[Tom H]

I have been reading and following all the various finishing techniques that have been posted. Since I am getting ready to paint a whole bunch of Santa ornaments I don't want to ruin them. The following checklist is a compilation of what I have read. Will this achieve a nice antiqued look? Any recommended changes?

1. Carve as clean as you can
2. Scrub carving with tooth brush and soap/water (removes some fuzzies)
3. Rinse carving, but keep damp
4. Mix water and acrylic paint, very thin wash
5. Paint carving with thinned wash
6. Let dry
7. Apply darker color paint in the creases, and wipe carving.
8. Let dry
9. Lightly buff painted carving with Fine
sanding/buffing pad.
10. Spray with Deft Satin finish
Thanks Tom H

[jillsy]

Tom, I would make sure to seal your carving before antiquing! If you try to do this before, it could really mess up your paint job. And as I've been advised, you may want to wait a few days for the sealer to cure before antiquing. I took this advice and have found great results.

When I didn't wait, the antique medium would stick to the carving creating a much darker piece than I wanted. After letting it cure at least 3 days, I'm finding I can wipe off the excess antiquing and still be able to see the rich colors.

Hope this helps! Jillsy

[love2carve2]

Tom,
Jillsy right seal it first and let dry completely before you antique it. Also, you can put different colors of paint to make it more aged look. Like the hair, paint it off white, put gray in the creases, then put white on the outer most surfaces. It might look kind of gaudy or bold at first, but after you antique it, it kind of blends the colors in. Hope that makes sense and helps.
Mary

[rick-in-seattle]

Originally Posted by Tom H

I have been reading and following all the various finishing techniques that have been posted. Since I am getting ready to paint a whole bunch of Santa ornaments I don't want to ruin them. The following checklist is a compilation of what I have read. Will this achieve a nice antiqued look? Any recommended changes?


1. Carve as clean as you can
2. Scrub carving with a dry tooth brush if needed
3. Rinse carving right before painting
4. Mix water and acrylic paint, very thin wash
5. Paint carving with thinned wash

7. Apply darker color wash in the creases, and wipe carving.
8. Let dry

10. Spray with Deft Satin finish
Thanks Tom H

Depending on the effect you are looking for, you could use paint straight from the bottle for ornaments.

[Marci MN]

OH man.. I missed a few steps on mine. I'm painting up 14 mini santa's at the moment. I didnt know you could wash them after carving..and I didnt think of putting a darker color in the creases

*sigh* Next time I guess.

I've been afraid to put something on after sealing.. I didnt want all that hard work going down the drain because everything got too dark from the antiqueing. Maybe I'll try this on one santa first and see how I like it.

I'm glad you posted this. Thanks.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Marci.....You left out the most important step in any painting project. WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE STARTING!!! ALso, wash them often during painting. All dirt on a piece comes from handling and when painting this problem compounded even futher.

Deft vs. Polyurethane. For years I have relied on Poly as a final finish for my pieces. Since joining this forum I noted that a number of you use Deft. Well, always open to new ideas, I went out and bought some and tried it out. NO THANKS! Being lacquer based it starts to dry as soon as you put it on so it's really hard to get a good brushed finished. Spray? I'd never spray one of my pieces no matter what medium I'm using. Why? With brushing you maintain the amount of varnish applied and can spread it evenly in all areas. Spraying is just the opposite. When you aim the spray at a surface the spray will naturally gravitate to the lower areas and pool there causing drips, etc.

I apologize for this long post but I think a lot of carvers use Deft because it dries quick. That's okay but I think you'd get much better results with Polyurethane.

[Tom H]

Thanks Lynn! Brushing rather than spraying makes a lot of sense. Especially on small carvings. The pooling you describe can ruin the effect you are after. I just proved it. Also the thinner in the Deft caused the color to fade and even run a little. Which is your recommendation water or oil based poly? Thanks all, still listening and learning. Tom H

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Oil Based. The water based stuff just seems cold to me, also, by drying quickly it has the same problem as the Deft. One thing on the oil based Poly...buy the smallest can possible as you'll probably end up tossing it when it's half gone. Poly tends to turn Amber and thicken once the can is open so when I see that happening I buy another small can. The same happens with Deft so ones no better than the other with this problem.. The thin Poly really soaks in the lightly painted areas so as it dries it also strengthens the wood a litte.

Hope this helps.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

spraying is a technique to learn....you don't have pools etc if you keep the can moving. Swing your arm in an arc, touch the button just before you get to your carving and keep your finger on the button until just after you pass the carving....also watch your distance from the carving......I have been using spray Deft for many many years and unless I get sloppy and not watch what I am doing, there is no problem! I have always had more problem with pooling of finish with a brush than spraying...and besides......something I dislike as much as "sanding"....cleaning brushes ..ha ha

[heineda]

Hello,

One step I would add after the painting is a wash in boiled linseed oil. A very light coloring during the painting process - 1 or 2 drops of paint to a teaspoon of water, then after the linseed oil treatment, the colors are enriched. Then coat with Deft or Polyurethane.

The best thing is when you are done, it is still easy to see that it is wood, not some dillar store ceramic junk.

Carving,
Dan Heine