Painting tip

[T.R.MacMunn]

This post has nothing to do with CNC work, although I planed the blank, & cut my sandmask on the router. Not huge, the sign ( 23" x 32") has a lot of detail, albeit in 2 colours only. This could take hours to paint 2 coats onto with a brush.
Obviously, this one has been sandblasted, but no matter the method of adding dimension, there's a relatively easy & fast way to paint this.
There were 2 coats of acrylic primer, & 2 coats of white acrylic over everything, with light sanding between coats. Painting the black with any brush will be time consuming & frustrating, because you'll keep losing your "wet edge", with all the intertwined areas.

So ....using an old magazine or catalogue ( I use U-line catalogues) and a 4" foam roller, put some paint onto the paper, & roll it out to "load" your roller. Don't load it up too heavy, or you'll have paint running into your pockets. The trick is to NOT apply any pressure to the roller .... just the weight of it will give you nice coverage, without any overflow.
Don't try to do it in one coat. Depending on the paint, & the colour, it will take 2 coats for sure, & possibly 3. Since the 3 coats of black on this sign took less than 3 minutes each there is a huge time saving, with no loss of quality.

Use a thin plastic bag ( preferably a bit thicker plastic than you get in the produce section to bring home your wax beans) to keep the air off your roller, you can do multiple coats with the same roller.

This method works best when you have larger areas to paint, & not too well if you just have raised letters, for instance. The roller has to be able to span across gaps, or have most of its body on just one raised area.

With acrylic paints, IF you do have a run down the side of what you've painted, just use a Cheap Q-tip with some spit on it to wipe it up. Brand name Q-tips are too fuzzy, & even the WalMart brand is "too good". I use "store brand" ones, but not sure what to recommend in the US.

TR

[UglySign]

Happy Holidays TR !

Thanks for the Tip too...

Yea.. Uline catalogs are the new Old Style telephone books back in the day.
We get about 2-3 per week.

[darde]

I use a Ziplock sandwich bag by putting it over the roller and pulling the roller of the handle and then roll it up to get the air out. It can keep the roller good for awhile. When you are ready to clean the roller just put some water in the bag and let it soak for a bit then you can finish cleaning it when you have time.

[Jim Becker]

I use the produce bags on wet rollers to keep them wet between coats, too...

[drummerjg]

Im not much of a wax bean lover....but wax apples & fruit??? ...mmmmmm

Great tip, TR and as always, another masterpiece. Your talent is truly amazing.
Thanks for sharing.