Painting carved letters

I would like to find some sort of adhesive cellophane I could put on wood before carving and then Paint areas cut in carving. After paint dries just peel off. Is there such a thing? I get tired of painting surface and then sanding…any help or ideas!
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Oramask 813…

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I have Oramask but I also get from Walmart Easy Liner Adhesive Shelf Paper. This stuff is cheap and works well. All masks have some draw backs. When you are carving at 90 degrees to the grain you tend to get messy edges on masks. But the messy edge still has less clean up as opposed to no mask at all with painting and sanding.

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have you thought of filling adding expo resin instead? carve the letters then fill with epoxy and sand the excess off. I do it all the time on American flags for the stars.

I have only been CNC woodworking for 6 months. I was machinist for Boeing for 32yrs but that was all metal. I am interested in epoxy and ca glues. so that is something i look forward too in my future. Does in sand easy and leave nice finish?
Steve

It’s not to bad to sand. As far as finishing its limitless if you want crystal clear then you will be sanding up to 3-5k grit from 120. As well I advise torch over a heat gun every time. For popping the bubbles.

What @neilferreri said,
and…
Lots of info here

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I use whatever sealer my final project will be done with before cutting.

For example I’ll put two coats of polyurethane on the board, then when its dry I will cut the project, then paint it. Take a sander with 220 grit across the whole board and do a final poly coat for finish.

Never had any issues with this process and paint sands off very easily leaving nice crisp lines

I tried the masking a few times and I always found it did not stick on a sharp angle or the paint would bleed under the mask somewhere and I was left doing more sanding to get it just right.

I was using brushes though, spray paint might be different if you are spraying 90 deg to the project it might not bleed under

I tried the Oramask and didnt like it. So i went to home depot and got some Tyvek house wrap tape, It works well for me. I use spray paint for the carved areas, then remove the tape and a little cleanup. Its not perfect but for me better than the Oramask.

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For both Oramask and the Easy Liner Adhesive Shelf paper it is important to use a J roller on the mask. Simply applying the mask and smoothing with your hand is not enough. Before applying the mask it is also important that you clean the surface. Mineral Spirits would be a good choice because it does not raise the grain. If you use a damp paper towel the grain will be raised but you can re-sand but then you are back dampening the surface again and possibly raising the grain again. If you are going to finish with a water based finish then this repeated raising and sanding of the grain will give you a smoother surface.

If you use mineral spirits make sure the rags are disposed either by emerging them in water or putting them in an air tight container. Solvent soaked rags and paper towels can spontaneously combust and you do not want to leave them in the open trash can or laying around the shop. It is rare but it can happen specifically when the weather gets hotter.

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