protecting an image printed on wood

For signatures and the like, I’ve had good success with just a quick coat of wipe on poly to seal it, then finishing normally. Otherwise, you might want to try some spray fixative for drawing, or hair spray (works nearly as well). Definitely do this on some scrap first to see how it works.

Why not spray with an aerosol lacquer sealer then poly over it? Most finishes are fine with even a squirt bottle set on mist or an HVLP system. I’d probably just hit it with some shots of lacquer to seal and then poly over it, if that’s the look I was going for.

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

I have minwax clear aerosol lacquer clear semi gloss, and I have already sprayed 3-4 applications on my test piece. How many coats of polyurethane should I use?

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I usually go 5-6 coats of wipe on, rubbed on with a tshirt material rag. However, you might want to go 3-4 coats of brush on, brushed on with a foam brush. Whenever I use a foam brush, it tends to be a little rough, so maybe some 0000 steel wool to knock down the specs, dust, and bubbles.

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

I have used the spray on miniwax polyurethane in semi gloss and gloss. It really depends on the wood your using (dense wood grains take better) and the grit of sandpaper you sand down to. I usually apply as many coats as needed to achieve the clear coat that I want. I have applied from one to ten coats depending. Allow 24 hours between coats so you can see your top coat after it has time to dry and see if you need another.

-- If you not making sawdust, your probably wasting your time. Kory

So i showed my test pieces to my teacher last night and he felt that the embossing was just sitting onto of the wood, that it wasn’t actually seeping in which is why I could scratch it off. He said I should try putting a coat or two of finish on it first (like a wipe on poly), let the poly dry, then apply embossing, then apply some more coats of poly (I am going to see if wipe on poly affects the embossing any). My only concern is there an safety issue with hitting a piece of wood with finish on it with a heat gun? (safety issues like fumes/fire) I have a cutey little heat gun, but not sure if the lacquer or poly will blow up at me if i heat it.

this is my heat gun:

http://www.amazon.com/Uchida-Embossing-Heat-Tool-Stand/dp/B000QTFH58/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1301492662&sr=8-4

anyways, what are you thoughts of applying a finish, then emboss, then more coats of finish?

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My first thought is to try it. I like my torch and I like my extinguisher even better. I couldn’t find an answer to the flammability question online after searching for a bit. My thought is that a heat gun won’t start it on fire, but might alter the poly—perhaps in the form of making it cloudy. Your best bet is to give it a try (with extinguisher on hand and probably using breathing protection in case it starts producing noxious fumes) and see what happens. If you’re happy with the results, you have your answer.

Update:
After searching some more, I’d say you’re better off contacting the manufacturer for their dry autoignition temp. Your heatgun can get up to 680F and the liquid autoignition temp is 450F. If you use your heatgun on the liquid, it will combust!

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

well i don’t plan using the heat gun when the poly is wet – that’s just silly and asking for it ;) but i can contact minwax and ask what their dry autoignition temp is

-- Please visit my Etsy site, http://www.etsy.com/shop/cgurnham or http://www.christinagurnham.com You can also follow me on my artfire blog: http://www.artfire.com/users/cgurnham/blog