Questions about painting kitchen cabinets

[Steve Balinski]

Hello everyone, I could really use some help.

I'm not in a position to remodel my entire kitchen, but i have plenty of time and figured I'd try to paint my kitchen cabinets.

One of my biggest struggles is trying to figure out what is on the front of the doors.  They are dark compressed wood with a high gloss front.  Several people who came here *thought* it was a sheet of vinyl or similar material.  When I tried to sand it with 80grit, it didnt seem to do ANYTHING in regards to scuffing the surface (image above).  This makes me think is there possible lacquer or poly on top of just painted compressed wood?  Do I need a deglosser?  I had to hold the palm sander on it for a good 15 seconds for the top layer to start to come off...once it did, I could see the texture of the wood below it.

I then cleaned the doors with degreaser.  Next I used Sherwin Williams Extreme-bond, 1 hour later I sanded with 220 grit, applied a 2nd coat and then sanded 1 hr later.  I'm wondering if I applied the 2nd coat to soon?

Once the 2nd coat of primer was done I applied my first coat of Alkyd paint from Behr, waited 4 hrs, sanded, applied a 2nd coat.  I went down to check it out moment ago (3 hrs)

My biggest issue is it seems the front layer scratches very easily.  I took a light finger nail to it and it made a scratch mark.  Is this because i didnt wait long enough between primer coats or paint coats?  Do I need a layer of lacquer or poly over it? Should I need to do that in the first place? I've heard this Behr Alkyd paint is supposed to be really good.