My understanding is that oil paints are catalyzed by oxygen in the air, which causes a cure process. So they don't really dry through solvent evaporation, as does lacquer, instead they have a chemical reaction with the air that hardens them. That's why you can't easily dissolve old cured oil based paint or Poly with any solvent, takes more of a caustic stripper. And once cured, it won't readily bond well to itself without physical abrasion to the underlying layer. Same basic deal with acrylics I think - they can't really go back into a solvent once cured.
Agree that a cabinet will never look perfect using paint touch up, but you'd be taking it another step in the direction of presentable. Once those bare wood spots are camouflaged, your eye (or at least everyone else s eye) will easily look past them, especially in photographs. I'd start with the basic background brown, then go back and smudge a little darker brown or black over for a subtle graining effect. The key will be matching the basic background color to the overall cabinet tone. Experiment by smearing it on some paper or cardboard until it's close enough to blend with the cabinet.
Last edited by Kevin Kuehn; 10-11-2012 at 11:55 PM.
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