What type of paint for douglas fir wood?

[CroftonGraphics]

Hi there,

I came by a nice block of untreated Douglas Fir Pine.
I want to paint some forms on it then leave the wood behind too.

I was wondering what type of paint is best and longest lasting for this wood type, also I want to use beeswax or similar to finish it so need paint that wont dissolve with a finish.

MY guess is acrylic? I have gouache as I dont have acrylic but not sure it will last for long?

Thanks.

[Andrew Werby]

Fir and pine are different. But you can paint them pretty much the same way. I'd use a primer-sealer under any paint I applied. A couple of brands I've used are BIN (a white-pigmented shellac) and KilZ (which is formulated several different ways). Once your wood is primed and sealed, you can use acrylic, latex or oil-based paints on it. I wouldn't advise goache, though, since it's not permanent or particularly suitable for anything but temporary illustrations on paper.

The beeswax idea is an odd one. Are you planning on melting it and brushing it on? It will tend to obscure any paint underneath it. Of course, if you really want to decorate your surface with wax, you can mix pigment in it for an encaustic treatment. The surface won't be particularly hard, but encaustics can last a long time if undisturbed.

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

[CroftonGraphics]

Ok thanks for help, sorry I am not a wood officianado and havent used it since doing furniture design at art college on fridays over 10 years ago.

With gouache, I use it a lot with watercolour on stretched watercolour paper and it lasts well for that, I have noticed other artists using it and selling their work. Mind you I make sure I buy the fairly expensive Lascaux brand that does not flake and drys hard almost like acrylic. I think it depends on the type.

I can see perhaps how it would not work well on wood though.
Again the beeswax I though would treat the wood for indoor use,
I will research some varnish instead and I like this encouastic idea currently googling it.

[craigktx]

acrylic works well on wood, i have painted pine and fir, if you thin the paint with
water it will not flake off. (thin like water color) doing this leaves some grain showing through the paint.

Finish with floor wax. (johnsons paste wax, yellow can) or wipe on ploy in the silver can.

for a smooth finish sand the wood to 220 or higher before painting.
(less raised grain)

[CroftonGraphics]

thats great, unfortunately was cutting some wood and sliced the ball joint of thumb with scalpel quite deeply, so hope it is ok, but no wood cutting for a bit.
lucky it wasnt my left hand, at least i can draw etc in meantime.

[Andrew Werby]

Originally Posted by CroftonGraphics

thats great, unfortunately was cutting some wood and sliced the ball joint of thumb with scalpel quite deeply, so hope it is ok, but no wood cutting for a bit.
lucky it wasnt my left hand, at least i can draw etc in meantime.

[Ouch! I hate it when that happens. Why were you trying to cut wood with a scalpel in the first place? It's a good tool for cutting flesh (as you seem to have discovered) but poor for cutting wood. If you are cutting wood with a knife-like tool of any kind, it's important to hold onto the wood with something other than your hand, and to always cut away from yourself. (If you can't seem to do it any other way, at least get one of those kevlar gloves from the restaurant supply house to protect your off hand.) But really, if you're cutting wood with a knife, for instance to make wood-blocks for printing, the best way is to secure your wood firmly to a heavy table or something, and to cut with (in your case, since you're a lefty) your right hand over your left; it gives you better control, and keeps it out of harm's way.]

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

[raspero]

Varnish does not hold up when exposed to the sunlight. Ultraviolet light destroys it over time — not a long time either. I spent years varnishing boats. You have to sand it down and apply more every year, and even then, after a few years you have to strip it all off down to bare wood and begin again. Plain old oil based enamel holds up well, as well as polyurethane based colors. Not polyurethane clear.

Douglas Fir was called Oregon Pine in the US, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Botanically it is neither a Pine nor a Fir. It is in a classification of it's own. It was used extensively in the boat and ship building trade, which is where I worked. Nothing sticks to it real well, but paint does okay. Probably because it has so much sticky sap in it.

Richard

[CroftonGraphics]

ok douglas fir,
Some of it came to the uk years ago and grows here in Scotland.
I think empire builders brought it back for their gardens.
There are quite exotic gardens all over the UK with trees and plants from all over the world. We even have small palm trees here on the same latitude as Alaska.

I just picked up a block of wood from the sawmill and they said it was that.
With the scalpel, I had just got up and hadnt had coffee or breakfast and was messing around, serves me right and cutting towards oneself is idiotic i must have been asleep.

I am just testing to see if these wooden things will sell, and if so I will get a nice set of knives or even chisels etc. It will speed the production up too. Im experimenting with burning on them to make black and just the wood pattern in the image, so perhaps paint wont be needed.

[sculptor]

Originally Posted by Andrew Werby

[...and to always cut away from yourself. .]

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

with this I gotta disagree
I almost always cut towards myself when using knives---lots more control that way---also with gouge adzes
with most other tools the cut is away or toward a sturdy chopping block

for wood finishes, i thin a good spar varnish 50:50 , and brush on several coats each with less thinner till the stuff quits absorbing into the wood

for a smooth finish, i re-sand between coats 1 and 2
...
epimethius(i almost forgot)
...
what do you intend to do with this piece of wood?

[CroftonGraphics]

I am making lots of small rectangles from the piece of wood, then carving slightly raised reliefs of images with a simplistic look. Infact A. Werby mentioned printing blocks, i may experiment to see if they will give good prints on paper.

Its nothing profound, just some light 'relief'!

[sculptor]

for indoors

the most important thing is to seal the pores
so
darned near any paint, pigment, stain or colorant
and then
a coat of wax buffed in and reapplied to any open pores (usually end-grain) as the temp and humidity change to open and close the pores,

or
oil it
with a boiled linseed (really darkens it and is used mostly on my ladders)...etc. ...or tung oil or
or
rub in the silicates in a handfull of rushes---the rushes are also mildly abrasive so polishes the wood as you rub and oil it
or
leave it naked