Painting

Preparation of the wood carvings is the key to wood finishing.

1. Sand the wood with sand paper or aluminium oxide paper (which lasts longer with less clogging). Sand the rough areas with 120 grit then 180. remember try to keep the sanding in the direction of the grain. With carvings it is hard to get into the carved areas. To overcome this problem you can either use a sanding matt, foam backed sand paper or wire wool - again working through the grits. After sanding vacuum and brush out all the dust.

2. An undercoat should be used before applying the top coat. Acrylic Undercoats are good due to the decrease in drying time however with lime wood a spirit based undercoat must be used. Sometimes it may be necessary to add two coats of undercoat and lightly sand with 180 grit in-between coats. Please see the manufacturers instructions.

3. With the top coat you have a choice. Emulsion paint (not on Lime) which gives a matt finish, however not particularly hard warring. Eggshell which is spirit based finish, for a satin finish or gloss (spirit based), for a high shine finish. These last 2 are quiet hard warring. However for outside applications we advise gloss due to it being harder warring than the eggshell. Additionally Farrow and Ball also make a "Dead Flat", which is an oil based paint similar to eggshell however is totally matt.

When applying the paint with the carvings you must take the excess paint out of all the carved areas otherwise you will fill the areas with paint and air bubbles! With regards the top coat please follow the paint manufactures guideline.