# Advice finishing painted sign



## ponch37300 (May 26, 2009)

Here is a sign I am working on for my cousin, lost a bet this year.










It's just a pine board that I used a milescraft pantograph to do the logo and the milescraft signpro to do the name. Painted them with red, blue, and white water based paint. I'm going to be cutting it to length and routing an edge on it.

What is the best way to finish this? Should I seal everything somehow(not sure what to use) and then stain the rest of the pine and then poly everything?

Or should I skip the stain and just use a water based poly over the colors and pine and call it good?

Thanks for any advice, finishing is one thing I don't know much about!


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Hi Scott,

If I were you I would cut it to finished size, complete the router work and use the water based poly you suggested. I like the natural color of the wood to show through.

Mike


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## rwl7532 (Sep 8, 2011)

Will it be installed inside or outside?


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## Hsobel (Jan 25, 2012)

Finish the routing, sand to 180, and the put on several coats of spar varnish or spar urethane. This results in a nice rustic look and renders the sign weatherproof.


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## ponch37300 (May 26, 2009)

Hsobel said:


> Finish the routing, sand to 180, and the put on several coats of spar varnish or spar urethane. This results in a nice rustic look and renders the sign weatherproof.


Thanks for all the replies everyone. 

Sorry for my lack of knowledge but what is spar urethane and why would I use it instead of polyurethane?


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## Hsobel (Jan 25, 2012)

It is called "spar" urethane as it was designed for the spars of boats. You want to use it for outdoor wrk as it s weatherproof as opposed to regular urethane which is designed for indoor use on things such as floors and table tops. I hope that helps.


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