I am planning to cut a sign out of 1" thick red oak. then stain it with laquerbased stain, then topcoat with sanding sealer and laquer finish.
After that dries, I want to apply Oracal 810 paint mask, rout out the letters with a v-bit, leave the mask on, prime, paint the letters with yellow oneshot, then size and apply gold leaf.
Will it look better with a black outline? If so, after the gold is applied, I would like to cut another mask on the plotter but with a 1/8" or smaller outline around the letters, apply it to the sign an d use that to paint my black outline. I'm not so steady with a brush ya know. And would the OneShot black stick to the laquer finish? What do ya think?
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Wow...my opinion is:
...I avoid using lacquers, but stick with oil-based varnishes instead, or waterbased/acrylic paint. However, lacquers should be OK.
I would not be trying to vee-groove the bottom line of text and gild it personally, but I'd leave that as a flat gild. I feel you might have issues with grain chipping out & size creeping under the edges of the mask, and it is so small that it could be more of a headache than it seems...
...but I may be wrong. I'm not familiar with your timber. I know here that it can be a pain, however if the timber is fine grained & hard, then it might go OK- but for the gilding time it'll take if vee-grooved, I think I'd just try & go with yellow paint instead, or a goldy bronze paint in the vee groove for that line.
Even if you feel you're not too flash with a brush, I'd still prefer to hand-letter and flat-gild that bottom line, and not use a mask. It would be much quicker- those scripts are not difficult to letter, and if they gain a few personalised quirks, then so much the better.
For the top line of text, no problems, but I think you could have timber breakout issues also, so I'd widen the kerning a bit more on that. Not much though-maybe 5%, just so each letter clears the next.
As for the outline on the big text- I think I'd be doing that by hand too if you wanted an outline, but you could avoid that by staining it in a much darker walnut type of colour, so that the contrast is already there. Gilding over the medium to lighter shades of timber doesn't stand out much, normally, I find. A darker stain is usually more striking & easier than lots of outlining.
Applying a new mask for the outline, after you've done the routing, will be tricky. Good luck!
Oneshot black WILL stick to lacquer though. Is there someone locally who could brush the outline for you instead, if you really want one? Sometimes text like that is easier outlined with the panel upside down, so you're facing the top of the letters.
Just my opinion- others may disagree!
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Thanks Ian!
It's going in a church and I'm sticking with the stain because it is the same laquerbased stain used on the pews and trim. All of that is laquer finished too. It's actually not as red as the computer rendering but it is a medium color. It's good to know OneShot will adhere to it. I'll do some tests on the Oak with a V-bit and re-kern those letters. Thanks!
[ August 12, 2010, 08:25 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by Guy H. J. Hilliard (Member # 2529) on :
Wayne
I would strongly recommend sealing the oak with clear after v-carving or else the yellow paint will bleed through the grain under the mask.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Thanks Guy!
Posted by Bob Peach (Member # 2620) on :
Wayne, you might want to try either a Bobbo Quad or a Kafka brush for outlining. With a bit of practice you`ll be outlining like a pro.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Your process should work fine. When you cut the mask for your routing template, cut the outline then. Saves mask and eliminates registration complications. After routing apply a couple coats of the sanding sealer to the raw wood just created. Size, gild and peel the outline and paint it. Don't spray any lacquer on the paint after that, it will curdle the one shot.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
