[Chahlie]

Hi All,

Well I hope to paint my first Santa carving this weekend...I was talking with a carving club member this past saturday(6-12-04) after attending my first meeting upon finding the group. I asked her about what i could do to prepare the carving before painting...mentioning that the carving had become a little bit dirty....to say the least it doesn't it didn't look anywhere near as clean as the example in the pattern book. She suggested several light coats of clear matte varnish so that any skin oils and dirt from carving wouldn't bleed through. Also I remember someone here suggesting scrubbing the carving with a mild soap solution and a tooth brush to clean it up. Does any of this sound do-able or right?

Thanks for being there guys and gals.

[squbrigg]

Good morning Chahlie,

I tend not to let soap and water get on my work, don't want to dry out the natural oil in the wood, but if your piece is still very dirty after dry brussing it off, then a light was of an oil finish or sealer or even shellac, will clean it up for you. You could even cut a varnish 50/50 to uses as a sealer. Then wipe off the excess immediately and let dry well. May raise the grain a bit so a light sanding with very fine paper will remove any wild and wooly fibers. Then just paint to your hearts content.

This works for most wood applications, don't see why it wouldn't work for a Santa!

Good luck with it.

Bob

[Dave_from_Toronto]

The amount of cleaning is directly related to the level of finishing you plan to do. If you intend to just stain and/or clear coat, then you will want your carving to be pristine.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you plan on painting with opaque paints then the cleanliness of the carving doesn't really matter except for its effect on paint adhesion. Pencil marks and light soiling usually don't affect adhesion.

In the middle of the range, if you are planning to build up colour by using washes of paint then the carving has to be clean enough to not have an adverse effect on the look you're trying to achieve.

Finally, if you are planning an antique effect then overall cleanliness may not have any effect except of course for pencil marks.

I try to keep the carving clean as I carve. I wear kevlar gloves on both hands and that eliminates skin oil. It doesn't, however eliminate any dirt that the gloves have picked up over time. I've found that if the carving is getting dirty in certain areas, it usually is also losing detail or crispness in that area and needs to be touched up with a chisel. I have done very little sanding so far on my carvings but I do have a homemade flapsander that has very little grit left on it. I sometimes use this to lightly clean up any dirt or pencil marks. Most of the time, however, a vinyl pencil eraser is sufficient to remove Â*most soiling.

Before I apply any paint I seal the carving with a few coats of Krylon Matte Acrylic varnish. I also use this product after I paint before antiquing and again after antiquing.

I am an 'opaque' painter, although I do use stippling and shading techniques once the base coats are done. A lot of carvers like the Â*grain to show through so they use washes throughout. Since I use basswood for all my carvings and it doesn't have a pronounced grain, I prefer to let the faceted tool marks let people know that it is truly a wood carving rather than something else (my personal preference.) Â*

Chahlie, after carving, I usually do a light sanding to cleanup my carving before finishing, this will remove most dirt and skin oils. By putting varnish or shellac on the wood prior to painting, you're sealing the wood. Paint will stick to this fine, but staind and dyes (I use clothes dye mixed with wood alcohol sometimes for special colors) can't soak into the wood and lose their effect.

I usually finish my stuff with watered down acrylics which are transparent. To clean the carving I use dishwashing liquid and a small brush. If it's good enough for Harlod Enlow, it's good enough for me.