Painting wood first

Beyond the Manual
1

Is it possible to paint your wood before cutting or engraving? I’m terrible at painting so I was thinking about painting first then masking and lasering. Thanks.

2

Short version: yup.

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Is acrylic paint the best?

4

Prepainting comes up now and again.

https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=Prepainting

Recently in particular (just 5 days ago in fact)

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5

That’s a matter of opinion. Acrylic works well and won’t harm your laser. Dyes work well (check out @shogun’s tardis), stains are tried and true… even sharpie does a good job.

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Thanks

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I’m one of those people blessed with big hands and painting stupid fiddly things drives me nuts.

So, yep, I paint a lot of sheets before cutting.

I keep a stock of pre-painted sheets of some types

I’ve found painting MDF that spray paints work well. Foam pads seem to get smoother finishes.

For a good finish, sand down with fine sandpaper, paint, dry, sand down, paint, dry, sand down.

I’ve used all sorts, kinda depends on the wood. Stains, acrylic, domestic wall paint, spray paint, Unicorn Spit, kid’s finger paints, spray metallics.

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8

Thank you. Was going to try some acrylic craft paint. White satin.

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What brand spray paint did you use? Curious if there are brands or types of paint in particular that may cause a fire, toxic fumes, or damage the laser.

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No special brand or paint - I just bung anything on.

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Ok thanks