09/15/2023
Thanks for the messages and comments! It was a process!
Thought about a handful of options but still had some concerns getting them painted. Would the paint bleed, can I get a smooth sliding board surface without high and low brush spots, would the sealer react with the paint…
The initial plan was to mask off the colors/layers individually but that idea was no good for a number of reasons so I started over — grabbed some wood scraps, black and white paint, a q-tip😂, and did some tests.
Ended up doing a thin coat of water based poly for a light seal then painted over that. Had planned on an oil finish from day one so I hadn’t considered water based, but decided to use it on the tops for two reasons: (a) the paints were also water based so that mostly solved the oil/water issue, (b) oil based finishes have a bit of an amber color where water based ones are generally clear. After paint they got a few more coats of the clear.
Wish I would’ve thought of doing it that way from the start, wouldn’t have needed all that trial and error!
