I am looking for a finish technique to cover V-carved lettering without paint or epoxy. Is there a wipe on finish that fills in the carved letters darker than the surrounding flat areas? I have tried paint, epoxy, gel stains, and regular stains without great success. My hands shake too much for a good paint job so I am looking for a wipe on finish option.
Thanks
That’s going to be a tough thing to find, unfortunately. As the direction of the VCarve changes, you get everything from end-grain to face grain revealed in the carving. Anything that would darken down the face grain in the carving is going to affect the surrounding areas as well.
I have used pine trying to get this outcome.
First try:
Cut out and stained liberally with a brush. The pine soaked up the stain in the “V” cuts and pockets. Wiped the flat areas to remove excess stain.
Next try:
Stained wood then cut words, sealed. Cut words, stained “V” cuts or pockets.
Another way to try: Seal lightly, Stain, Cut, Stain
The picture is the first attempt, 20 years old open stain. Thats how we learn.
David
You could use this to cover the face before doing your V Carve.
https://www.amazon.com/Oracal-Oramask-Stencil-Film-Light/dp/B079JB36NG/ref=asc_df_B079JB36NG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693366139196&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2738430044659602944&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027593&hvtargid=pla-452347852031&mcid=9cc961aebe003a01aedc4632c40bafe2&gad_source=1&th=1
This can be pricey but amazon carries this also
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0828HSNXV/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&th=1
You can find lots of suggestions on this type of masking here if you search.
I have used the second type of mask and had great results. I covered the material and pressed the mask sheeting down with a soft rag. And then did my operation. Leave the mask on and then you can paint almost any way you like.
I used this
It has nearly zero bleed into the Baltic birch I was using. There was a slight raising of the mask when machining but you can press the mask down and that should reduce most of that.
Test the paint on your material and see if it bleeds and if it does you can use a clear epoxy to seal the material and then fill in with the acrylic paint. Once the Acrylic dries it can be covered with a clear finish.
Here is my project
Hope this helps
Anthony
Here’s a cheaper source for the Oracal 813 masking vinyl.
This is a great help. I am doing some signs for a wedding in the next 2 weeks.
I did a plaque for a family reunion last week. I stained the carved in letters but that stain bled into the pores and looked bad. I ended up flooding the letters with stain and wiping off the excess. After that dried I wiped the whole plaque with the stain and wiped it off as soon as it went on. This did end up with darker carved letters, but the whole project was darker than I wanted.
But, the client loved it. I guess we are our own worst critics.
You could try Danish Oil for a similar effect as the stain but maybe a little less fussy.
I use drywall mud. Apply thin coat where letters will be, after machining spray a coat of spray shellac then you can paint. sand off drywall mud. Perfect crisp letters. Mud sands right off. I have used everything this process works the best
I’ve had some success using Odie’s Oil. Linseed Oil would likely work similarly. Basically the exposed endgrains caused by the V cut look darker because they’ve soaked in more oil. It’s maybe too subtle for what you need.
Only the text on the Indian logo is Vcarve and you can see the difference between the pocket cuts on some of the other details.
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