Brush quality

[Bob Davis]

I am building a project that has many, many nooks and crannies and pieces to be finished. I've been using what I thought were decent brushes to apply the finish. My wife is a professional artist and I borrowed one of her 1" brushes to try out. What a huge difference. I will be shopping at an commercial art supply for brushes in the future.

Bob

[ads]

The main entry to your house probably should be finished with a better
brush than you'd use for the back wall of a basement closet ;-)

[Leon]

On 8/10/2021 8:17 PM, Bob Davis wrote:
> I am building a project that has many, many nooks and crannies and pieces to be finished. I've been using what I thought were decent brushes to apply the finish. My wife is a professional artist and I borrowed one of her 1" brushes to try out. What a huge difference. I will be shopping at an commercial art supply for brushes in the future.
>
> Bob
>

Cracks and crevasses are a PIA. The Murphy bed project was painted with
a 4" long 1" foam roller. 99.5%

Over the years I have learned to prefinish before assembly. I tape off
the spots that need glue and after assembly I do a little touch up here
and there.

And I leave the finish on easy to get at surfaces for last. IE face
frame fronts.

FWIW the artists knives for mixing and applying paint, the ones with
thin flexible ends are great for applying putty.

[Leon]

Well not really, the better the brush the easier it is to apply a finish.

Cheap brushes make work harder.

[k...@notreal.com]

Good brushes hold more paint and paint is slippery (non-Newtonian
fluid - push harder = slides easier) so a good brush slides more
easily. IOW, less work.

[Leon]

And then there are people that dip the brush and then rake the paint
back off on the rim of the can. LOL.

[k...@notreal.com]

On Wed, 11 Aug 2021 19:27:50 -0500, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
wrote:

Not only does a good brush make painting easier but the actual paint
has something to do with it too. Good paint is thick until pressure is
applied, then its surface tension drops and it slides around easily.
Cheap has to be wrung out of the brush or it'll drip all over.

[Bob Davis]

On Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at 9:08:32 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:

> Over the years I have learned to prefinish before assembly. I tape off
> the spots that need glue and after assembly I do a little touch up here
> and there.

That's what I am doing - still tedious. I guess I better get some kind of public photo posting to share with others. You already have seen the easel I am building. It reminds me of trying to finish the individual sticks in a giant pick-up-sticks game.

[Leon]

I used to help a buddy paint houses, 20 or so years ago. There is a big
difference in cheap and good quality brushes and a big difference in
paint quality. I always tell my customers that good paint holds up
well, covers well, and gets me out of your house faster.


With the Murphy bed project I prepainted almost every thing that would
be glued to a contrasting color piece. I used General Finishes milk
paint. That stuff covers pretty good with one coat but if you give that
surface 10~15 minutes to dry you can instantly apply the second coat. I
was not looking for a super smooth or a gloss finish.

[Michael Trew]

You have to, at least one side of the brush, to do a good cut in job
along the ceiling or trim.

[Markem618]

No you should use a paint pot (small bucket) and tap the brush on the
side of the bucket. Dipping the brush only a third of the bristles,
makes for easier cleaning and extends the life of your brushes.

[DerbyDad03]

Not trew...err...I mean...true.

Tap, not wipe.

https://youtu.be/XdVHSdw2MdY

[Scott Lurndal]

Agreed. Additionally, load the brush fully with solvent first (e.g. water
for latex paints).

[Leon]

Nope! In that instance you gently slap the side of the loaded brush
against the side of the container. If the container is full you should
pour into a different container that is not full.

[Leon]

I agree with pretreating a brush with a solvent however fully and I
always got a dripping mess, regardless of how much you dry it with a towel.

I try to only go a bout 1/2 the brush and then thoroughly wipe it off.

[Clare Snyder]

On Thu, 19 Aug 2021 13:44:39 -0500, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
wrote:

A coat handar wire bent to fit in the lip of the can and going across
the middle of the can opening works a REAL treat!!! You can "skin" the
brush on either side of the wire.

[Markem618]

On Thu, 19 Aug 2021 20:57:46 -0400, Clare Snyder <cl...@snyder.on.ca>
wrote:

One good reason to use paint pots you do not accidentally kick over a
gallon of expensive paint on the tarp at best.

[Michael Trew]

Yes, I wouldn't advise dipping more than half of the brush. Regardless,
without removing some paint from the side, it's not easy to get a clean
cut across a ceiling corner without bleeding over.

[Michael Trew]

I've tried that, and it usually makes a mess, unless you dry it on a
towel until just damp first before painting.

[Michael Trew]

Funny

> Tap, not wipe.
>
> https://youtu.be/XdVHSdw2MdY

Hmm. I've worked with painters before... I worked for a contractor
after high school, and I can't say I've even seen the older guys do
that. I'll have to try that next time, thanks!

[Michael Trew]

Guy I used to work with kept a rubber band around the paint tin for that
purpose.

[Leon]

Tapping works better. Practice. Scraping really removes much more
paint than tapping. It took me a very long time to learn that.

[Leon]

Perhaps beginner painters. ;~) Or those that never learned. I am not
a pro painter however about 20 years ago I helped a buddy paint the
complete interiors of about 20 rental homes.
You get done a lot faster if you put more paint on the wall after
reloading the brush.

Or maybe you did not notice them doing tapping. It is very likely that
they were tapping if working out of a different container than the
original container.

[Michael Trew]

I suppose I didn't pay that much attention, but no one corrected me. Oh
well, I'll try tapping it on my next painting project. Some are coming
up here for sure.