Rust-oleum Primer and Krylon Semigloss... incompatible????

[ReefEnabler]

I am painting some lumber for my T5 retro setup. The paint I had was Rust-Oleum "Painters Touch, Sandable Primer" in gray, and Krylon Indoor/outdoor Semi-gloss White.

Did 2 coats primer and some light sanding with 600 grit dry paper.

The Krylon just doesn't want to go onto this primer... especially the end of the lumber. I did 7 or 8 coats and the ends are still gray, inspite of soaking them a few times. also seeing gray in every part where theres imperfections in the wood, the Krylon seems repelled.

incompatible?

 

[hhaase]

Are you using aerosol or brush-on? I've found that loose grain woods just keep drinking paint but leaving a poor surface.
Particularly on the end grains, which can sometimes take a lot of paint/stain before it stops absorbing. You're definitely going to need more than 2 coats of primeron the end grain.

I would give everything a fresh scuff-sanding and then a couple coats of a primer-sealer such as KILZ. Make sure it has that "Sealer" word in there somewhere on the can, as it does make a huge difference. Since you're dealing with lumber, I'd suggest looking at exterior house primer-sealer instead of general purpose stuff.

If they were incompatible, you would end up with a nasty reaction in the paints causing fish-eyes and other really obvious issues, so I don't think that is the problem here.