PDA

View Full Version : Painting Lettering



dehrlich
02-01-2013, 07:06 PM
I'm wondering about what you all do when you paint raised text. Do you paint just the top of the letters, or down to the surface? I have been, on most projects, just paint the top of the letters with one of those flat sponge things. I'm doing a sign now that the customer whats the whole letter painted and it is taking a while. Not only is there a lot more surface to paint, but for someone with not the most steady hands in the world anymore it can be a challenge to make it neat. If anyone has an easy way to do this please share. Thanks!

mtylerfl
02-01-2013, 07:51 PM
I usually just paint the tops of letters, but saw a recent post (can't recall if it was here or another forum) that showed the sides of raised letters painted, too. In the example he/she showed, it did look really nice. It can be a bit of a tedious process, though.

If the entire sign is going to be painted, you could paint the whole sign the color of the letters first. Then paint the recessed background color after-the-fact, leaving the lettering tops and sides alone. Might be easier/faster using that approach.

dehrlich
02-01-2013, 08:36 PM
That is true, but if the whole sign isn't getting painted... I actually think on the particular sign I'm doing now it looks worse with the whole letter done, but what the customer wants the customer wants. And if she doesn't like it when it's done, I guess she will have to pay me to carve it again. I know that in the future I'm going to charge more for doing a "complete" paint job on the letters.

aokweld101
02-01-2013, 08:58 PM
I just done a sign with raised letters and its kinda like how am I going to attack it, I taped off the letters and carved the tape from the letters for the raised part and then sprayed painted it and it did'nt turn out so well, it bleed past the tape I think the next time I'll tape it then paint it with a small bush I know it will turn out better cause I don't have a steady hand either .

mtylerfl
02-02-2013, 10:08 AM
Raised lettering on a sign can look very nice without the sides of the letters painted. Raised lettering does not need to be raised too high from the background...anywhere from 1/16" to 1/8" is usually plenty. Beginners often make their Carve Regions far too deep and end up with much more of the sides of the letters exposed. Sometimes, we DO want "super-standout" of lettering, but that's not as often. Should have a good reason for doing that in the first place.


Here's some photos of simple raised letter signs I made for my brother-in-law. The lettering is raised only about 0.1" from the background. Only the flat tops of the letters are painted in the contrasting color (white, in this case). Fast and easy painting with a smooth roller and they came out great. The signs are posted at a camp in Maine and are exposed to very severe weather and climate changes, so I used exterior primer and paints for this job.

jmoriearty
02-02-2013, 07:41 PM
I have honestly never painted raised lettering, but to be honest, I've only had a CW for a week or so. I have been doing my letters with a router for years which is kind of sad seeing as almost half of my business is signs! I am curious to how everyone does their painting in centerline text, which is essentially what I have always done with my hand routed signs. My process has been, if the stain is a lighter color, I paint the letters with spray paint and then run the sign through the planer once and finish sand before staining and finishing. If it's a darker stain with lighter lettering, where the stain could throw the color of the letters off (like a sign with a dark walnut stain and gold lettering), I finish the board completely, including clear coat, then route it, then apply paint with a brush and wipe off the excess with a cloth. Of course, you can always find better methods and I'm always interested in new thoughts!

dehrlich
02-02-2013, 07:51 PM
I have honestly never painted raised lettering, but to be honest, I've only had a CW for a week or so. I have been doing my letters with a router for years which is kind of sad seeing as almost half of my business is signs! I am curious to how everyone does their painting in centerline text, which is essentially what I have always done with my hand routed signs. My process has been, if the stain is a lighter color, I paint the letters with spray paint and then run the sign through the planer once and finish sand before staining and finishing. If it's a darker stain with lighter lettering, where the stain could throw the color of the letters off (like a sign with a dark walnut stain and gold lettering), I finish the board completely, including clear coat, then route it, then apply paint with a brush and wipe off the excess with a cloth. Of course, you can always find better methods and I'm always interested in new thoughts!

For centerline lettering I generally do the carve on bare wood, spray on a coat of shellac in the area of the lettering so the paint does not get into the grain (even on closed grain woods it will get in sometimes). Once the paint is I follow with another coat of shellac, then sand the surface down to bare wood leaving finished letters. You can then stain the rest of the sign and the stain should not bother the paint in the lettering since it's sealed top and bottom. Has always worked for me.

