At least we finally have a temperature at this time of day...4 degrees. As to measuring, I have always thought in the landscape format for wood and metal, 4x8. But for shocards 11x14, 22x28, 14x22 but we meant vertical as the longest side. Consequently, I think there is no standard and that is why w...

Wrinkled tin foil, we now use aluminum foil, was adhered to the back of the glass with a thin coat of clear gold size. If needed a thin shim (3 ply card stock) can be added to the corners of the glass to set it off from the wood. I don't know how yours are mounted but the ones I have done had screws...

Dad used parchment paper for this process. It must have a low rag content though so it will soak through from the back. He used clear brushing lacquer for the second coat...after the glue. I have used pen and ink parchment with some success although I have seen some charcoal and pastel paper that lo...

Jerry, Mack now has a long handle too and many other special striping as well as lettering...check mackbrush.com although their complete catalogue has more.

Rod, I assume you were being factitious. Doug is correct and I assume you both got the Western SB catalogue page from Jeff that I did. Nice straight on picture which would be good for replicas or repairs as well. I think Larry's photo appears a little dark or the red Rick used was a little dark. WSB...

I liked the first Nocturnas I had as they were made in the Abe Langnickel tradition. I since have found any brush I want at Mack and I like the owners too, they deserve the support so they will still make the brushes we need.

I think I have a photo of one of these completed from Ricks, one of the early Conclaves. Silver and red maybe blended to black, comes to mind. My mother bought Nature's Remedy still when I was a kid. Nasty laxative...great sign.

That one is more like it. Don't see an R&E bug but smaller signs sometimes did not have them, expecially quantitiy production pieces. I think the "tell" is the level of deterioration, which is hard to fake.

Life in prison sounds too soft for smashing up a classic. Glad John and Pat are ok.

Hi Sarah,

The tin seemed to sheet better and quicker on the old glass and before rinsing, it appeared thicker.

I have wondered the same thing and have had some spectacular results with really old glass. It is obvious that a harder finished glass would not chip as well or as deep as a softer glass. I can get Stafire here but have not tried it. There is a fellow nearby who is making his own float glass and pol...

I have been to their store in Tempe and it is very similar to a DickBlick retail outlet I know in Henderson, NV.

I am somewhat spoiled in that our temp and humidity level are well suited to chipping. We just lay the piece out on the table and by sometime the next day they are perfectly chipped. Having said that, I have always said that knowing the chemistry is critical to continued success. I am often astounde...

Thanks Joe, nice to see some olde friends again.

I particularly like the periods in the period sign. Is it leaf or bronze and what is the black background? I have a couple of saddlery customers here of the same vintage adn they would get a chuckle out of this. Pauls is also classic period, 1968 had a lot of such designs and quality. Interesting ju...

Having opened my mouth before, metaphorically, I would like to say that Pat's advice is the best and Sarah has described the process eloqquently. In defense of the microwave comment, which I obviously did not make clear, I only use it with very small quantities, and ounce or so and the process is no...

Short answer: no........or at least not exactly. All are a formulations of clear acrylics and are more similar to lacquers than to varnishes as they dry more than they cure. Each has it's own blend of solvents plus various levels of either UV absorbers or UV inhibitors. Charlie Dana told me some yea...

Interesting how there are some parrallels in the stories. I was born into the business, Dad's shop was just through the kitchen door. My great-great grandfather was a wheel wright and did striping and lettering, taught the trade to his son who also taught two of his sons. One took over the wagon and...

Wow how cool is that. Gives me a real appreciation for why my great and great-great grandfathers were sign painters and pinstripers as well as wheel rights, making wagons and carriages in Illinois through the 1800's Just wish I could find info like that on them.

You said you wanted to gild around it which is simple and the gild can easily be cleaned out of the chip if that is the effect you are after. You can use a toothbrush for stubborn areas just like cleaning up etching. If you are interested in gilding the chipped area, here are the directions: Well......

The restoration only required some repair and 3 or 4 replacements as I remember. I used an intermediate vinyl for masking and 120 grit to lightly blast through the color. It really takes little to do, even 70 grit will work ok. If you decide to go ahead, buy some extra small pieces to try first. The...

Also...instead of silver or aluminum leaf, some pieces like this were backed with foil, aluminum or actual tin. Sometimes they intentionally wrinkled the foil to add facets for light reflectivity. The foil lasts better against wood drawers and helps to light up the color. I have restored some Coats ...

Hiya Dan, Glad to see you over here. I think you will find that many of us don't post every day or even every week. We are ALL friends here and sometimes just don't need to repeat what every other post has already said. No need to post if we don't have anything constructive to add which helps to kee...

Good Advice. I never change the ink until it won't print anymore.Considering the price of ink it is worth wasting one print versus throwing away the cartidge before it is really empty. The last printer I brought, I specifically chose because it has seperate cartridges for each color and black and it...

Just to add, I have in my archives somewhere a pounce pattern for the transom entrance signs. Each principle store had at least two front entrances (double doors at about 7' wide) and one side entrance near the lunch counter (single door) and mostly a corner location. Some small town Woolworth's wer...

Really nice to see another vintage text like this. Looks like the images are really clear. The overall look is so much different than American vintage from the same period. I am anxious to see more.

Thanks for sharing.

Besides the 1Shot fast size, I am still using LeFranc. My newest liter was thinner but the results were good, 12 to 18 hour. I have been straining the size for a few years as it seems to develop some internal dry crusties once open.

I am older than Mike by some degree (though Ray has me beat by a couple) and I don't get the references either. Having said that, one once in a while I overlook and take no more offense than an occaisional pun or jab because we are all friends. That is what keeps the spark of frienship alive. Howeve...

My hood came with fine particle dust masks similar to surgical masks with the insturctions saying not for prolonged use, 1 hour or more. NIOSH considers this to be suffiecient protection only for occaisional use. This is much the same category for the use of cartidge masks for spray painting. All re...

I am glad that is cleared up