General Finishing - Decorative Embellishments (all kinds)

[Regis Galbach]

I am just getting to the point of trying my had at some decorative touches to my lathe projects and another thread here raised questions for me.

If carving, texturing, burning, etc. do you put any finish or sanding sealer on first?
What about color? Seems like applying color after would hide some effects.
And, after embellishing, do you sand and clean-up on lathe for final finishing?

Any tips along this line are appreciated.
Regis

 

[Owen Lowe]

The answer to each of your questions, Regis, is “it depends”. It depends completely on what technique you implement and what you’re envisioning the final piece to look like. In other words, there is no correct sequence to follow and each decision can affect the effect.

If you can re-post your questions with examples of things you’d like to try then it would yield more definitive answers.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I agree with Owen . Your question could be answers by writing several books and even then would still vary among turners. For instance applying dye cane be airbrushed, blotted on or brushed on with each method achieving a different effect.
Maybe rephrase and ask about one thing at a time . By the way color can be dark or light which may give you ideas on that part. Also color can emphasize or negate some areas or grain contrast.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I always do pyrography on bare wood. Inking is done afterwards.

 

[Regis Galbach]

The answer to each of your questions, Regis, is “it depends”. It depends completely on what technique you implement and what you’re envisioning the final piece to look like. In other words, there is no correct sequence to follow and each decision can affect the effect.

If you can re-post your questions with examples of things you’d like to try then it would yield more definitive answers.

Well, you're right, it is too general. For now, I'm starting pyrography. If I dye or stain before I burn, is there any particular hazard? To wood or self?
For the rest I'm just going to start experimenting.

Thanks,
Regis

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

Some general rules of thumb:
Embellish after you have completed the turning, sanding to whatever level you want.
Embellishment such as burning or carving won't hide turning tool defects.
No finish before burning. If you do use sanding sealer, use a thin coat and sand it all off. Finish may flare up and burn more than you want. And it stinks.
Burned lines are very useful to stop dye and paint from going outside of where you want it.
Overburn can sometimes be wiped away with 90% alcohol, which will also melt shellac. Sometimes a gum or kneadable eraser will work.
Dyes will bleed through end grain and color differently than side grain.
Applying a sealer like shellac on the inside of a hollow form or bowl can help keep dyes from bleeding through.
Frisket, shellac, or tape can keep overspray at bay, but color may creep under tape or frisket, burned lines can help with this too.

You can always put stuff back on the lathe, and cut more or sand.
Chances are that any sanding will soften carving lines, which may be your goal, usually keeping the carving sharp is good.
Sanding burned areas may darken surrounding wood.
Just my $.02. Experiment and have fun.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Well, you're right, it is too general. For now, I'm starting pyrography. If I dye or stain before I burn, is there any particular hazard? To wood or self?
For the rest I'm just going to start experimenting.

Thanks,
Regis

If you dye before burning, the dyed wood will be discolored by the heat.

On the other hand, lessons learned regarding what doesn't work by trial and error are seldom forgotten.

Mark offers some great advice.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

I just noticed this thread (should it be in the main subforum?).

I use pyrography with a $200 laser head mounted on my CNC mill. Prior to the laser I tried a wood burning tool. Wood burners don't work well in an automated operation because the recovery time from first contact is too unpredictable. After the wood burner, I bought a Weller digital soldering station with tip temperature control. The Weller at max temp is only 900F, but there's only a couple degree drop after contact. I still use the Weller sometimes in the CNC with a tip like a straight blade screwdriver for a calligraphy effect.

For coloring I use Permapaque (permanent opaque pigment) markers, kind of hard to find sometimes. With a 1mm tip you can do fine work because the burn line stops paint bleeding across lines. The piece shown is around 1" square so mistakes are hard to see anyway without magnification.

 

[William Rogers]

Regis, I like doing embellishments. I am no expert by far and mostly learned through failure. I do simple pyrography and coloring to enhance. Here are a few of the enhancements I have done and what I used for enhancements.

This was my first (after two "learning" pieces) using pyrography and transtint dye. This piece has transtint dye. The sequence was after sanding I did the pyrography and then put a 50% sanding sealer before applying the dye. First attempt the dye bleed through without the sanding sealer.

This ornament is maple. Top was distressed with a dremel tool and brown transtint dye.

This ornament I did wire burning for the radial lines and wood burning for vertices lines. The base I used a dremel to try to give a "stone" effect. Here I used Chestnut stain for the colors.

Here is another ornament. I used the Sorby micro texture for the grooves, TomBow markers for color and Pebo paint. The canes were from hobby lobby.

 

[Regis Galbach]

Regis, I like doing embellishments. I am no expert by far and mostly learned through failure. I do simple pyrography and coloring to enhance. Here are a few of the enhancements I have done and what I used for enhancements.

This was my first (after two "learning" pieces) using pyrography and transtint dye. This piece has transtint dye. The sequence was after sanding I did the pyrography and then put a 50% sanding sealer before applying the dye. First attempt the dye bleed through without the sanding sealer.

William,
Those are terrific, just the kind of embellishments that I want to do. Small, burn, dremel and with mostly solid color. I'd have trouble coloring those candy cane stripes but, the others

Thank you for sharing those.
Regis

 

[john lucas]

Gosh Regis there are so many answers. I do a lot of embellishment especially this time of year. Sometimes you have to apply finish first, sometimes last. Sometimes you do a little of both. Right now I'm typing this while the first layer of color dries on my latest ornament. Next will come the coloring with markes followed by some clear finish. Sometimes I find that it needs a layer of finish for the colors to go on evenly and stay bright. Textures usually are done before color but not every time. Feel free to come up and we will spend a while decorating some pieces or at least talking about them. There are a million textures. Anything that puts a dent in wood.

 

[hockenbery]

There are many, many combindations....

Two quicke examples paint a plattter.

1. Carve through the paint exposing the wood on what will be the rim of the platter. Turn a bowl in the center of the platter. The result is a crisp line where the paint was cut to begin the bowl.
The natural,wood will contrast of compliment the paint.

2. Turn a hf finish he outside with a clear finish showing the wood. Carve some leaf outlines and a stem.
Paint the leaf parts green paint stem part black or brown wipe the excess off the finished surface.
Now the carving is highlighted and a crisp edge to paint is maintained y the having carved through a finishes surface that the pain won’t stick too.

I always get a head ache hinking abonall the ombunations.
Have fun!