OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Darryl Gomes on November 09, 2001 I have just spent a good part of the day cutting out 3/16" acrylic letters. I have tried different blades in the bandsaw, different blades in the jigsaw. All have needed sanding of the edges after the cut. This is what worked best: I h...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Billy Bob on November 22, 2001 Since we all are such great designers, we have no trouble identifying poorly designed items. Right? Well, what do you think is the "worst" designed thing that you have? Mine (most hated) is my cheap "Sears Craftsman" shop v...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on November 24, 2002 Here's a site I ran across tonight with absolutely tons of information about fonts. It had a lot of links, but mostly it is about technical questions related to fonts, foundries, legal issues, and so forth. Well worth bookmarking. Mike Jack...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on November 28, 2001 Luckily for me, I learned to hand letter watching someone who used a Mahl stick. Being left handed, it helped keep my pinky out of the wet paint (though I know there has to be a bunch of left handers out there that don't use one). I used to...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Janette Balogh on November 29, 2001 More and more I've been buying used thru Amazon. I've had terrific luck with it. The books and CD's I've bought at a steal, and the condition of them haven't disappointed me yet. A few months ago I bought a watercolour book that sold for ...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on November 30, 2001 Every once in a while, we get someone wanting a temporary banner or paper sign with a joke style message such as "John is 50 today!". Then you give them a price of $125 for the banner or $75 for a paper sign and they immediately s...

OLD FORUM POSTS

Posted by Carol on December 01, 2001

I just got the Emigre magazine with the music CD included. I think it's great. I love the interdisplinary combination of type design and music. Anyone else get it?

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Donny Pavolini on December 02, 2001 Would someone out in the void please make a publication dedicated solely to progressive design. What I mean is let the seriously cutting-edge designers the caliber of M. Jackson, Nancy and Noella, D. McDonald, D. Butler, Noel Weber, G. An...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Rick Sacks on December 03, 2001 As I remember back in the early-mid seventies, the sign world was being rocked by a whole new approach to prioritizing copy, color use, panels, logo design, etc. This guy from the south named Chester Cunningham kinda turned my world upside do...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Raymond Chapman on December 03, 2001 While I was at the USSC show in Atlantic City this past weekend a bunch of us old guys who hand letter where remembering the "good old days" and the feelings of brush lettering. Each of us tried to describe the trance-like stat...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Bill Thomas on December 04, 2001 Mike, I'm looking for someone to help me organize and sponsor a Walldogs Jam here on historic Rt. 66 in Central Illinois. I'm not a Letterhead, just an admirer of the work I've seen online. What I am is: - a heck of an organizer - a Rt. 66 e...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Bob on December 05, 2001 Hi People, I just want to touch base with everybody about there feelings on where the Sign Indusrty has wound up. The post about , "The Hand lettering Trance" made me reflect a bit. I hate sitting in front of a computer screen to make Sign...

OLD FORUM POSTS Raymond Chapman Posted by Raymond Chapman on December 06, 2001 Whenever we have some leftover paint that is going to be used later, to prevent it from drying up and/or getting trash in it we just stretch on old latex glove over the can (usually an old soup can). The glove can be remo...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on December 07, 2001 Raymond just made a note about putting a rubber cover over a can of paint to keep it fresh longer and helping keep the skin from forming so fast. My question is what do you do with those colors? How long do you keep them? How do you store t...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Sarah on December 11, 2001 Just to mention here if all dont know already. Jack Jordan and Al Zanetti both passed away in the last few days. Kent Smith What a shock. I knew Al was not well a couple years ago but when we last talked, he was better. Such a great guy and a trea...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Carol on December 16, 2001 Everyone does use vinyl scraps for shipping tape this time of year, don't they? I do. Heavily into red and green. Kent Smith Shipping tape is a great idea. We have been cleaned out by the school art department up the block and the nursing home cra...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by harry jones,harry,s signs on December 22, 2001 I have four foamcore boards 4 by 6 feet with approximatly 150 to 200 grad photos attached to the boards. The photographer would like the names of these grads lettered under the photos. If I use pencil I will have to erase. When...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Raymond Chapman on December 27, 2001 Back when we hand lettered everything I worked with a man who never seemed to get paint on him or his clothes. He very rarely carried a paint rag, yet his hands stayed clean. I found out that when he was out lettering a window or panel i...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Dan Sawatzky on December 31, 2001 We have a saying around our house... Next year will be better. The kids (now grown) say the same thing at their home now. It's not that things were bad last year or the year before. It is more a sincere and optimistic hope that next year wi...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Rick Sacks on January 03, 2002 Yesterday I had another opportunity to letter the bullit end of a tanker. The distortions on those compound curves can be fun to play with. The letters at the end of each line are larger than those in the middle to get them to look the same. T...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Joe Crumley on January 10, 2002 I have finally found time to build my first animated sign. For twenty years now I have been wanting to make one of those 1950's type sign we saw on old route 66. You know the one's, with a moving hand, arm, or a hat. Well, where in the world ...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Danny Baronian on January 16, 2002 I primed several panels for a rush job, then applied a coat of bulletin enamel, straight from the can. After 26 hours, the paint is still slightly tacky. The first coat was applied in the afternoon with the weather the mid 50’s during th...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Rick Sacks on January 17, 2002 Seems like more frequently than ever before, the stuff in the can is having a shorter shelf life. Adding enamel reducer solves the problem as a short term solution, but after doing that a few times to the same can the paint properties are alte...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Cam on January 19, 2002 I had a conversation a while back at a bike show with the publisher of The Motorcyclist's Post. He was telling me about the Harley Davidson Cafe in Hollywood, and how the owner was showing him around the place. One of his prized posessions was an ori...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Billy Bob on January 19, 2002 I always swore that I would never "sell out" and abondon my hand lettering abilities for a darn computer. Well, now after two years of using one, I've become (almost) totally obsessed w. the things. These days I spend 95 percent of my...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on January 20, 2002 Hi Danny, To follow up on your rush job last week, did you get the paint to dry on time? Which method did you use? If it didn't dry, do you still have any hair? :) Mike Jackson Kent Smith Sorry I was not in on this one before, recuperating f...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Donny Pavolini on January 22, 2002 I don't like to post depressing things but maybe we should take a moment to think about who will our physical signmaking treasures be left to. Last weekend I drove to Gulfport Ms to the shop of a long-time friend who passed away. He was a ...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Mike Jackson on February 01, 2002 (Could not post image. Broken link?) John sent me a note this morning with a link to a page of photos showing him hand lettering a sign panel for House Industries. It's kinda cool. Click on the link to see the rest of the photos. John Downe...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Carol on February 02, 2002 Who out there has had experience using latex/acrylic on one of the aluminum panels available (Dibond, Alumilite, Lustre Board,etc.)? Does it adhere well? Need to be primed? If so, with what? Times they are a changin. Jeff Lang Carol, I have painte...

OLD FORUM POSTS Posted by Joe Crumley on February 02, 2002 Dear Mike and all you guys. I am sorry with my late responce to the Shellac querry, so here goes. I don't think many sign artists use shellac. It is used mainly in furniture trades. I use it as a color enhansing sealer for my natural finish ...