I ended up using transfer leaf in the end, I chickened out! ha ha

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Hi Doug - thanks for the tip... and the comment about my signs. I love traditional British signwriting, particularly the simple stuff you get on brickwork and shop fronts done by jobbing decorators, it's a true folk art. Well... I did it! Thanks for all your help and advice, it worked fine in the en...

Dave, that's just beautiful, such amazing detail - it must have taken you ages to make the design alone! Gerald must be so chuffed with it!

Oh dear!! I had a friend whose dog ate a potful of rabbit skin glue with an orange dye in it, he was orange around the gills for months! ha ha Thanks for the brush tips folks, I have got myself a selection from Wrights to try out - some of the one stroke poster brushes, and the sable/ox mix Keeps' R...

Thanks Roderick - If I put plenty of whiting on there it should be safe! I am only concerned because I gilded a number 7 on our front door and the moisture in the air made the gloss paint on the door a little sticky and I had a bit of trouble with the gold sticking to it - although I think that was ...

Hello Dave! How are things? Still producing some really beautiful stuff I see! I will definitely order myself a set of these, sounds exactly what I need - I think my stock is too long, that's where I am having problems as it amplifies any shake in your hand! One day I will come and visit you and do ...

Great, thanks Kent, I will give it a go... I don't want to make a mess of this one or my friend may never speak to me again! ha ha

I am painting and gilding my mate's matt black GMC truck, and I just want to check something with you before I embark on using gold leaf rather than a gold paint... the truck is painted with satin black automotive paint. I have pinstriped matt black motorbikes before but never tried gilding them... ...

Great, thanks Wayne, that was my hunch but I wasn't sure which ones to get.

Scarlett

I have used the UV Clear several times over gold, and so far so good - I used it to clear a steel sign (see attached - hopefully my attachments have worked!) and the gold is still really bright and hasn't lost any of its shimmer under the clear. I have used UV clear on steel signs about seven years ...

Hello folks - I wonder if you'd be able to help me... I keep getting signwriting jobs doing small lettering (like numberplates for classic show motorcycles in a fairground style) and my brushes just aren't up to it, I am finding myself having to work against the brush to try and get a good sharp fin...

Brilliant, thanks so much for your help, I'll give it a go and see what happens. I don't think I'll be using that old 1 hour size again!

All the best
Scarlett

Hey Billy Bob, thanks for your advice, I'll try it!

S

Hi Kent, thank you for your help. I should make it a bit clearer - it's not soap I use, but detergent to wash the turps out, I then grease the brushes so they are never kept dry. I wash my brushes thoroughly, it's only recently that I have had this problem. I have been using some old(ish) 1 hour siz...

I have used my writing quills and pinstriping swordliners to apply oil size (surface gilding, so I have to write letters to gild), but some are left with a greasy, sticky residue which I just can't get rid of with turps/white spirit and soapy water. Any suggestions of what I can try?

I haven't come across Penetrol before, I've just been struggling to blend colours by thinning them with turps... and it doesn't really work very well! This sounds like the answer to all my prayers! I am trying to learn a bit about fairground painting, particularly 'flamboyance' using flamboyant enam...

It has always been pretty badly peeled from what I remember, but a few years ago my mum and her partner moved house from Lancashire to Shropshire, and he just bunged it into the van upside down (glass side down!) with no care, and a lot more of the silvering came off. It seems very fragile - but it ...

I recently had the amazing privilege of meeting the signwriter, decorator and author Tony (AJ) Lewery in his studio on the Welsh border. He was charming and really supportive of my work so far, it was great to be able to talk to someone about technical details having been self taught. I am still a b...

Having just gone freelance, I wrote this sign to put up on my mum's house on the banks of the Llangollen Canal. I am hoping someone might ring me up and ask me to paint their boat, but you can never tell! It's on galvanized steel, which I was a little concerned about, having never painted on galvani...

Hello everyone - after a very long time away being ill, I am now back, and freelance! Nothing like hospital to sort your priorities out. So, I am now trying to establish myself as a signwriter, striper and traditional decorator in addition to my 'lowbrow' art. Anyway, I have been promising Dave Smit...

I was just having a quick look through some photos I have of a three dimensional English glass sign (I've posted them in the copper pressed letters topic), and I found this pic of a little gem I found in Liverpool earlier this year. Hope you like it! Scarlett (very new person) http://i205.photobucke...

Found them! This is a lovely little sign on a shopfront in the market town of Newark, Nottinghamshire. It is made in the way I just described, carved from wood with a glass panel over it. http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb320/dajooks/tryner-lynn-2.jpg http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb320/dajo...

Hi Doug - As far as I am aware this style of lettering is more commonly made by carving the letters from a wooden back board, and then gilding them. Then the glass that fits over this board is painted to correspond with the letters, so you see through the glass to the wood. I've got some photos of a...

Hello everyone! Finally, I managed to get here! Thanks so much to Dave for inviting me and encouraging me, and for very kindly being my go-between on here. I love all your amazing work posted here on the forum, I have been back right to the beginning and enjoyed seeing all the stuff you have made an...