Contrast for carvings

[charles48]

I have made a cradle and wish to carve a teddy bear in it with a 1/8" rounded bit (tenatively till I try the bit). I usually finish my projects with Minwax stain(Golden Oak in this case) and Minwax poly. I want to highlight the teddy bear say with a brown or darken someway. Anybody know a quick and easy way to do this w/o ruining my finish.

[artisan]

I'm not sure I follow Charles...why wouldn't you just use a darker stain like walnut on the bear, or perhaps use a staining paint like asphaltum to bring out the details ?....D

[charles48]

How would you keep the darker stain from bleeding into the surrounding wood? I thought maybe I would stain and poly it, let it dry, wipe latex into the carving and wipe off the excess around the around the carving. What I am not sure of is if the paint will some how react with the poly and ruin my finish. I tried this with an acrylic paint (I think that's what it was) and that is what happened on a previous project years ago.

[Amy Brown (Unregistered Guest)]

Try using the little acrylics you can get at Wal-Mart in a darker color brown or something. If you don't use a mask you should be able to just lightly sand the paint that gets on top before you stain and clear.

Just a thought!

[harold_weber]

Attached is a picture of quilt stand I made using glued up oak scraps. All that was done to finish it was to brush on Minwax Provincial, and then wipe the excess off the surface. The stain stayed in the rose carving and is quit a bit darker than the surface. This was done with a 45 degree vee-bit. Two coats of polyurethane were added after the stain dried.

6334

If you want to have the carving much darker than the surface stain, then I do the following:
1. spray on a sealer coat or two first.
2. brush on the dark stain, which will not penetrate much because of the sealer, but will lay in the carving.
3. Sand the surface to remove the dark stain.
4. Now put on your lighter stain for the surface with a rag.

Whatever you decide to do, proof it on a few scraps before you do your cradle!!

[kerrazy]

I echo Harold's comments above.
I do custom desk and mantle clocks for clients were I take the logo and V-carve it onto hard maple for them.
Then I sand the v-carved area with a sanding mop, then seal the whole thing with an acrylic sealer. from there I let it dry then fill the carved ara with acrylic paint of their choice or stain. and when it dries I sand the whole surface clean and the stain or paint stays in the voids. Then I stain the rest of the project and clear coat the whole piece.

[charles48]

Looks nice Harold.

Thanks for all the responses.

Charlie

[jamesgilliam]

Charles, Amy has the right approach to what you want to end up with. I have been just painting the acrylic over my carved graphics and text, sanding off what gets on the surface and than finishing.

[joe]

Charles,

I suggest you investigate using what is called what is called Baroque Art Gild. This is an exterior, Interior artist rouge which is perfect for what you are doing.

This guilding paste comes in a tin about the size of SKOL tobacco. It is a thick paste which comes in Golds,Bronze,Brass,silvers and most any color you would want. They can be mixed.

You apply the material with a small still artist bursh and wipe off the excess. Let dry overnight and buff to a sheen. No masking, taping or fuss.

Few people know about this majic materials. You can look to Dick Blick Artist Supply.

Joe