Welcome to The Hand Lettering Forum!
This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.

surface gilding...

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

Post Reply
vance galliher
Posts: 321
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 11:38 pm
Location: springfield, or.
Contact:

surface gilding...

Post by vance galliher »

have you ever lightly scratched the finished 23k gilded domed dimensional exterior letter with 0004 steel wool ?
to see, I did, and I think the result is more dramatic !
just trying something different...
vance
dimensional and glass art signs
http://www.vancegallihersigns.com
Doug Bernhardt
Posts: 1077
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:29 am
Location: Ottawa Canada
Contact:

Re: surface gilding...

Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Well Vance...it's time for a photo of that!!
John Smith
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:11 pm
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Contact:

Re: surface gilding...

Post by John Smith »

Vance - yes, photos would be awesome !
or at least describe the technique of what you did.
did you scratch just the sides, just the top surface or the entire letter ?
inquiring minds want to know.

There was a fellow member in New Port Richie, FL that gilded the Gemini plastic letters
and sold them through his website - Mike Facemire - and they looked simply awesome. http://prosigns.org/ThePowerOfGold.asp
I did not see any that were scratched or scuffed (as mentioned above) in his shop - just burnished to a high luster.
some of the flat faced letters had some embellishments such as two-toned colors and engine turning.
now that there are a lot of commercial "plastic primers" on the market, I think that his
secret priming process is outdated by now - this was maybe 15-20 years ago.
The idea of using the commercially available plastic or aluminum letters is a good idea for the entry level fabricator
as the initial cost outlay is minimal compared to handcarved letters . . . then embelish them as desired.
Kings Bay Signs
Kingsland, GA ~ 1980-2008 (Retired)
Post Reply