Finishing wood with bright blue or green, special need

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sgtdave

New User
Dave
I have a request to make some wood trophy mounts in green and blue. We are trying to convince the end-customer to go with a natural wood and just use a name plate of the desired color. In the event that doesn't work, I am trying to find a way to finish the final product in these colors. It must look smooth and clean and not shoe wood grain. The later can be fixed by using a wood with tight or smooth grain. I am not happy with this solution but making my customer happy is the final goal.

Asking for best ideas for finishing in the sapphire or emerald colors.

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.
 

Stuart Kent

Stuart
Senior User
I would recommend spraying lacquer based paint, like the paint used commercially on cabinets. Here is a basic guideline:

sand through all grits up to 220. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. *if additional sheen is desired, clear coat with 45 or higher clear lacquer.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
pigmented lacquer is probably the way to go. But I recently made some blocks for my grandson and stained them bright colors using food coloring. The wood grain still shows - so this may not work for you. But it is definitely easy to do and the resulting blocks are quite colorful. You can stain them multiple times, if necessary, to make the colors deeper. You should be able to put on a top coat, I would probably use a water borne lacquer. I mixed the stain to get orange and purple which isn't difficult either but may take a little experimentation.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
Transfast Water Soluble Powder Dye (available at Klingspor) does come in several shades of Blue and Green. I use it to color cribbage pegs, but I doubt you'd be able to match the colors you're after close enough. Not sure what wood the pegs are made of but it is a light wood to start with. I get them from Lee Valley.
 

gator

George
Corporate Member
Just a way out thought. Have you looked into 3-D printing? A basic block shouldn't be too hard but I don't honestly know the cost. It can be done in various colors and is smooth and hard. I know that the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford http://mhc-oxford.org/ School of Graphic Arts does 3-d printing and could give you a cost.

George
 

JGregJ

New User
Greg
I recently used food coloring to stain wood, in my case I needed to match the color of existing stain that was light blond in color. Mixed the food colors in alcohol instead of water to help them dry quickly. It's very cheep compared to stains. However there are downsides -- it will raise the grain and the colors can bleed if exposed to moisture. In my case I coated it in a oil based wipe on poly and after many coats it seemed stable, but this was all new to me, so I can't say if there are worries down the road.

I've also see the stain mixed in the lacquer finishes used on the guitars, it's very nice.

If there is no interest in seeing the wood grain, is just regular paint an option?
 

Grimmy2016

Administrator
Scott
I would recommend spraying lacquer based paint, like the paint used commercially on cabinets. Here is a basic guideline:

sand through all grits up to 220. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. prime. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. sand with 400. blow off surface. paint. *if additional sheen is desired, clear coat with 45 or higher clear lacquer.

I know nothing about finishing so please ignore what may seem like an ignorant question. Why do you sand/prime/blow 3-4 times and then do it again 2x with a paint layer in between? Seems like that is excessive sanding and priming? And is the PRIME a primer paint (like Kilz) or more like primer wood filler (kind of like a bondo for cars)?

Would love to know more!

Thanks
 

Charles Lent

Charley
Corporate Member
There is a product called "Star Board" that comes in standard size sheets and thicknesses much like plywood. The colors are very UV resistant, as this material was developed for the Marine Industry. It machines with woodworking tools much like wood, but gluing it requires special glue. Pocket hole joinery even works well with it, and it sands much like wood too, but without any grain in it at all.

The NC Science Museums are now building many exhibits with it, rather than using plywood and high pressure laminate covering because it is scratch resistant and resistant to most chemicals. The color goes all the way through it, so deeper scratches don't break through the color either. But it's more expensive than even good cabinet birch plywood and Baltic Birch. Still, it might be an ideal choice for this application. I don't know if it's available locally yet, but there are several internet sources for it. Maybe they'll send a sample.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sta....69i57j0l5.11194j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Charley.
 
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