Hints from those who have worked on it:
Sorry- don't have a way to directly post hints, but if you have one send it to jhy@t-one.net and I'll see that it gets posted here. Note: not all these ideas may be appropriate in every situation. The highest priority is to be sure you are following the national guidelines. See additional articles in the Help section.

November 2007 Paul H from WMI says:	I like to use a draw knife for prepping thick-barked trees for blazing. A good draw knife is a bit expensive, but I've yet to find anything that works as well for me. Plus, the draw knife doubles as a de-barking tool when building puncheon or turnpike from natural timbers. For more thinly barked trees like white pine, beech and young maples, I use an inexpensive wire brush to remove the moss, algae, etc. The wire brush also works well on mossy old trees with bark furrows so deep the draw knife is insufficient. As for a paint brush, I like to us a 2" china bristle 50¢ cheapie from Menards. One of the tricks to the dripping paint is to make sure your brush is china bristle. Oil-based paint doesn't like to stay on nylon bristle. Drip, drip! With the 2" brush, I can easily measure my blazes to size... one brush wide and three brushes tall. I use an old wooden tool tote for carrying all my stuff and jam in a handful of old rags to keep stuff from moving around. For my paint, I use a short, stout salsa jar. For my brush, I use a small, short tin can, which doubles for wash-up.
November 2007 Lorana J from NCT Hikers says:	We have just started using old plastic cat liter pails. They come with a nice lid that opens and seals so if you accidentally trip, nothing gets spilled. And, they are light weight and all our paint supplies fit into them.
Summer 2007 Ed C from SPW says:	I like to scrape with a regular wide paint scraper made for painting houses.
Dec 2005 Joan from SPW says:	After working on this project for so many months I have settled on using a cleaned out plastic rubber cement bottle for paint. I fill it each time I go to the woods. The small brush in the lid makes nice corners. There is no brush cleanup ever. The amount of paint in the bottle lasts longer than you would expect, especially if you are just doing touch-ups (2-3 miles for that!). I keep the bottle in a plastic peanut butter jar and that inside a ziploc bag for storage to try to keep that oil-based paint mess under control.
Dec 2005 Deb from SPW says:	I prefer a wide top jar that soup starter comes in to hold my brush it is not so deep, and the brush doesn't get so messy.
Mar 2004 Peg from TBW says:	One thing that will be obvious after your first time blazing is that you should have worn a hat. You will have paint in your hair. It can also be wise to schedule your blazing trips just before you get a haircut. You can promote the trail to your hair stylist while they cut the blue spots out.
Sep 2000 Stuart from SPW says:	It sometimes works well to paint "backwards". If you are alone it is sometimes hard to look ahead and spot the next tree for a good blaze. But if you paint a blaze, walk down the trail and look back till you are a good distance from the one you just painted, but can still see it, you can then find a tree for the next blaze.
July 2000 Doug from PWF says:	Be careful not to carry too heavy of a can. Carrying a large can with the wire hooked over the joint of one finger has left that finger still with a little numbness.
Jun 2000 Bill from NPS says:	I still like to use a hatchet to really get a flat spot scraped on rough bark. I use the hatchet more like a plane-- pushing it upward with both hands to obtain a very smooth blaze area. It is also then available for chopping off small branches so the blaze is not blocked.
Jun 2000 Bill from NPS says:	One other tip-- I also like a wire brush for cleaning dust, algae, etc. off smooth-barked trees like aspen, young red maple, balsam, etc.
Jun 2000 Joe from PA:	Joe has been seen using a 1/2 inch brush and this makes a really neat, crisp blaze. But it does take quite a bit of time.
Summer 2005 Howard from SPW says:	I don't like the blazing kit box. I have an old aluminum ammunition box with no lid. I put a strap on it. It's nice and deep and there is no handle in the middle to get in the way like on the blazing kit.
May 2000 Ed from SPW says:	work with a friend. Park at opposite ends of a section. Each person can paint blazes working towards each other. When you meet, trade car keys and continue to the end of the section.
Sept 1999 Lianne from SPW says:	repaint the blue diamonds first so you can see them, then fill in between with new rectangles as needed. (This chapter is transitioning from gray nail-up blazes to paint.)
Sept 1999 Joan from SPW says:	allow plenty of time! On Sept 11 I blazed about 1 1/4 miles of trail in 2 1/2 hours. It takes a long time to put new blazes on trees when you are working carefully. Do it right the first time, though, and maintenance will be lots easier. I wrapped my brush tightly in tinfoil between blazing trips and it stayed soft without any problem.
July 1999 Joan from SPW says:	check to see if the diamonds are loose. If the tree has grown and has nearly forced the blaze over the nails, it may come off very easily. If so, go ahead and remove it now. In the section I blazed July 14, the diamonds will not last much longer, so I began placing rectangles with the idea in mind that the diamonds will not be there in another year. It made quite a difference, especially since many diamonds were already missing. (This chapter is transitioning from gray nail-up blazes to paint.)