Finishing a Bare Bass wood carving

[daveholte1]

I have completed my Basswood cane block carving and I want to add some color

I want to either add a color of stain or a soft acrylic color for examples flowers etc

Should I :

1st Spray a clear Ex Krylon sealer on it before I add the color?
or
2nd Spray the Krylon Clear on after I get all the colors I want on it?


Thanks

[Robson Valley]

Be careful how you spell that, son.
As fast as you can, say "Bare Basswood" ten times.

[daveholte1]

Nothing wrong with the way this was spelled. "dad"
Did the proof before I sent
Bare means "Not finished in the Chip carving hobby"
Was looking for advice on finishing it correctly .... evidently you don't have any .
Sorry to hear that.

[Claude]

After washing the carving with soap and water, using an old toothbrush, I dry it, then use a 50/50 mix of satin water-based varnish and water, and give it a couple of coats - sometimes 3 or 4 on end grain areas. This prevents the color wash from sinking in and wicking over to areas where I don't want it. When dry, I put on washes of the colors - somewhere between 5 parts water to 1 part paint, up to 40-50 parts water to 1 part paint, depending on the color. If it's too light when dry, it's simple enough to put on another coat of that color.

Some use Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) instead of the water-based varnish, others use a sanding sealer.

Claude

[susieq]

Hi Claude,
Just curious, when you wash the basswood, does it raise a nap that has to be slightly smoothed down afterward? I had friends who always complained about basswood getting a tad fuzzy after applying any kind of finish to the surface, that was not oil based. I know from my own experience, that spraying a clear coat of any kind...krylon, or some other brand, that it will lightly raise a rough surface that needs either "brown bag rubbed" or sanded with a fine grit, to knock that down. Then it's good to paint with acrylics. I can have a piece of basswood smooth as glass when I'm done carving, but you apply anything to it and it still raises that nap....

[Robson Valley]

The fish tail in my Fish Door was painted with a watercolor technique called wet-in-wet. I used acrylic washes as I expected to go over and over it without the underpaintings washing off/lifting.

Here in the land of wood, this time tested technique is referred to as a "pretreatment."

Must have a "try" piece.
Paint the wood to be colored with plain water. That dampness allows the color(s) to flow and blend, for uniformity if you wish. Has to be really dry before you go again, unless you want more blending. I don't like to see the underpainting move at all so I let it dry for a day.

I suspect that a sanded surface lifts more in finishing than a strictly carved surface. I like the idea of using brown paper bag to push it down again. Expect to try that after painting when I finish the Frog Dish (WIP.)

If you want really shiny/glossy, 2 coats of Liquitex artists' Gloss Varnish (acrylic) is good.

If you need a "hard" edge where the paint stops 100%, make a fine stop cut with a carving knife. Paint up to the cut, let it dry. Carefully burnish the edges of the cut and it will practically disappear, aided in part by the color applied.

[Claude]

Susieq:
When I use only knives and gouges, the wood fibers do not raise up enough to worry about after washing. When I use power carving (drum sander, especially), I get a lot of fiber lifting. I get around this by sanding to 400 grit or 600 grit, depending on the wood. Wash, then dry with hair dryer, and re-sand with piece of used sandpaper, just enough to make it smooth again. Wet it all under the faucet again, dry again, sand again... about 4 iterations of this, and all the little fibers have been sanded off and the piece remains smooth after the last drying. Then I can finish. Since the wetting takes seconds, and the drying with a hair dryer takes a minute or two, the whole process from setting down the Dremel to ready to finish is maybe 15 minutes, and that includes time to open a beer!
Oh, and as RV suggests, after my final finish is dry, I rub with the brown paper bag to remove any dust motes or whatever and make the final finish smooth to the touch.

Claude

[Robson Valley]

Whoa, Claude! I have yet to try the brown paper rub-down. I'll have a good chance, not long from now, with a sanded carving (The Frog Dish). The structure of brown (Kraft) paper would be just about right to have non invasive burnishing effect. It is sensible.