Couple of Santa projects that escaped the sawdust factory...

[gwhiz]

The court clerks sign was the biggest PITA. Originally carved in two parts, the letter halve's didn't line up so I ripped it apart and carved a new center section. Then messed up the finish so I had to sand it off and refinish. The Sons of Anarchy ashtray was made from a pattern posted out here--it's for my riding buddy who made some Adirondack chairs last year, so I made a stand with bike trip memories to match his chairs. The tray was also from patterns posted out here. Thanks to all who contributed to these!

[jakab]

Hi there, excellent work. I'm just getting started with my machine and have done a couple of small signs. I wonder of if could share the method you use for getting your finish so perfect, no fuzzies, consistent colour, great shine. The ones I have done look pretty good out of the machine, I used a soft brass brush to remove the fuzzies, but when applying stain all the letters and stuff that isn't perfectly smooth in the little nooks and crannies looks darker and rough.

I'm struggling a bit with this to the point of not carving anymore till I figure this out, or somebody like you shares his experience.

If you know where this info has already been posted I wouldn't mind a pointer to it.

Thanks for listening and keep up the great work.

...Peter

[gwhiz]

Different methods work for different projects. After sanding the flat areas with with whatever will work (i.3. Orbital, 1/4 sheet, hand, folded sandpaper, sandpaper wrapped around a pencil, etc.) I use a sanding wheel on a dremel and/or a sanding mop to smooth it out as much as possible. There is no way to skip the drudgery of sanding

On the clerks sign, because of the scale (it's 2ft x 5ft) I sanded it with an orbital and cleaned up with a dremel. Then I spray painted the letters and the graphic black. Once that dried, I sanded again to get down to bare wood and black letters. To even out the stain (the wood is actually poplar) I brushed on a coat of thinned shellac to eliminate blotching, followed by a pennsylvania cherry gel stain to get a reddish tone. Over that I sprayed three coats of shellac tinted with brown Transtint dye. I taped off the outer border and sprayed a couple of coats of gloss black. Then taped that off and sprayed the entire sign (except the black border) with a coat of Krylon clear satin acrylic to dull the sheen a bit. Be very careful mixing materials--the Krylon clear acrylic is actually laquer and might have bubbled the Krylon black border if I hadn't taped it off.

The Chicago Marathon sign isn't stained. It's walnut. Just sanded with a sanding mop and dremel (and I got lazy so you can still see lines in the flat area of the carving) and sprayed with rattle can clear lacquer.

I avoid staining when I can by using the right wood to start with and I'm more likely to tone the finish than to apply a coat of stain, but it does require a spray gun. Hope this long winded answer helps you.

[jakab]

Hey, thanks a lot. Yes, great explanation. Now I have to put it to practice. I do have a sanding mop, I'll have to dig it out and see how coarse or fine it is. Give that a try on the drill press. I'm just afraid of removing the detail by sanding...

On the Dremel, which sanding wheels do you use? The plastic ones? Floyd Harris also pointed them out to me, but I haven't been able to find then in Canada, eh? I've seen them in HomeDepot, but they want 10 bucks each, can you believe it. Floyd pointed me to an online store, much cheaper if you are in the US, for Canada there is a minimum $200 order. My son lives in New Jersey, so I think maybe I'll have a smaller order delivered to him, but again there are so many kinds online of the 3M sanding disks for the Dremel that I'm not sure what to get.

Anyhow, thanks for your help. I will keep trying.

...Peter

[radman5506]

Excellent work gwhiz and the explaination of your finishing method was informative. That court clerk sign really really looked good.

[fwharris]

Peter,

To go along with what gwhiz posted, I will also use a diluted sanding sealer ( 3 parts denatured alcohol to 1 part sanding sealer) applied after sanding. It will help raise the hard to get fuzzies so you can find them to sand down.

I think I've found the answer to your questions about the color related to grit http://www.contenti.com/products/abrasives/131-403.html

[jakab]

Hey Floyd, how are you, I've been trying not to bug you :).

Yes that website explains the colors and there is a PDF file showing how to gang them together to make a "mop". They say use at least 3 together. This is a different company than the other one, I'll see if they will ship to me here in Canada.

All the best to you and the other Forum members for the Holidays.

...Peter

[fwharris]

Hey Floyd, how are you, I've been trying not to bug you :).

Yes that website explains the colors and there is a PDF file showing how to gang them together to make a "mop". They say use at least 3 together. This is a different company than the other one, I'll see if they will ship to me here in Canada.

All the best to you and the other Forum members for the Holidays.

...Peter

Peter,

Doing well sir!!! Gee I thought you were just making dust and did not need me any more eh!! ;)

I thought that new site might help a bit more with the descriptions plus they are located on the east coast and they do deliver to Canada.

Happy carving and a very Merry Christmas!!!

[badbert]

Those Christmas presents are awesome! And your finishing skills are top notch! I would like to ask a favor if i might... Please, Please, Please, share the MPC for the SOA?!

[dehrlich]

Reference the little bristle discs, this place has them for about the same price as everyone else, and no minimum for international shipping.

http://www.riogrande.com/Product/3M-Radial-Bristle-Discs-220-Grit/332572?pos=3

[ladjr]

Great carve George.

[WoodenWizard]

Nice work. Looks like we live in the same town. Have to get together sometime. That makes 3 CW's here that I know of.

Dave

[gwhiz]

Those Christmas presents are awesome! And your finishing skills are top notch! I would like to ask a favor if i might... Please, Please, Please, share the MPC for the SOA?!

I got the SOA pattern from this thread....

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?20083-Sons-of-Anarchy-clubhouse-table&highlight=sons+anarchy
(http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?20083-Sons-of-Anarchy-clubhouse-table&highlight=sons+anarchy)
If you want the MPC for the Ashtray, I'm can share that as well, just let me know.

[gwhiz]

Nice work. Looks like we live in the same town. Have to get together sometime. That makes 3 CW's here that I know of.

Dave

It looks like...I live close to PTC...we may know some of the same people...my neighbor is an ATC in the PTC Tracon...