clear acrylic sealer

[Lou Ann]

At the inlaws and have time on my hands so I'm reading some mosaics books and they say to seal wood with "clear acrylic sealer" and of course all the pics only show the back of the packages and there are no names suggested so can anyone make some recommendations?

Also, if I am using a hard plastic base, do I need to do anything special so the adhesive will stick?

My plan is to use weldbond glue until I decide to use a glass base...

thanks
LA

[Wayne]

At the inlaws and have time on my hands so I'm reading some mosaics books and they say to seal wood with "clear acrylic sealer" and of course all the pics only show the back of the packages and there are no names suggested so can anyone make some recommendations?

Also, if I am using a hard plastic base, do I need to do anything special so the adhesive will stick?

My plan is to use weldbond glue until I decide to use a glass base...

thanks
LA

If the hard plastic substrate bends at all, the mosiac will be short lived.  If it does not, then you can lightly sand the plastic to take off the shine.  Then the Weldbond should work very well.  Sealers should be used to preserve the grout, keep growths/algae from growing, and protect the adhesive which in the case of Weldbond is water soluble.  Any good sealer will work.  Follow the directions and apply it multiple times if it is a penetrating sealer.  I use TileLab for mine and it takes about three applications.  Always test the sealer on your glass/tile before using it so there are no surprises.  Many sealers cause a haze which comes off with cleaning while TileLab does not haze or stain.

w

[Lou Ann]

thanks Wayne,

I'm thinking of starting small with something like a switchplate cover so I can see if I can tolerate mosaics or not (I'm not a very patient person) so I'll be sure to lightly sand it first... I'm hoping if I can figure this out, I can pass this off to Toni because she is really itching to do something with glass...

when the book mentioned the "clear acrylic sealer" they were talking about using it to prepare the wood... if I'm remembering correctly, you previously said Kilz primer works well for this ?? but we (me and hubby) are thinking the Kilz we've seen is latex...

[Wayne]

Hi LA,
You really do not want to use an acrylic or latex paint on the wood!  Use Kiltz sealer (not paint) on the wood to preserve the wood and keep it from drawing the moisture out of the adhesive and grout.

If you begin too small, you may have a problem with the size of the tiles and precision of the pieces.  Create the design or go with random to determine if the switch plate is your thing.

For a book, there is no better:  http://www.amazon.com/Mosaic-Techniques-Traditions-Projects-Designs/dp/1402740611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262298155&sr=1-1


Water based primer Kiltz:   http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=45545-807-20902&lpage=none

[Lou Ann]

thanks Wayne,

I didn't realize Kilz made a sealer as well as a primer so I will make sure I read the label carefully on that...

I've also bookmarked that book, I need to put together an amazon order so I'll be sure to pick that up when I do (unless I find it on ebay cheaper  )

My initial thought is to go with random so precision shouldn't be too big of an issue (I hope)... I'm trying to do this without making it stressful otherwise the whole project will find the trash rather quickly... can't have stress messing with my glass time

[Wayne]

Let this service check for you.  The prices can change daily depending upon new and used books with that title.

http://www.dealoz.com/prod.pl?cat=book&op=buy&lang=en-us&search_country=us&shipto=us&cur=usd&zip=33625&nw=y&class=&pqcs=&quantity=&shipping_type=&sort=&catby=&query=&asin=&ean=9781402740619&upc=&mpn=&mfr=&rcount=2

[Lou Ann]

Let this service check for you.  The prices can change daily depending upon new and used books with that title.

COOL!!! thanks, in all my years of selling books, I never heard of this site, I'm actually going to order it this weekend, just have to decide if I also want this one too....

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Mosaic-Techniques-Step-step/dp/0762404442/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

[Wayne]

Let this service check for you.  The prices can change daily depending upon new and used books with that title.

COOL!!! thanks, in all my years of selling books, I never heard of this site, I'm actually going to order it this weekend, just have to decide if I also want this one too....

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Mosaic-Techniques-Step-step/dp/0762404442/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Yes, Emma's book is the #2 book to have out of the two good books.

BTW, Emma and Sonia are nearly finished with a new book.  They have been working together on the book for a long time now.  I would think it will be very popular.

http://www.dealoz.com/prod.pl?cat=book&op=buy&lang=en-us&search_country=us&shipto=us&cur=usd&zip=33625&nw=y&class=&pqcs=&quantity=&shipping_type=&sort=&catby=&query=&asin=&ean=9780762404445&upc=&mpn=&mfr=&rcount=2

Remember, too, the prices quoted on dealoz include shipping and sale tax if you entered your zip code.

[Lou Ann]

thanks Wayne -- glad to hear the second book is also a good choice...

[Becki]

Lots of good info and resources here too, LA.
http://www.americanmosaics.org/

[Lou Ann]

thanks Becki, I'm going to check that site out...