Andrew1 Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 I am making a sign in book type sign for a wedding. I need to seal it and then have people sign it and than finish again. Any thoughts on the finish? I was thinking a clear shellac to seal and a lacquer to seal in the marker but also heard that a Sharpe is oil based and can ruin the shellac. The wood is maple with cherry endbaords type design and they want a more natural wood color and for it not to yellow the maple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Acetone will wipe Sharpie marks away clean. Shellac & a waterbourne top coat is how I would go. Or shellac, sign then another coat of shellac before lacquer. Make test boards before you finish the sign ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catco Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 11 hours ago, wdwerker said: Acetone will wipe Sharpie marks away clean. Shellac & a waterbourne top coat is how I would go. Or shellac, sign then another coat of shellac before lacquer. Make test boards before you finish the sign ! As will rubbing alcohol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Get them to sign in pencil just onto bare wood. Then you can seal it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 If you use Sharpies get the fine point ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 And you'd probably get better results if you spray rather than brush the finish. That also reduces the chance for something to smear. David 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew1 Posted April 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 Will definitely be spraying the top coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew1 Posted May 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2018 I have tried shellac and varnish and a couple different types of pens and it is still smudging. Any more thoughts on types of pens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 Artist's charcoal pencil will show nicely on bare wood. Then spray over that. A grease pencil would mark on any cured finish, but might be hard to seal over. Do you have time to let any ink dry thoroughly before top coating? Sharpie may do better after drying a few days. Then I would think a water borne finish would be least likely to smear the ink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew1 Posted May 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 After the wedding I have all the time in the world. I have until Sunday to find what works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 Very thin almost dry coats should lessen the chance of smearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew1 Posted May 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2018 Just to update I tried the shellac on the whole sign after just using on a test piece. Once it was bigger than a couple inches it looked like crap. So I tried another coat looked just as bad. Tried to buff it out looked awful. So I sanded it to wood and went with spray lacquer. Both shellac and lacquer worked with artist pens. I may just have had a bad can of shellac idk it was streaky and didn't soak in evenly at all to the maple or cherry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted May 7, 2018 Report Share Posted May 7, 2018 Thin light coats, not wet runny ones. Shellac does have a shelf life. Old shellac doesn't dry fast and when it does dry it's not hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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