Painting V carved letters

[foamman]

Hi,
I am making my first sign and I am using the 60 degree V bit that came with my bot. I am trying to paint the letters (which are about 1 inch high) and I am not having much luck. I tried spraying the letters and sanding after (the wood is knotty pine) but the paint bleeds too much in the deep wood and by the time I sand it away I pretty much loose the letters.

I also tried using contact paper to mask the areas around the letters (and then spray) but since the letters are so small the contact paper got ripped up by the bit.

Has anyone tried polyurethane on the wood first and then spraying and sanding? The goal being to seal the surface so the paint can sink in.

Any thoughts fellow Botters?

Thanks
Ben

[ljdm]

What I've done is carve first, then seal the wood - poly, sanding sealer, min-wax, etc, then paint letters, and wipe/sand off excess. Helps minimize/stop bleeding.

[beacon14]

You may get less bleeding with a denser wood like maple or another hardwood.

[butch]

Ben
I do one color by doing just that. Base color or just spray lacquer. Then I do my engraving or VCarving. I then use Sanding Sealer to seal the pores in the fresh cut VCarve to prevent bleeding. Then paint on my letter colors. Wipe the board clean.
Works well.
I just read about using powder to fill the Carving. Claim the oil in the wood is absorbed by the powder and makes it cure. Claim it makes a cleaner letter. Anyone tried this?
Butch

[joe]

I'd suggest you do a search on the topic. It's one of the highly posted topics.

[jamesgilliam]

Ben, I have not done this in knotty pine, but when I am doing plaques I route the text, paint with the exterior acrylic paint from the local Wal-Mart craft department, let it dry, then sand and finish as usual.