Looking For Help For An Easier Way Paint carvings

[drose01]

I'm a newbie having my machine almost a month, but having a great time with it. This is my first post so home I'm doing this correctly.

I was wondering if anyone has a simpler way or some great shortcuts for painting centerline, outline and raster text signs other than a small brush. Was wondering if anyone has taped up there carve with painters tape or masking tape prior to the carving and then when the carve was done spray those areas before removing the tape. Would the tape either dull the bit or get gunked up from the tape. If not what is the best tape to use? Would appreciate any insight someone might have.

[fwharris]

drose01,

Welcome to the CW forum.

Some have done something very similar with masking paper or kitchen contact shelf paper. You need to make sure the paper is smoothed out real good and makes good contact with the board. There should not be any issues with dulling the bit but you will need to clean them real good to get the glue off.

[CW-HAL9000]

Yes, kitchen shelve paper works great and can be found cheap at dollar stores. If the centerline is carved into an otherwise smooth surface like on a sign i will pretty much slap the paint into the center line text then after it dries a quick hit with the palm sander makes it look like I was an expert painter who carefully stayed in the lines.

[brdad]

As Icarver mentioned, when I can I coat the lettered and surrounding areas with sanding sealer then paint the text "outside the lines" and then sand the surface back to wood leaving the paint only in the centerline areas. The sanding sealer helps prevent the paint from wicking into the wood.

[Ton80]

Results for me have always varied from perfectly clean paint lines to "holy crap, how did that paint work it's way that far into the pores" but my method is to spray on a sealer prior to carving. Even a light coat of Polyurethane works. I have tried acrylic sealers in the past because they dry in about 10-15 minutes. Some other threads on this ( I started one such thread a while back seeking the same advice ) have suggestions to use shellac. The fastest way to then get the paint into the v-carved lines is to use spray paint... but don't use something like Krylon or Rustoleum.. they are a little thick and seem to penetrate into the pores more deeply. Use Marsh's Ink - http://www.eagleamerica.com/product/...05/sign_making . This was the product suggested in the thread I started and it makes a big difference. I still get some pieces of wood that seem to be problematic but it is not nearly as troublesome as other paints were in the past.

Before you start spraying in the paint, first clean up your "fuzzies"... I use a tip provided by Ike in a thread from several years ago - propane torch set on the lowest flame and move the torch across the surface of the wood to "crisp" the fuzzies. This makes it much easier to remove them with a sanding mop. Just don't sand too aggressively but enough to remove the majority of fuzz ( soft woods will have more fuzz than hard and a good, sharp bit will keep all fuzz to a minimum ) THEN, spray on another coat of sealer before you spray the paint. This will put one more coat to protect from overspray and also coat the v-cuts that will provide a place for the paint to wick into the pores. The Marsh Ink dries very fast and light coats will have the best results.

To remove the overspray and prep the boards for final finishing, I use a surface planer as it's fast and won't clog like sandpaper will with the ink/sealer that you have to sand through ( works best if you leave a few extra inches so you can cut off snipe marks ). Sanding will work if you don't have a surface planer. If you are just using a sander, try hitting the surface with a card scraper first to remove the bulk of the ink so it doesn't clog your sandpaper.. a belt sander works better than a palm sander for initial paint removal.

[zan29]

Well here's my way of doing this. The centerline text is basically the last thing I do. Once it's stained, or not, and with one coat of varnish (to prevent bleeding), I use a Sharpie with a fine tip and add my last coat of varnish of top. Can't go wrong!

[Ton80]

Well here's my way of doing this. The centerline text is basically the last thing I do. Once it's stained, or not, and with one coat of varnish (to prevent bleeding), I use a Sharpie with a fine tip and add my last coat of varnish of top. Can't go wrong!

Yes, a sharpie can help out if used after stain/finish.. careful if not stained yet as it can wick into the pores if you don't move quick enough and the marker is new.

Here is the thread that I started.. read through it because there are some good tips, concerns that may apply to your situation.

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...to-Vcarve-help

[tcough3475]

I've found the quickest and easist method is to hand it off to the LOML as she really enjoys doing the painting!
But when I've had to do it, the sanding method works like a champ!

[drose01]

Thanks All for the quick response, I kind of like the Spay Ink idea, ordered some of that today, to try, sounds like it's the easiest to sand away, for those items I don't want to rerun through the thickness planer. Thanks everyone for all the help.

[Hasher]

The way I use for filling centerline text is, painting 2 coats of shellac sanding sealer, fill in text with water color, slop it on, when dry, rub with denatured alcohol, no sanding. Works on painted surfaces, alcohol dissolves the shellac and doesn't affect the paint. Seal with clear coat.