Acrylic over oil based stain?

[Paddy]

I plan on staining the basswood in my project using the oil-based wood stain Miniwax Wood Finish after applying Miniwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner. Would there be a compatibility problem painting over portions of the stain later with acrylic paint?

 

Would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.

 

Thanks

[S.Coleman]

No compatibility problem with painting over oil based products, A good sanding and preparation over the areas you will paint is a must. That is important. Are you wanting to paint over the stained wood? Maybe just stain the areas that you are not painting to be safe. Hope I have been helpful.

[Jay 1]

Paddy, S. Coleman's suggestions are spot on. I've painted over with acrylics, stuff where I've used Danish oil or oil-baed Minwax. If you can, don't stain that area but if it can't be avoided or etc., then make sure the oil-based finish has completely dried, then give the area that you're going to paint a light sanding with some fine grit sand paper.

 

Jay

[Jaxboat]

The keys are listed by the previous two comments. Make sure the stain is thoroughly dry and sand to provide a surface for mechanical adhesion of the paint. And if you have concerns you can always take a piece of scrap and apply the stain let it dry and sand and then then apply the acrylic paint. If it beads up or "fisheyes" you have a problem. To test adhesion, let it dry thoroughly a few days and then take a piece of painters blue tape press it firmly on the painted piece and pull. Should be little or no loss of adhesion

Jaxboat

[Paddy]

Thanks very much to you all. Good stuff and doing a test on some scrap sounds like a good approach. 

[Paddy]

Thanks Jerome.

[Torrens]

From my days teaching illustration techniques, I wouldn't risk over-painting an oil-based product with acrylics. I would make sure the oil-based stain is thoroughly dry, sand it, seal it and then over-paint with one of fast drying artist's oil paints.

 

Much would depend on what oil has been used in the stain, something that's not always easy to establish. However, if you do use acrylics, I would apply two or three diluted coats, or more, rather than trying to cover in one single coat (which would make the plastic base of the acrylic potentially unstable over the oil stain).

 

An interesting ancedote regarding acrylics: museums such as the Science Museum, London, used to specify no acrylics to be used on any illustration commission for their national collections as acrylics are, comparatively, too recent a medium for us to know what their long-term properties are. We do not know whether they will stand the test of time in the same way that oils, gouache and watercolours have (though gouache is not a very stable medium at the best of times).

[wefalck]

An old artists' rule says: fat over lean only. So, no hydrophilic (i.e. watery) media over lipophilic (i.e. oily) media.

 

The museums are obsessed with the longevity aspect. Understandably, but if the Old Masters would have been pre-occupied by this too much, we wouldn't have oil-paints today. As long as new materials, such as acrylics, do not contain plasticers chances are that they quite durable. A serious conservationary problem (or may be not ) is that modern artists are not so well-trained in technology anymore and experiment with all sorts of mixtures of materials that may turn out to be incompatible.

 

The lesson is: keep it simple and don't mix too many techniques.

 

wefalck

[hamilton]

As per the glue issue - best to stain the wood parts or strips before gluing to avoid this problem. Stain the wood and let dry completely before assembling. Good luck!

hamilton

[JerseyCity Frankie]

In the fine arts they think of painting over oil with acrylic as being akin to crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. Don't do it, they say. Thinking about what I know about wood and paint though, I bet you can get away with it if you follow the advice everyone is giving above. But if a guy from a museum wants to buy your model some day, NEVER MENTION this issue.

[Jay 1]

Thanks for a good laugh, JCF:

 

But if a guy from a museum wants to buy your model some day, NEVER MENTION this issue.

Jay

[Paddy]

Thanks for all the input. I am now reconsidering.

 

Think I'll test using artist oils over the Minwax stain and see what happens. Have some on hand I have never used and always wanted o give the artist oils a try.

 

BTW, its not for the Triton X-section project.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Paddy