getting dippy

[Magpie]

I have some fretwork candle lanterns that I want to paint black. I painted a couple by hand and what a pain they are! I tried spray painting them outside but I can't take the fumes. Can I dip them? I was thinking of getting a disposable roaster pan and dipping them in acrylic paint, but I don't want to waste my few expendable dollars if this is not a good idea. I'd like to knock out about 20 of these lanterns but I'd rather sand my thumbnail off on the sander (oh wait, I already did that ;p) than paint them by hand. I hate painting.

Thanks in advance

[workin for wood]

How about ditching the paint and going to a dye, such as transfast waterbased dye, or a mixol dye that you can mix into some wipe on poly? You can get black mixol, mix it into your wipe on poly, and apply it to the candle with a rag...then you are covering two steps in one, and the smell is tolerable. It's too easy, little chance for runs, dries relatively quickly...make some hangers with some wire or hooks and mount to a rope or wire off the cieling to dry.

[GrayBeard Phil]

I do not have a lot of knowledge in the area of dipping in paint.

As I write this only Jeff has replied, so this is my guess: Dipping in any product puts a lot of the paint / finish on the wood and the excess needs to be removed. When we dip in BLO, the excess is normally wiped off and the wood is allowed to drip dry. Acrylic paint will go on too thick. Removing the excess paint may defeat your objective of reduced labor involved in applying paint.

But in your post, you mentioned that spray painting outdoors was an option, except for the vapors. So I am asking, have you tried an 'organic respirator' NIOSH approved 1/2 face breather mask?

3M makes one sold at the big box home improvement stores (BORG and clones) in the paint department for about $28-30 USD:
(links for clarity only, shop around for better deal)

http://www.amazon.com/3M-07192-Paint-Spray-Medium/dp/B0002STR22/sr=1-5/qid=1168604778/ref=sr_1_5/103-1580994-8072611?ie=UTF8&s=hi

or another option is the 3M 6000 series which has several types of filters:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Respirator-Facepiece-Filters-Protection/dp/B0006ORFIA/sr=1-2/qid=1168604934/ref=sr_1_2/104-9088033-0724748?ie=UTF8&s=hi

Both have replaceable filters. Both will completely remove all odors when you are spay painting. If you keep the mask in a plastic zip-lock bag when not in use, a set of cartridges will last a long time.

3M is not the only maker of organic vapor filtering breather masks that meets the safety requirements, but last I visited my local BORG, they were the only brand on the shelf.

Phil

[Marsha]

I have some fretwork candle lanterns that I want to paint black. I painted a couple by hand and what a pain they are! I tried spray painting them outside but I can't take the fumes. Can I dip them? I was thinking of getting a disposable roaster pan and dipping them in acrylic paint, but I don't want to waste my few expendable dollars if this is not a good idea. I'd like to knock out about 20 of these lanterns but I'd rather sand my thumbnail off on the sander (oh wait, I already did that ;p) than paint them by hand. I hate painting.

Thanks in advance

Here's a lesson on dipping in paint, I do it all the time.
I use a disposable aluminum tray, just large enough to lay the item in.
I thin the paint, not to water consistency but slightly thicker. I always use acrylic paint and I always thin with extender, rather then water. The extender allows the paint to maintain it's properties, where water will weaken the colour. Buy yourself a package of popsicle sticks, they make great stirrers when mixing the paint. I generally mix equal parts of paint and extender and I mix it in the tray. The extender also extends the life of your paint, with water the paint starts to dry almost immediately, with the extender you have working time.
Here comes the fun part, prepare to get paint all over your hands, or you could wear rubber gloves, but where's the fun in that. I place the project in the paint mixture and use my hands to give the piece a bath, I use a small artist brush to make sure the paint is in all the frets, flip the piece over to make sure there are no bubbles or pockets underneath, in general just make sure the piece is completely covered in paint. When I remove the piece from the paint bath, I use my hand to pull off the excess paint. I lay a bunch of paper towels flat on the bench beside me and I gently tap the piece on the paper towels until the excess paint has cleared from the frets, when one paper towel gets to wet with paint, I move it and use another. Watch for runs from the frets, clean these up with another paper towel and hang the piece to dry. I usually dip my pieces twice and I do a bit of sanding between dips, because the grain will lift.
You need to wash your hands periodically, because the paint will start to dry on your fingers and this will cause some chips to get on your piece.
A technique I like to use when dipping is after I've cleaned off all the excess paint, I will dapple the piece with my finger tips, gently touching here and there, for a shaded effect, or use a paper towel and dap the piece rather then wiping, this will give you a stippled effect.
I hope this helps and good luck with your painting
Marsha

[PuzzledMoose]

Thanks for posting that long clear explanation, Marsha. I'd been wondering about the same thing.

The extent of my painting so far has been blasting various colours of aerosols onto ply to use as a backer ...

[Magpie]

I choose all of the above Thanks for the great replies--I'm gonna try all three methods!

[Dragon]

Thank you for that information. I will try the dipping in the future. One question for me, what is extender? Is is sold under that name?
Diane

[Marsha]

Thank you for that information. I will try the dipping in the future. One question for me, what is extender? Is is sold under that name?
Diane

The extender I use is from Folkart, and yes it says extender right on the bottle. You should be able to find it where ever you buy artists supplies. eg Wal-Mart, Michaels, any craft supply store.
Marsha