You can also mix glazes from a single manufacturer to produce shade variations or use different glazes in separate layers to obtain a special look. For example, the Wolf Head carvings used in this guide were glazed However, I suspect there must be some trade secrets here or the marketing people would simply label every gel stain as "gel stain and glaze." I have used gel stains as a glaze during furniture making because of the larger variety of colors and shades available but have found two glazes I like for carvings, Burnt Umber and Van Dyke Brown. I didn't find anything earth shattering, simply that glazes are formulated for more open time and are easier to work. I looked in my finishing books and did internet searches to see if there was a distinct difference between the two. The bottom line is both work and people use both. There is so much personal preference in play here and I will stop at the above statement. They machine great due to their hardness, but if you are not careful, their strong grain patterns can become more dominant than the design. And if you do, please share your results, good or bad.įor me, oaks and ash fit into a special category. This would be a good area should someone want to do some experimenting. There are light color glazes and stains, but I have never tried them in a situation where the glaze is lighter than the base wood. Should you do a carving in a darker wood, it is probably best not to glaze it. Therefore, I do almost all my projects in maple and the carvings for this guide were done in hard maple. However, for glazing, you need a lighter wood so the darker glaze provides a contrast that produces the feel of depth in the image. In my experience, you will get better machining results and finer detail with the harder woods. For machining quality, my favorite woods are walnut, cherry, and hard or soft maple. There are a couple of considerations when you choose wood for a 3D carving. This model was chosen for three reasons: Its final appearance is greatly improved by glazing (my opinion), the detail is enough to be a challenge, and it is one of the included 3D clip-art models with Vectric's Aspire. For a 3D model, I have chosen the Wolf Head from Vector Art 3D. This guide will take you through each step and discuss techniques, tools and materials. The process I use can be separated into five major steps.
VECTRIC FORUM LARGE BIT SPEEDS PROFESSIONAL
I am not a professional furniture finisher, so if you are, or already have a finishing process for your carvings, then this guide may not be for you. That was over 2 years ago and I have been doing it since. After completing my first few 3D carvings, I decided to experiment and see if glazing would give them added depth. You can find information about glazing in just about any quality finishing book, on numerous internet web sites and even videos on YouTube. I learned about it years ago and have used it in my furniture finishing. Glazing has been used for hundreds of years, so the concept is not new. It takes time and patience to achieve this result, but if you are going to invest hours to carve a 3D image, why not spend a little longer and make it the best it can be. Looking at these two pictures, the one on the left is after machining and the one on the right after glazing and finishing.