stand up puzzles

[wwalker47]

I’m doing standup puzzles for my granddaughter. I’m using ¾” pine and after sanding I painted them with acrylic paint which is non-toxic. But when I put the puzzle back together is seems to bind on the paint. Does anyone know how to prevent this? Am I using the wrong paint? Would furniture polish or wax do the trick? :-/

if you are using acrylics, water them down just a bit and wet the area you are going to paint with water first...you will get a consistant color, altho the wood will show thru, but not thick enough to stop the fitting.

[jttheclockman]

Water base paint is swelling the wood that is what is causing the tightness. You can do several things. One being switch to oil stains or paint. Two, wet the mating areas with water before painting to raise the grain, let dry, then lightly sand ends and then use paint. Use a larger saw blade such as a #10 or # 12 when cutting. In pine it should be no problem making turns but if too tight a turn you could get burning. Hope this helps and keep the sawdust flying.
John T.

[wwalker47]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try wetting the next one down first and use thinner paint.