and even when the last layer is applied, it's only so many 'mils' thick.

I had cabinets made by a local cabinetmaker and he used SW precat lacquer. He sprayed 3 coats. It has been 8 years and the cabinets are in a rental and the finish is a little scratched around a couple knobs But otherwise perfect. same guy does high end homes around the lake. With the same products as he used on mine. I think your cabinetmaker either used old finish (it has short shelf life), forgot how many coats and just did one or something else....equipment failure or drunk?

At this point there are plenty of flat lacquers. Most companies are going to make something that gets down under a 30 and many will get down under 10. I believe that Sherwin Williams hi-bild precat is between 4-8, which approaches a dead flat sheen. Paints have come a very long way in the last 20 years and oil based paints are a bit of a dinosaur. I would argue that a solvent based waterborne has most of the advantages of a regular solvent based paint while minimizing the drawbacks. ------------- Just for some clarity, for years oil (alkyd) based enamel paints were far superior to water based paints, but they were a real pain to clean up and they are not particularly healthy during the curing process. Additionally, oil based paints tend to yellow over time. The other option was water based acrylic paints, which are safer, don't yellow, and clean up easier. However, they were significantly less durable for much of their existence. Still they became much more popular for a variety of reasons and with that popularity came the race to improve them. Today many acrylics will approach the durability of enamels. So this all seemed pretty simple until someone working on safer versions of alkyd based spray paint stumbled on a way to suspend the alkyd reaction in an acrylic solution. Thus we got the waterborne alkyd paints. These are essentially enamels that cure primarily by evaporation until near the end when they use the typical chemical reaction of alkyd paints for a final cure. This drastically reduces yellowing, allows water clean-up, eliminates most of the safety concerns, and allows the durability of an alkyd based paint. At this point these have really surpassed traditional oil based paints in performance. So I urge everyone to look into them. -------------- There are other coatings that are useful but use other delivery media that I am not going to talk abut for fear this thing could get out of hand. The discussion above is really about what we would think of as traditional paints rather than industrial coatings.