Spraying Benjamin Moore Advance on A-1 Plywood

[Israel]

Hello, So I've made some bookcases that are to be painted white to match the base cabinets they will sit on. They are made of maple veneer A-1 grade hardwood plywood, to ensure a solid non-warped face that will take paint well. I've done some spraying on test pieces, using the Fuji Mini-Mite 4 stage sprayer and BM Advance thinned 8% with water…it sprays nicely but, after primer + 2 coats, I can still make out a bit of the plywood grain. The question is how many coats should this take to completely hide the grain? And would folks finish with a topcoat of a clear poly, like GF sprayable water based poly?
Thanks in advance for all help!

[Trusty Rusty]

I think you are spraying too thin.
Primer and 2 coats should easily cover the grain ( although I usually put 2 coats of primer)
There is no need to topcoat Advanced with anything, it will get rock hard on its own.
Rusty

[JR1]

I agree with Rusty.
I haven't used advantage but have seen several projects using it. A 3rd coat should fix it just fine. A little heaver coat will do it with two coats. A friend built a huge heavily used bookcase and it has work very well. I don't see any need for any topcoat unless you are worried about chemical resistance—in a bookcase

[Israel]

Thanks…I suspected as much. Will try to get a bit more paint (and primer, also Advance) down, without causing the dreaded "orange peel"… I may have sprayed too lightly, but I must say the finish looks good…
Thanks again-

[Howard Acheson]

Are you flat sanding between coats? You should lightly sand with 320 and then 400 grit between coats. Mount your sand paper on a flat, firm sanding pad and sand lightly and with the grain.

[Israel]

Hi Howard, I actually sanded with 220 very, very lightly with a finish ROS --and that seemed to help. I will take your advice and hand sand with 320 and 400 next time. Thanks for the advice!