DickB
02-03-2013, 08:30 AM
Others have posted about using spray stencil ink for centerline text, it does not bleed. I did a sign with it and it turned out great. I just used a sander on the surface.

gwhiz
02-03-2013, 11:38 AM
Another approach that I've used for centerline is to finish the board--paint, stain, whatever--then cover the finished board with contact paper and carve through the contact paper. Paint the letters and then peel off the contact paper.

Capt Bruce
02-03-2013, 12:22 PM
Gwhiz,
Have you ever run into the problem of the remaining contact paper trying to peel off your flat board finish when you removed it following the letter fill painting? One piece did that in a few spots, when I may have waited too long to peel it off so that the letter paint had plenty of time to cure. The top rollers seemed to really press it down almost too well. Just curious.

gwhiz
02-03-2013, 05:04 PM
Only once Bruce. I'd used latex paint that I'd had for a while and I don't think it really stuck well. I got some bubbles when I removed the contact paper. I usually try to pull it after the letter paint is dry to the touch but not fully cured so that *it* doesn't pull up.

kcc2012
08-02-2013, 02:49 AM
Some of my letters I have painted the whole letter and I do it by hand with a small stuff angel cut brush. Some of them I just do the surface. With center line text I use a small thin brush and paint by hand. I use a combination of acrylic paint, stains and even water color.

zan29
08-02-2013, 03:40 AM
I use paint pens or markers and it works great!

Digitalwoodshop
08-02-2013, 03:35 PM
I put my sign paint in Ketchup bottles.. less waste.... Then for most letter painting like White V Centerline Text on a Brown painted backghround..... I load up a 1/2 inch in diameter plastic syringe with no needle. I stick it in the ketchup hole, invert bottle and suck up some paint. I use the syringe to place the paint in the letters and move it around. I suck out the excess....

Works for me... :)

AL

TerryWinslow
08-03-2013, 06:36 PM
This is the method I am currently using also.. If I could make a suggestion; try the Marsh brand ink.. Really works great!!


Others have posted about using spray stencil ink for centerline text, it does not bleed. I did a sign with it and it turned out great. I just used a sander on the surface.

JoeinWestMich
08-04-2013, 11:26 AM
Just did my first v-carve using the contact paper and Marsh Black stencil ink in rattle can. Without any question, this is the nicest lettering with paint that I have done. Crisp margins. The Marsh black stencil ink spray is a flat black. This is what came when I ordered it off Ebay (no local supplier). I don't know if a gloss black is available. I used it to make a swing seat with child's name and date of birth. I cut the board to size, sanded 80, 120, 180 and 220. I then used 50/50 mix of Zinserr dewaxed shellac for sanding sealer (I did not use stain as I wanted a natural finish on the select pine) using two coats. Then lightly sanded with 400 grit. Covered area to be v-carved with white opaque shelf contact paper I bought at Target. I used a dry utility cloth to burnish the contact paper onto the wood. Did the v-carve with 90 degree v-bit. There was absolutely no curl or pull-up of the contact paper at the edges of the lettering that I could see. But I still used the micro mesh cloth to burnish again around the lettering, took just a couple of minutes. Then I sprayed two coats of Marsh Black stencil ink into the lettering waiting until the first coat dry to touch.... about 5 minutes. I waited about 10 more minutes to pull off the contact paper. I was impressed with the results. As clean as the contact paper looked after carving, I am going to try painting with acrylic and enamel paints and small brush.... I am certain this will work great too.

One question for those that have used the contact paper. The contact paper leaves behind a definite adhesive residue. What do you find is the easiest way to remove the residue so I can do my final sanding? I was thinking sanding the residue might just gunk up the sand paper if I don't try something to remove the adhesive first.

kcc2012
08-06-2013, 02:13 AM
Using a plastic syringe sounds like something I need to try. Thanks for the tip Al.

chypes
01-15-2014, 04:01 PM
what kind of contact paper are we talking about? Can I simply overlay the workpiece with masking tape and then do the carving with the tape on it? Then paint lettering and remove surrounding tape?

CW-HAL9000
01-15-2014, 08:54 PM
Do not use masking tape for this, it will catch the carving bit and wrap around it. It will not work for this. Use the contact paper that is sold at dollar stores or walmart for lining your kitchen shelves. It works really well and removes easily.

chypes
01-16-2014, 09:14 AM
that is what i was wondering if the bit would cut through standard masking tape. So from what Im reading and hearing the bits will carve through the contact paper cleanly without tearing or fraying the edges? I remember using a material several years ago when I worked in the sign industry that we used to overlay for sandblasting signs. It was a bit thicker material, but very similar process.