Texturing a Carving

[KimHoJo]

I'm finishing up a carving of a Converse All Star® High Top sneaker and wondering if anyone can give me suggestions on how to texture the canvas part of the shoe. Right now I'm thinking I could paint the whole thing with acrylics, then put a gloss or semigloss finish on the rubber sole and grommets and circular logo and put a matte finish on the whole thing. Not sure if this would differentiate enough between the "shiny" parts and "dull" canvas material.

Any ideas?

[rick-in-seattle]

A few things you could try on a piece of scrap first.

Using acrylics full strength will provide a shine compared to a wash when sprayed with gloss acrylic spray.

Also, burnishing an area that requires a higher gloss.
This compresses the wood fibers (even on end grain) and will produce a higher gloss when sprayed.

One more method to create a matte finish, sand the area with a medium to fine sandpaper and it will not shine easily when sprayed.
Determining how course the paper needs to be depends on your application.

Finally, apply the sealer by brush using gloss and matte acrylic finish; you may want to "dry brush" the matte areas.

Rick

[squbrigg]

There are texture "punches" with different types of backgrounds, you could go over the area with one of those to get the effect you want. www.leevalley.com carries them. Or you could make one from a large nail and use a file to engrave a primative pattern.

Bob

[FINGERS]

I have used a small wire brush for semiliar jobs, also made a punch by cutting cross cuts in a inch bolt head with a hack saw.

good luck

[Old_Gord]

With the suggestion to make your own stamping/texturing tool, check out what Bill Judt's site says on the subject;

http://huath.pair.com/bjudt/TipsTech...mpingtool.html

Along with the texturing tool info there is a great amount of other info on relief carving available on this site.

OG

[Kenny_S]

Using a coarse grade of sandpaper,60 to 80 grit, and crossing your sanding will give you the effect you want. By crossing, I mean going with the grain, then against the grain. Nail head can be groved in a hatch pattern and used to get the same effect also. on the rubber part of the shoe, use very fine grit sandpaper and sand with the grain. Rick is correct in burnishing the wood also. By this, I use another piece of wood, usually the handle of my knife and rub it against the wood. this technique was used before we had Boiled linseed oil or other protectants like we do today.

[mdallensr]

I saw Ray Kunz and his carvings at the Dover, Ohio show this weekend. He had a carving with a textured base and showed me his homemade tool for texturing. He took a piece of piano wire ( a big bass wire), cut a short section and staggered the individual wires slightly, exposed that bundle about 1/4" from the sheath, then silver soldered the wires in place. One tap with a mallet makes an impression with about a dozen indents, all varying in depth. I took a picture of his carving (with his permission), but I'm reluctant to post it since I didn't tell him I would post it. He's a great guy and always willing to talk about his work.