What am i doing wrong?

Projects
22

@AllenMassey

okay yeah that seems like it should work and save you the cost of the tape and my apparent problem with tape flaring up I am curious how a v-bit like the one in the video will work because if you watch the outline of the sign get cut the tape flares up right away but not during the v carving

but back to the shellac once i apply that and then carve the engraving and then paint the engraving do you let the white paint dry in the carving or do you wipe the paint off the red before it has a chance to dry?

thanks for your help on this

23

Or you can just apply a sealer like poly to the raw wood and the carve and spray the white letters then sand the surface and carefully paint it red. But that takes more skill in my opinion.

24

yeah really i am looking for production methods and what the best and quickest way to do it is thats why i liked the video because it seemed so simple

  1. Paint
  2. tape
  3. carve
  4. Paint
  5. Remove tape
  6. touch up
  7. seal

seemed like a simple process to me but if the 2-3 steps go wrong your screwed lol

25

but yeah if i could do what you suggested

1.Paint
2. Seal
3. Carve
4. Paint
5. Seal

its a quicker method but i am just unclear on how you wipe off the excess white paint

26

I just got burned on a project that I was working on and my methods because i didnt research them good enough so all i am trying to do is refrain from wasting a bunch of material like i did with my last desgin I basically wasted 40 wooden boxes

lesson learned lol

27

Get a scrap piece of wood and apply three coats of shellac, lightly sanding will fine sandpaper between coats. When the shellac is dry put some of the white paint on it and then immediately wipe it off. You will see how it works.

28

okay yeah I will have to try that

Kinda sounds like the glue test I did the other day that was fun tried almost 15 different glues for a project lol

but okay so now the steps will go

  1. Paint
  2. Seal
  3. Sand
  4. Seal
  5. Sand
  6. Seal
  7. Seal
  8. Carve
  9. Paint
  10. Seal

and for the grit on the fine sand paper we are talking like a 220?

29

I use an 800 and 1000 grit between coats

30

@AllenMassey

okay so that sounds good

so here is my tool list and material list

Materials

mdf or natural wood
brush on shellac
paint color brush on 1
paint color spray 2

tools
sanding block or orbit sander
down cut sprial bit or v-bit 60 maybe 30 degree
paint brush or roller
rags
800-1000 grit sand paper

have you ever used gesso? for mdf

31

I have not used it but you certainly need to seal the MDF

32

@AllenMassey

okay so this has gotten me to thinking if I wanted to go through all this color application process on a flat piece of mdf and then cut shapes out of it will the top surface be paintable with acrylic paint by hand you know desgins and stuff by a end user?

33

I have never tried to paint over shellac. It does not sound like a good idea. The shellac is usually the final finishing

But you can try it on your test piece to see how it does.

34

It seems like you’ve gone down the chemical masking/finishing road. But, if you decide to revisit using a solid mask in the future, try contact paper. It’s actually made of plastic or vinyl rather than paper, and if you have a very clean surface it sticks very well. The adhesive is much more tacky than masking tape because it’s made to hide things and not necessarily be removable, and it’s consistent. You also get the benefit of having a 24" width so you don’t have to use strips of it and worry about the tape lifting along a seam line.

35

@Mike

hmm so this contact paper do you have a link that i can look at it in detail

and the contact paper will remove nicely not pull any fibers out if you take it off in a reasonable time

36

It’s just standard contact paper that you buy at the grocery store or Target, Walmart or similar. I don’t think it has an MSDS. :sweat_smile:

37

hmm okay i will test that out also thanks hopefully i am honing in on a productive workflow for projects like this

38

Dual-color signs are one of those things that everyone is clamoring to find an easy, cheap and consistent method for creating. Lots of people on here have different ways of making them using different masking and finishing techniques, as you’ve seen already :wink:

39

@Mike

yeah I think this whole thing would be easier to use a 2 or more color hdpe and create signs that way but that is alot more cost to the end user but so much easier from a manufacturing stand point

40

Alternatively, if you’re cutting pockets (not v-carving), you could carve the pockets as normal, then cut the same shapes as outlines in a piece of veneer, paint or stain the veneer, then glue it up.

41

yeah but I dont have a drag knife yet I would love to cut veneer like that but I am not able to yet unless you know if its possible with a regular router bit but i didnt think you could lol