Using acrylics

[Democritus]

Hi all
Can someone point me in the right direction in the use of acrylic paints on turnings.
I’ve turned a sycamore bowl, and want to put a coloured stripe round the outside inside a very shallow ‘trench’. Should I sand and seal it in the normal way and then apply the paint, or sand and then apply the paint , putting the sealer on when the paint is dry? When i’ve got to that stage, should I put on a wax finish, or a spray lacquer.? Or should I do some other processes entirely.
All suggestions gratefully received.
D.

 

[Richard_C]

I would be tempted to turn a boring looking cylinder from a piece of scrap, cut a few trenches and test different ways before applying to a nice bowl.

I have done a couple of stripes on small items by cutting a groove, filling with Fimo, baking at 110 in the oven, then putting back on the lathe and using a scraper to remove the excess. Not tried paint yet.

 

[kinverkid]

I would sand, seal, lightly scour then paint. Spray on lacquer will work with most acrylics but I would seal, paint and spray a test piece. Leave for at least thirty minutes to see if the paint reacts. I have used airbrush acrylics, gesso, spirit dyes, water based dyes and even nail varnish and they have all worked with acrylic friendly lacquer but I also know that they are not all created equal so test first. Stewart Furini on YouTube regularly paints and dyes his turnings. Maybe check him out.

 

[stewart]

Hi D - yep, what kinverkid said: seal, lightly sand (if you can get in the groove), and then put on your paint. You can use either finish you mention, but if the colour is only a narrow band and the rest of the rim is natural wood I prefer wax on the natural wood. You could seal the paint with a few coats of lacquer and then sand it off the natural wood...
Thanks for the mention, kinverkid.....need all the YouTube views I can get! I have a few videos of using paints...

 

[Democritus]

Cheers, guys. I’ll go down the seal, sand, paint and lacquer route.
D.