Need Some Suggestions on Painted Lettering

[Wood'N'Scout]

I've been asked to make 25 bases for a restaurant chain.  These bases will support a metal contraption for their signature desert. 

The base is 6X9 inches of quarter sawn white oak that is 1.25 inches thick.  The plan is to have the name of the restaurant chain laser engraved into the wood blocks.  Our problem is two-fold. 
1.  The restaurant chain wants the engraving colored red.  Some of the text is pretty small.
2.  Due to the application it is highly likely that these wooden bases will be washed with industrial soap and water at least occasionally.

So now the questions.
1.  What process would you suggest?  We can get the laser engraving done thru a mask, then brush or squeegee the red paint in.  Once the paint has dried we can removed the mask, sand out any bleeding of the paint, and then coat with poly (oil based is preferred since it gives the oak the color the customer likes).
2.  We tried masking and spraying red but the velocity of the paint does not give sufficient coverage inside of the engraving.
3.  Do we put poly down before engraving, after the coloration, or does it matter?
4.  What kind of red paint is suggested?

Has anyone done this and what process was used?

[goaliedad]

I would get the red paint on then poly. Ask at a real paint store for recommendations???

[Sawdustd]

I did something similar to this when making an insert for my son's TR-6 dashboard.     The insert was for 6 toggle switches and each switch  was cinc routed with its name.     Step 1:  I finished the insert, i.e., dyed then applied  the  top coat (poly) to seal the surface.   Step 2:  had the letters carved.    Step 3: painted the letters using an artist brush.  Easy to wipe off the paint from the sealed surrounding surface.    Step 4:  Sealed the painted letters with poly. 

Dave

[Cooler]

I would use One-Shot sign makers paints.  

Most often the engraving in wood is a "carving" done by sandblasting using a rubber computer cut mask.  There are places on line that will do this for you.

One-Shot paint flows beautifully and their golds are outstanding.

http://www.1shot.com/One-Shot/Products/Topcoats.aspx

[Rob Young]

I've been asked to make 25 bases for a restaurant chain.  These bases will support a metal contraption for their signature desert. 

The base is 6X9 inches of quarter sawn white oak that is 1.25 inches thick.  The plan is to have the name of the restaurant chain laser engraved into the wood blocks.  Our problem is two-fold. 
1.  The restaurant chain wants the engraving colored red.  Some of the text is pretty small.
2.  Due to the application it is highly likely that these wooden bases will be washed with industrial soap and water at least occasionally.

So now the questions.
1.  What process would you suggest?  We can get the laser engraving done thru a mask, then brush or squeegee the red paint in.  Once the paint has dried we can removed the mask, sand out any bleeding of the paint, and then coat with poly (oil based is preferred since it gives the oak the color the customer likes).
2.  We tried masking and spraying red but the velocity of the paint does not give sufficient coverage inside of the engraving.
3.  Do we put poly down before engraving, after the coloration, or does it matter?
4.  What kind of red paint is suggested?

Has anyone done this and what process was used?

Some thoughts :

Oak is an open-grain wood.  Paint will run unless you seal things well before applying paint and sanding back.
Engrave -> seal -> paint -> sand back -> final finish

Paint and sealer should not have the same solvent.  Consider thinning the paint so that its surface tension allows it to get down into the engraving.

Washing of these with the sort of sanitizing chemicals one might find in a restaurant will eventually destroy the average finish (poly, lacquer, etc).  Perhaps consider an epoxy based clear-coat, such as one might use for automobiles? It may be necessary to add a barrier coat between the paint and the epoxy clear-coat, again depending on solvent incompatibilities. Don't want to have the paint bleed.

[Snipe Hunter]

I would use One-Shot sign makers paints.  

Most often the engraving in wood is a "carving" done by sandblasting using a rubber computer cut mask.  There are places on line that will do this for you.

One-Shot paint flows beautifully and their golds are outstanding.

http://www.1shot.com/One-Shot/Products/Topcoats.aspx

Another plug for One Shot. It's been around forever, Extremely durable.

It's still the paint of choice for sign painters.

If this was a job that I was being paid to do. I would consider asking the customer to rethink the engraving and farm that lettering out to a good sign painter. They can be hard to find but they're still around. There is definitely WOW! factor in hand painted lettering.

To give you an idea what a good sign painter can do

[Cooler]

If he has access to a sand blaster, then buying a custom cut stencil from rubber will allow the "carved" letters.

http://www.nationalstencil.com/rubber_sa...encil.html


The above sign was "carved" with rubber stencil and a sand blaster.  It looks like cedar to me.

And here is some information on the process:  http://precisionboard.com/sign-making/ti...signworks/