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Birch ply, stain it in walnut, cover in masking tape, paint the inside of the carve (text) in white acrylic paint, remove masking tape and voila! A perfect carve with crisp white edges around the letters.
So in my first attempt at this I carved (no masking tape), painted the letters white, sanded the excess paint off, then stained in walnut. The stain got in to the letters and, well… stained them walnut. It’s almost impossible to keep the stain out. I’ve done this plenty of times using oils which drain away naturally and don’t discolour the acrylic paints, but on this project I need to use a stain.
I can’t stain and then paint because sanding away the excess paint will also sand off the stain from the ply. But, if I did this and used masking tape before the carve it should work right???
The carve is running right now and I’m not very impressed with this method.
Now, I wonder if anyone else has had to do this and what the results were like. What tape did you use? I wanted the lowest adhesion because I was worried that anything too strong would pull away the stain.
Stain and seal with shellac or other clear finish.
Then carve and paint in the carve. Any you get out side the carve can be wiped right off.
I think Phil had instructions like this previously.
the oramask works great but if you do not have any use phils method sanding sealer and wiping the excess off. mask tape does not work and shelve liner does not work.
Just out of interest, here in the UK I can get 10m x 20cm for £20.50 (Amazon). That’s about $25. I know I won’t use the whole roll, but it’s close to what I paid for the birch ply.
How much do my American cousins pay for it? Also I can only find Oramask 810. How is this different from 813?
So you know how I originally posted after I had already started the carve? The replies all said that masking tape was not going to work, but as the carve was underway I let it finish as I had nothing to lose. And guess what… it turned out pretty good.
Up close it needs a bit of ‘making good’ but nothing too serious. Next time I will use a vinyl wrap and let it dry for longer, but it goes to show that masking tape might not be as bad as some think - at least on this carve.
I have tried this method using stencil ink which is my preferred “paint” for carved signs and it bonds to the clear coat so well that I destroy the finish on the piece trying to remove the overspray.
I suspect that if I used an acrylic craft paint it would work better but I sure like the ez application and quick dry of the Marsh stencil ink.
Any suggestions as to how I may get this to play with the stencil ink? Or another type of
spray paint?
You have to let the stain dry. Then the sanding sealer. Then the spry sealer - two to three coats. All must dry. If that happens, and you follow all the steps… it shouldl work for you. If you mess up the stain, just do more coats of spray - you can recoat in 5-10 mins. I do this in oak with those wierd, unpredictable deep grains… and it works for me, but your results may vary. I also use a palm sander which I am very comfortable with… you might be trying to do it with a block of wood or sandpaper? The palm sander is another key - letting it glide over the surface so you are not digging in and destroying the surface.
I have done pretty much what you describe. I suspect that the solvents in the color spray are re-dissolving the clear and “embedding”. Maybe the key is more coats of clear?
Hello, sorry if that have been discussed before. I am considering buying peel of spray paint to use as mask before carving, then paint with some other paint and peel off the “masking coat”.
Such as this: Our Products | Krylon® Spray Paint
It says that the wood needs to be sealed first. Anyone tried this?
I tried this and didn’t have any luck. The Peel Paint tended to tear out even more than masking tape. But please give it a try. Could just be my methods and I would love to see it work.
Hi, I appreciate that you shared your experience with this product.
I think I will pick some up next time I go to the buy supplies and try to see if I get the same results. Thanks.
