Ok, I'm going to discuss some acrylic experimentation in this thread. I'm also discussing this on an artist forum I belong to (is it ok to post a link to there?) so please don't be offended if through cutting and pasting I write some really basic woodworking stuff here, bordering on intelligence insulting, as I can't assume the artist folks know as much about wood as we do here.
There's a pic of my first test piece, a bowl gouge handle, in
this thread. I don't want to upload the image twice, so go look there if you want to see the before picture.
The tool (a 1/2" Thompson bowl gouge, U-profile) will be inserted to the end of the piece on the left of the picture. Just to the left of the red curtain are two grooves that are hard to see in this picture. There's a little excess wood on either side.
In between the two innermost grooves will be where I paint the piece. I'm going to apply Bush Oil after painting to either end, since I don't know what kind of grip the acrylic will yield and I am familiar with how a light coat of Bush Oil feels in my hand.
After doing as good a job as I am currently capable to get the piece smooth with a skew chisel, I power sanded with 320 grit.
Here is my current plan for painting:
First, I'll tape off a bit with low tack masking tape the ends where paint will not be applied. Then I'll apply some number of coats of MSA varnish (mineral spirits acrylic) - since it is snowing again today (happy springtime!
) this step will have to happen either tomorrow or later. If tomorrow isn't warm, maybe I'll pop off an email to Golden and see if they have a recommendation on how many coats of MSA Varnish to apply.
After the varnish is fully cured (not sure long I should wait - I'll probably wait at least a day to be safe) I'll coat the work with a generous amount of AGL (acrylic glazing liquid) - this will make the paint more workable longer with a slower drying time. The AGL will also increase the transparency of the paint, which is good for me because I still want to see grain. Then I'll put a little tiny bit of red (not sure which one yet) Heavy Body on a bit of t-shirt material and go to town.
I'll apply the AGL with the t-shirt too, and will just use the same t-shirt for painting. I'll probably just toss the MSA t-shirt bit after use.
Safety considerations - since I'll be painting on a surface spinning at 500 rpm, true cadmiums are right out. Since I'm aiming for still seeing the grain, I should probably use a more transparent pigment anyhow. Maybe naphthol red light, quinacridone crimson or quinacridone magenta. I'll need to remember to wear my full face shield and ought to setup some sort of "overspray" wall.
Assuming I get the red layer to a point that I am happy with, I'll let the red dry fully and then I'll try putting on a layer of interference blue. As long as this is a test piece, I might as well totally test the technique.
I'm open to opinions about which red might go best with the interference blue to make a blue-red-purple shimmering effect.
After the interference blue dries will be another coat or two of MSA varnish.