Refinishing a carving

[Donna_T]

Hi all,
OK, here's one I've not pulled before. :-[

I carved a little boy on a rocking horse and when I antiqued the carving, it got darker on his face than I wanted. I painted with thinned acryllics and antiqued with antiquing medium, and then just rubbed it pretty good with the usual brown paper bag.

Now, after I've thought about it more and have done the obvious stewing, I have decided that I have too much time and effort in the carving to let it stay icky. How do I strip JUST THE FACE to redo it? I know I can paint over it, but then I've destroyed the washed look.

Anyone had this problem and solution? HELP!!! All advice welcomed!

Donna T

[Gergie]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Hi, I have no idea if this will work but try it on a scrap piece of wood first. apply bleach to the scrap with the finish and see what happens. I don't know how it will react to the acryllics? good luck!!!! Gergie,

[colin_Partridge]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Donna,
I dont know how you will strip the face alone I read the last post and I would be nervous about the bleach bleeding into the rest of the carving I really dont know how you could stop it doing that. My suggestion would be to take one of those cone sanders and try sanding just the face even then I am not sure if you could get into all the cracks with that.
good luck and be sure to let us know what works
Colin

[AlArchie]

Re: Refinishing a carving

I've had to redo several failed painting attempts, but have not been able to do just a small part of any of them. stripped the whole thing back and started all over. However, you might try using an old small brush and dabbing on some of that 'ZipStrip' or other paint remover, then going at it with a small scraper to remove the offending paint. I think the problem there will be getting the surface blended in as there will be a lowered portion where the old paint has been removed. Good LUCK! But I'd strip the whole thing down, or maybe just repaint the face and try a lighter antiquing on just the face.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Re: Refinishing a carving

there is a new environmentally safe paint stripper that supposedly won't hurt your hands etc and is a gel, that might work..the gel would be more apt to stay where you want it...sorry can't think of the name of it! :-/

[Woody01]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Donna_T,

If you sealed the wood before painting and if the antiquing medium is acryllic ----- try using Q-tips and alcohol. a little alcohol on the Q-tip and rubbing in a circle may do the trick.
I have used this method to remove acrillic paint on a carving .
The carving had been sealed with a wood conditioner.

Good luck

Woody01

[plain_ol_ed]

Re: Refinishing a carving

If the alcohol doesn't work try mineral spirits ... on a practice piece first.

[randy48]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Dave's suggestion with the gel stripper is what I would recommend. Apply it with a smal paint brush or q-tips, let it work a few minutes (acryllics won't take long) and carefully wipe or 'dab' it clean with a clean rag or alot of q-tips. If you take your time and don't rush, you shouldn't damage paint anywhere else on the carving.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD VENTILATION!!!!!!
Do it outside if possible

[plain_ol_ed]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Donna - Perhaps I should explain myself further: In general; well cured acrylics tend to be relatively impervious to mineral spirits, while many antiquing mediums are not. My hope was that with mineral spirits on a swab you could remove the antiquing medium (or at least lighten it enough to satisfy your needs) while leaving the underlying washes intact. Odorless mineral spirits are available if the odor is offensive (it certainly is to me).

[Callynne]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Donna, if it was me I think I'd try using denatured alcohol, putting some on a Q-tip and gently wiping at the face area. I used it years ago on some woodwork that I didn't want to actually strip, just to clean it up and it worked great. At that time I used it mixed with some hot water and Spic and Span but that was to clean off over a hundred years of dirt and grime. That's why I think maybe just using some straight might work.
If you can get enough off you can make a thin wash of a flesh color and go over your little boys face again, just to tint it back to more the color you want. Next time I'd try sealing it with a flat sealer before you antique it, I've started doing that and it works very well. Good luck, let us know what you decide and how it works out! Callynne

[Donna_T]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Thanks everyone for the helpful ideas. It will be a couple of weeks before I get the carving back from the show. I'm anxious to try one or another of your suggestions. I just know that one will work and I'll let you know the results when I get there. Good Night.
Donna T

[Kenny_S]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Hi Donna, How was the carving show at the Fair? I was through Springfield Thursday Afternoon but the heavy rain kept us from stopping. Thought of you all having fun.

I have used mineral spirits and Q-Tips and worked and worked the area. However, I found, I either did not use enough or long enough and wished I had left it alone.

Best wishes,

[Donna_T]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Hi Neighbor Kenny,
The fair was great. Still going on through Sunday. Our club members take turns 'manning' the demostration table on opening Saturday. I did my four hours and made a little pile of wood chips and enjoyed talking to lots of fair visitors. The most common question....how long did it take you to carve that?

I entered 7 carvings (I think) and got four 1st place ribbons and 2 purple, special awards. I only had 2-3 carvings to enter last year so I was pleased to have 7 finished this year. Hope to finish many more for the coming year.

It will be a couple more weeks before I have a chance to try some of the suggestions for redoing my little carving's face, but anything, including just repainting the whole face, would be an improvement. It got a blue, but I'm a tougher critic!

See ya someday.

Donna T

[muffy]

Re: Refinishing a carving

HELLO DONNA, TRYING TO HELP OUT... YOU CAN GET A CAN OF (DADS EASY SPRAY )AT YOUR LOCAL WAL-MART.ITS STAIN,PAINT,&VARNISH REMOVER..IT WORKED REAL GOOD FOR ME. I STAINED MY CARVING (EARLY AMERICAN) AND IT BROUGHT OUT REAL DARK SPOTS WHARE I CARVED AGAINST THE GRAIN. BLOTCHES LIKE JUNK.I WANTED TO GET RID OF THE STAIN AND USED THIS STUFF. I DIDN'T THINK IT REALY WOULD REMOVE STAIN BUT IT REMOVED EVERYTHING RIGHT DOWN TO THE BARE WOOD.THE STUFF DON'T RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE EATHER. BUT JUST TO BE SAFE ID HANG MY CARVING UPSIDE DOWN BY THE LEGS TO MAKE SURE IT DIDN'T. ( POOR GUY) ANYWAY, ITS ABOUT SIX DOLLARS FOR THE ONE QUART CAN..I COULDN'T FIND A WEBSITE FOR IT..I HOPE THIS WILL HELP YOU...DAN...

[Callynne]

Re: Refinishing a carving

Wow Donna, congratulations on all your ribbons. Any way we're going to see some pictures?? Callynne