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Thread: Masking off glass

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schoene View Post
    That's the brush variety I'd use for oil based trim enamel. But for shellac, I'd use a brush with finer bristles. In particular, artists brushes for watercolor wash. with bristles like Taklon Gold. Widths of 1 1/2" or 2" would work. They don't hold a lot of material but don't leave bristle marks, and reduce lap marks. With shellac, the key is to work FAST, never going back. Get any misses or bobbles on the next coat. Shellac dries really fast so you can sand off messes pretty quickly before proceeding with next coat.

    But on glass, removing with razor is faster and easier than masking.
    Steve, you are right. The masking tape was a waste of time. A good brush, careful application & a razor or chisel for cleanup is best. ( of course with a new build I will finish first then put in glass )

  2. #17
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    Steve's comment about brushes is spot-on...you want a finer/softer brush so you can flow the shellac on nicely since you cannot "work" it like varnish. It's truly an art form when you get good at it!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #18
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    Feb 2014
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    I'm sure Steve is right. I wasn't thinking shellac. One thing that helps is to only touch the side of the brush you're going to use to the surface of the finish. I never get anything on the other side of the brush, or it's time to clean the brush. Pretty soon, you can pick up the right amount with just a tap. I've never been one for rubbing a brush back on the container. You want to make one pass in one stroke. Size of brush depends on length of muntin, but I end up using a 2" the most. I start with the point in the corner, and gradually lay the brush down, ending in the other corner with the heel of the brush, then pull the whole brush straight out once the heel finds home. Fast is right for any paint or finish.

    With the easel, since you're doing the same horizontal stroke every time, it's a lot easier to get really consistent with what you're doing.

    I like using a chisel for the trimming better than a single edged razor blade. We use sharp chisels for a lot more things than what they're normally used for.

    Picture shows sash being painted, but it works so easily with an easel, that I'll take a pair of doors off a piece of furniture, rather than cutting them in where they are. Opposite sides of the easel put the piece at different heights. When the brush gets to the point of having too much finish on it, it gets brushed onto a bare wood part of one of the 2x4's the easel is made from. If you rub it on the can, or bucket rim, you'll end up getting it on your hand. I don't like a mess.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-02-2019 at 5:52 PM.

  4. #19
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    Those easels are great! Just need to add a stool and a holder for the container, and maybe a cup holder.

  5. #20
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    Feb 2014
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    At least I had a helper to turn, and handle the sash, so I didn't have to find somewhere to lay the brush. I also make the stops easy to take out, so the next time the old windows need work, they can easily be taken out. It's MANY times easier working on them like this, rather than in place, especially on the outside.

    Also, when I have to make replacement sash for these old houses, I make an extra pair, so when one needs to be taken out, a replacement is ready to go right back in while the work is being done.

    On one house where I made a complete set of replacements, we also planed, and chiseled out the old jambs so the openings were all exactly the same (and now straight, and parallel) for each of the different width windows. That way, it didn't make any difference which ones went back in where.

  6. #21
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    Sep 2013
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    Wayland, MA
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    When faced with painting the muntins around about a thousand tiny panels in the craftsman-style windows in our new house I discovered liquid masking compound. It made the job vastly easier. I used to be a purist, proud of my fairly hard earned ability to cut a line on a window muntin nearly perfectly and relatively quickly with a 4" brush. The reformulation of most paints pretty much ruined that for me, I can't do it with latex or the low VOC oil paints because the flow characteristics have changed so much (and I no longer practice 10 hours a day all summer). It seems to be pretty easy to apply the liquid mask right up to the edge of the glass, you can then paint away, even spray the window. When everything is dry you cut around the edge with a blade and just peel away anything that might have ended up on the glass. Even with the extra step it's 2-3x faster than the traditional way.

    I have not used it with shellac, a test would be in order to see if it works.

    On a piece of furniture my first choice would be to take the glass out, finish, then reinstall. That would make for the neatest job.

  7. #22
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    Interesting Roger, thanks for the idea. I will look at it a bit. Mark

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