Hi Bernie, I don't know for sure what paint my mother uses. She's been painting on bottles for years and I'm pretty sure it's the same paint. Hope that helps. I sand to 12000mm and then put a coat of sanding sealer. I shipped them to my mother in Tampa and she painted them and sent them back. I then used 8-10 coats of Deft spray laquer. The wood for this one is maple but if you check my album you'll see some painting on yellowheart and redheart as well. My inspiration came from Janet(jssmith3). You should take a peek at her album as well. Good luck to you and your wife and I hope to see some pictures of your painted pens soon.[
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Thanks to everyone else for the great comments. I appreciate it.