Hello! Brand new to CNC carving, but super excited about learning and making some great projects! I wanted to make a sign out of clear pine with v carved lettering. I wanted a kind of weathered look, so I’m wanting to stain the face of the board with some fun, nautical colors in semi-transparent, but I’d like to paint the v carved letters with a white paint. I’d really like to hear ideas on the best way to complete the stain/paint part of the project. Thank you in advance and looking forward to growing with this community!
Hey Kenton! Welcome to the community! I think what you are looking for is Oramask 813! It is a stencil paper that you just need to remove the backing off of and apply to your project before carving. I find it easiest to start to apply it to your project then use a credit card to smooth it as you go! As long as you apply it nice and smooth, it should come right up after you are done painting the carved letters.
Here is a previous forum post that shows a better explanation. Hope this is what you are looking for!
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Hello there and thank you for the advice! I did forget to mention that I am attempting to make this on a live edge piece of basswood. I actually already tried the Oramask, because it looked like a great solution, but the v bit seems to leave a rough edge on it in places and in other spots, even pulls it up or off a little. If I tried to spray paint over that; it would have been a mess. Not sure if it was the v bit or the wood, but it didn’t work well the couple times I tried it. The second time I even tried to shellac the wood first, then apply the Oramask and finally carve…same issue with rough edges on the Oramask and pieces torn off. Any other thoughts?
I clear coat my unions for my flags use Oramask and never have had an issue. What bit are you using? I use the Amana 90 with the carbide insert. Carve a lot of PVC as well with various Amana bits they cut very clean. Be sure to rub your Oramask in real good with an old credit card.
Hello and thank you for responding to my question also! I have the v bit that they sell on Inventables website. I happened to watch some other videos last night and saw a few others using the bit you mentioned. Perhaps it is the bit? I feel that I’m following the same processes as everyone else and their finished cuts on the Oramask look really clean…mine seem pretty ragged and wouldn’t leave a clean edge at all. The cuts in the wood look good, it’s just the Oramask that doesn’t. Kinda defeating the whole purpose. Suppose I’ll have to try that bit you suggest and see if that’s the solution. I appreciate the support…thanks again!
Run your Detail pass first, I always do that. Helps keep the Oramask secured and it cuts cleaner. More around it to keep it secure.
When I do some of my projects I carve, paint the whole thing the base color and sometimes clear coat. Then I fill the areas with acrylic paint and wipe the excess off using a damp cloth. For larger projects I use a 3" piece of 2x2 with the edges rounded on it. I wrap the rag around it and drag it across the pieces until I clean up the excess. Do this while the acrylic is still wet.
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Thanks again for the ideas Steve! Once my new Amana bit arrives, I’ll try doing that finish pass first to see if that will also help out. I’ll post the results once I give it a go.
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