Primer/sealer for painting wood?

This is probably a newbie question, but I don't have any experience painting wood for a nice finish. I'm making a small shelf that will sit on my TV stand; the TV will rest on top of it, and a speaker will be under the shelf. As you can see it's made from a couple old cabinet doors. I'm not sure of the exact type of wood, but it's a relatively hard plywood. I'm filling all the holes and gaps with standard wood filler, but I'm not sure what to coat it with before painting. I plan to spray it with a matte black paint of some type. Suggestions? I'd head to the local paint store and have them help you pick the paint. Once you know what paint you're going to use, the primer is easier to pick. Normally you would use a solvent based primer but since you intend to use black, I'd apply multiple coats of an oil base black, sanding after the first coat or two. I'd be leery of using a latex paint because of both possible adhesion problems and many latex enamels don't dry hard enough to prevent heavy objects from sticking If you want to use primer, try to find or have it tinted grey - that will help the black to cover. I'm planning to spray it with a rattle can. Is the stuff you guys suggested spray-on or are you talking brush-on stuff? I'm not overly fond of rattle cans because the paint is extra thin [so it can be made to spray out of can] and it's difficult to get a decent build up of paint. Brushing oil base paint with a quality natural bristle brush usually gives good results. What you could do is brush on a coat, sand when dry, brush on another coat, sand lightly and then use an aerosol can. Don't forget to remove the dust There are decent primers and paints available in rattle cans but it's rarely as cost effective as buying the same coating in quarts or gallons. The main thing is that spray cans produce thin coats of paint and it's difficult to get a decent build up of the paint film - which helps with both wear and looks. Cool, I will look into that. Are hardware stores like Lowes and Home Depot acceptable to buy paint? I would probably just go for the cheapest stuff that meets my specifications. What do you use to remove the dust? Just a cloth? Since they aren't around....let me parrot the Pro Painter Party line...lol. You will normally find better quality coatings, supplies and advice at a REAL paint store...Sherwin Williams, Ben Moore, Pittsburg Paint etc are some of the better known ones..there are also local and regional stores that would be just fine. Some of the smaller chain stores like Ace or TruValue have their own lines of paint which get good comments. Go for a mid level price...the cheapest lines will not be much better than what you will find at Kmart or a Home improvement store. btw...for future reference..on here when someone says hardware store...they normally mean something like Ace, TruValue, Joes corner store or similar. Big Box means the large home improvement centers like HD, Lowes, Menards..etc. Vic, you did good, now if you'll send me your dues, I'll see that you become an official party member

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