Painting wood toys

[EIEIO]

I made some wooden cars and trucks from pine and oak. The oak with some Feed-n-wax (top) look great but the pine is kind of plain. I tried painting the pine using Krylon Color Creations Acrylic Latex Enamel. The results are lousy. I tried Krylon primer first - the primer went on smooth and looked good - but the paint on top is streaky, even after 3 coats, and is still tacky after 24 hours. I tried both bristle and foam brushes. Very disappointing.

Can anyone suggest a better approach to getting shiny paint on a pine truck?   

[Shogun]

What I do on pine is use craft paint that comes in the little bottles, hand paint the items and then shoot them with gloss polly. Hope this helps

[Danny]

Hello Friend....I just got to the point after using the brush method and never
getting the finish to look smooth that i CHOSE just use spray paint.  I usually
get a real smooth and more or less professional appearance.  I am a believer
the the Krylon brand is the best.  Many colors come with a built in primer.  Like
2 in 1.  Drys fairly fast also.  Anyways this is just my 2 cents worth.  Danny  :+}

[jeff44]

Sheila is it child safe?

[EIEIO]

thanks. I'll try both and get back.

[mlwmerk]

I use sanding sealer first on the raw wood toy pieces.  I use minwax products.

Wait at least one day and then sand them with really fine sand paper.  Makes them as smooth as a baby's butt. Especially the end grain.  Humidity has a lot to do with drying time.  The dryer (humidity) the better.

Then I use Rustoleum spray "Primer".  Use several thin coats. Watch out for runs.
 
I wait a couple of days and then I use Rustoleum "color" spray.  I use many thin coats.  Works great.  Pretend you are spray paint a real life car.

I've found that Rustolum products take a little longer to dry (one day) and cover very well.  Albeit, the do tend to be a little more expensive than the Krylon products.

I especially like the Rustoleum new 2XX products.

I never have had any luck with the spray acrilyic latex stuff.  It globbs when sprayed and doesn't dry well when mixed with oil based undercoats. I've found that they don't cover as well and tend to run.

[tinker1]

how to use krylon color creations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAKH1jgnJRQ

[Bill Wilson]

I know that you can mix dyes with shellac.  Shellac is safe and non-toxic.  I don't know about dyes.  I wonder if one could mix food coloring with shellac?  I might have to try that.   

[Hawkdave]

I make a lot of wooden games for the kids in our street to play with. My neighbour, who is a painter, paints them for me. He uses ordinary white paint for the first coat, then adds the top coats of varying colours. The depth in the colour is a lot better using the first white coat.

As far as child safe paint, is there such a beast. I don't think so because most of the pigments come from the earth as well as man made products, and unless you know what they consist of, then consider them to be a possible hazard. Take the humble Talcum Powder (used as a pigment extender) This has just been tagged as unsafe to use on babies, Johnsons are now in the spotlight over this issue.

The worst component used in paint many years ago was lead, it was used in a liquid form as a dryer for the paint. This is no longer used in the western world and has made paint more safer for all people concerned.

As for paints made in China, right now, I would not trust them at all. The strict guidelines set for the western countries do not seem to be in place for a large range of products coming from China. I would recommend that you buy locally made paint and steer clear of Chinese made products.

After working for a major paint company here in Australia for 22 years, I made sure I read all of the MSDS sheets before handling any of the products. That includes the humble Talcum powder.

There is plenty of information on the internet and after some searching, you will find the manufacturers MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for the products they use.

Dave.