[Alice in Wonderland]

Boiled Linseed Oil ,Errol you get it everywhere I know I have ask that question too at the beginning so don't worry
Alice

[aulddiy]

Boiled Linseed Oil. Great stuff I've used it for many years and now use it on my carvings.

[Ron T]

Thanks for the information on this thread. I don't know the first thing . . . well, I do know enough to spray a couple of coats of clear stuff on my carvings, but that's about it. Finishing carvings well is as difficult as carving.

Alice, thanks for the info about mixing your own finish. I take it the poly is polyurethane.

[brianh]

I use clear shellac by zinnzer a gallon goes for around 25.00 it drys in about a half hour. It is a great finish on its own or for a paint base.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

If by sealer you mean some thing that will allow stain to be absorbed evenly by the wood I'd suggest a mixture of 20 percent shellac 80 percent alcohol. It dries very quick and is extremely cheap. I also use it on the hardwoods I make my bases from. Gives the stain a nice even, non-blotchy appearance.

[millerewpddgm3@yahoo.com]

Thought I would relate some thing I have learned over time. I do a lot of chip carving, which is the hardest to keep from blotching because each chip is an ingrain and will reallly suck up a liquid stain resulting in blotching. I use min-wax sander sealer, but not to seal with, but to set up the wood to help get rid of frizzies. After the clean up I use Bentley Gell clear stain varnish. Let dry then use a gell stain of your choice. Gell stains do not penetrate the wood like liquid and is a help to get away from blotching. Others agree sander sealers do not work well for the tough jobs. To seal something like a caricature carving polyurethane will probably do.
Ed

[bbeery]

excuse me, I'm a bit confused. Are all these suggestions i.e. fomulas, used to seal the wood before staining or painting or are they just for sealing after painting/varnishing/staining.
I use BLO (boiled linseed oil) to seal the wood before painting/staining and spray with a deft or poly gloss, semi-gloss or a non gloss depending on the desired end result.
Bill

[Claude]

It all depends on what you are looking for; there are 8,351 members of this forum (as of 8:15pm EDT, June 7, 2008), which means that there are at least 8,352 opinions on how to seal and finish carvings (I have two opinions...). There are many ways to seal the wood before painting, including no sealer; there are many ways to seal the wood after painting, including no sealer. If you really don't know what to do, look through the gallery and when you find a carving that has a finish you like, write a private message to the carver and ask what he/she did for finishing. Personally, I think that is a better way to go than to ask a general question, because general questions usually end up with lots of answers that don't really apply to the effect you want.

As Bill wrote, quite a number of years back, "To BLO, or not to BLO. That is the question"

Claude

[AlArchie]

Bill, it seems most of the problem with this type of question/answer is that there doesn't seem to be specific terms for sealing and finishing. Some folks call "sealing" what you do prior to painting, as with a dedicated sanding sealer or base. Others call application of a pre-stain compound, sealing. Still others call their final application of varnish, poly or lacquer, sealing.

Here, terminology gets in the way of understanding.

Al

[millerewpddgm3@yahoo.com]

To Bill, Sorry, tried to cover too much with too little. To me, sealing is part of preparing to get the best base for your stain or paint, which ever one you choose to use.
You can use blo but you have to let it dry longer than I like to wait. Some feel even then you should use several clear matte spray coats like deff or poluyrethane to seal in the oil in the blo. If your carving feels tacky and the oil looks like it is seeping through, spray another thin coat of deff or polyurethane.
This will work for character carving, but not chip carving.

Thanks Claude and Al for your comments it helped.
Ed