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.
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.
Search found 225 matches
- Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:15 am
- Forum: Annoucements
- Topic: Passing of John Frazier - Original Letterhead
- Replies: 1
- Views: 11187
Re: Passing of John Frazier - Original Letterhead
Wow - I'm sorry to hear that and even sorrier that I didn't know he was alive for the past decade or so. Mark Oatis said that he didn't know where John was and i didn't know any way of contacting him; so dammit. // I met John at the first Denver big meet (maybe 1980? I'm loose about dates) when one ...
- Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:58 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Water Gild over Water Based Spray Paint/ HF SAFETY
- Replies: 3
- Views: 8866
Re: Water Gild over Water Based Spray Paint/ HF SAFETY
1) Watergild: are you watergilding over the paint or over clear glass? Applying paint (outlines, panels...) with a vinyl stencil and a roller/brush/spray is fine - as you say, pull the stencil before the paint dries so the edges "heal" a bit. Once dry you can surface gild on the painted ar...
- Fri Mar 27, 2020 2:23 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Spatzier
- Replies: 18
- Views: 191329
Re: Spatzier
That looks great! Now that people are locked down to avoid Covid19 maybe you will have more "free time" to work on it and post pictures?
- Sun Aug 25, 2019 1:37 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Pock marks in matte centers
- Replies: 30
- Views: 53219
Re: Pock marks in matte centers
Hello Ashley, Can you post a photo of the afflicted gild? From your description you let 1Shot Fast Size dry for 24 hours before watergilding and backing up over it. That does seem like it should be enough to let volatiles escape. Ditto for your friend - if he was able to steel wool the size it was w...
- Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:27 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: mother of pearl
- Replies: 3
- Views: 6490
Re: mother of pearl
...and if you order, maybe ask them nicely if they are 'sustainable'. A lot of ocean resources are being used up; I don't know if collecting shells can be done slowly enough to leave the population stable AND make money. On the other hand, the beaches in New Zealand were just littered with lovely Pa...
- Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:13 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Gold Leaf peeling
- Replies: 1
- Views: 2731
Re: Gold Leaf peeling
How old is this job? I notice that the black shading looks quite deteriorated, which usually takes awhile. And the black seems to be breaking up & down, which makes me think of condensation running down the windows. By comparison, the leaf is mostly solid (except for ‘croissant’) with big chips ...
- Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:11 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Inferior glass gold
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3038
Re: Inferior glass gold
Yup. There is always grousing about how things were better in the ‘good old days’, but I think that with the change to machine beating instead of hand beating the character of gold leaf rally has changed. Or maybe the good is as good or better than before, but the bad is worse. Last year I was invol...
- Tue Jul 03, 2018 11:28 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Gilded aluminum foil matte effect
- Replies: 6
- Views: 36050
Re: Gilded aluminum foil matte effect
Damar is a so-called "spirit varnish", which I take to mean that it dries by evaporation but does not cure. So it can be re-dissolved by the same solvent (turpentine, maybe other materials?) - old-time lacquer was the same, and shellac. You can get damar all the way from crystals to a thic...
- Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:12 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: THE SIGNWRITER AND GLASS EMBOSSER 1898
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5248
Re: THE SIGNWRITER AND GLASS EMBOSSER 1898
Wow! Good catch, Kevin. Different price for "Bound" or "In Parts" - that probably explains the dark pages every now and then; that would be the end of a section. I wonder if one bought it by subscription and had the parts delivered by the Royal Mail? this is gonna be some interes...
- Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:07 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Doug Bernhardt_Retired?!
- Replies: 7
- Views: 13157
Re: Doug Bernhardt_Retired?!
(oops, this shows how often I don't check the Forum): Congratulations Doug! "an extra pair of hands"... I hope there are folk in Ottawa who realize what a help you would be, and that helps you keep one toe in the water. On the upside - this may give you more time to travel, and maybe we'll...
- Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:43 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Fast dry gold size
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5908
Re: Fast dry gold size
Lacquer thin'r will pull Wunda out of a brush, sorta. Getting the brush into soapy water after you're done is a big help, but that will make a squirrel hair brush swell up. I knew some truck letterers who had dedicated brushes for Wunda size. So detergent water rinse; then lacquer thinner; then bar ...
- Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:45 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Fast dry gold size
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5908
Re: Fast dry gold size
(maybe no one is answering because no one has tried it?) (nah, I've seen lots of brass leaf window signs that were done with WundaSize) I have not done any glass work with Wunda - are there any other water-based sizes out there? I know someone who did, doing outlines then laying brass leaf into Wund...
- Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:05 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Screen Printing Acid Resist on Glass?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 11199
Re: Screen Printing Acid Resist on Glass?
Hi Emma, If you go looking for "asphaltum" you'll find a lot of varying information. Since it is a natural substance (some sort of petrochemical 'tar') that makes sense, still it is irritating if you're trying to be consistent. But for block-out screen printing you can buy a quart of "...
- Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:45 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Tinning (again !)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 5727
Re: Tinning (again !)
"Yes, I'm using mainly 1Shot enamel and sometime acrylic paint." WARNING: do not use the same brush in both kinds of paint! Second Warning: be careful what kind of brush you use with water-based paints, like acrylics. The squirrel hairs used in the old standard signpainter brushes will swe...
- Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:04 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: New Dux and Old Rolco
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3695
Re: New Dux and Old Rolco
Blessing on you, Andrew. Now if we had someone who speaks good French and would talk to LeFranc & B. maybe we'd find out what their stuff is made of... Tung oil for the quick size - "Well I never!" - as my grandmother would say. It is not an uncommon material, but i have never used it ...
- Wed May 31, 2017 10:47 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Blabbermouth me, or just a polite host?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 21031
Re: Blabbermouth me, or just a polite host?
Hey Janice, is that Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine? If you are in Oregon send me an email at LBL@Integra.net and i'll put you on the list of local-sign-folk-who-have-intermittent-meetings. If you're in Maine you're on your own (although my niece lived there for a while and said the people were ...
- Wed May 31, 2017 10:36 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: damar embossing
- Replies: 3
- Views: 4908
Re: damar embossing
I had the same after about 6 months. The damar/res'ngel mix was embossed and then forgotten. When I remembered it I did a white gold water gild and it was like mirror on ripple glass. The gold was pretty shiny on both sides.
- Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:17 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: that dipped marble we used to do....
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3282
Re: that dipped marble we used to do....
"It's The Water"
- Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:10 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: base coat for gold size...
- Replies: 9
- Views: 7772
Re: base coat for gold size...
Any clearcoat that can take 2 years outdoors in Montreal is of interest. But a clear coat over wood has always felt like a layer waiting to break down or de-laminate. This is just from the being clear: sunlight will go through the whole film (and if metal is under the clear, sunlight will bounce off...
- Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:22 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Oslo Letterheads 2017
- Replies: 8
- Views: 6438
Re: Oslo Letterheads 2017
EXCELLENT! If it only gets dark for a couple of hours each night, there may needs be a 'clean-up squad' to pick up signpainters who have fallen over and can't get up...
- Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:22 pm
- Forum: Letterhead Events
- Topic: Oslo Letterheads 2017
- Replies: 8
- Views: 11192
Re: Oslo Letterheads 2017
EXCELLENT! If it only gets dark for a couple of hours each night, there may needs be a 'clean-up squad' to pick up signpainters who have fallen over and can't get up...
- Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:40 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Tiki bar sign
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5109
Re: Tiki bar sign
Pretty hot stuff there. The border looks quite interesting - any good pix of it?
If you silkscreen in your basement, how do you exhaust the fumes? Enquiring minds want to know...
If you silkscreen in your basement, how do you exhaust the fumes? Enquiring minds want to know...
- Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:34 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Base for painting
- Replies: 6
- Views: 5687
Re: Base for painting
Hard to be sure from the photo, but I don't see a gap in the middle. It does look as if it is outdoors, so (with all due deference to Mr. Bernhardt who is a brilliant woodworker) I would look at a metal panel. A sheetmetal shop can often make up a custom size and shape for a reasonable price, and th...
- Wed Oct 05, 2016 6:23 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Interesting Split Shade Technique...
- Replies: 16
- Views: 17065
Re: Interesting Split Shade Technique...
So, to recap for those of us whose memories can't manage 6 posts up: 1) Cut the glass, drill the glass, nip the glass 1a) Lettering with fumed acid etch, spray silver, shell infill, mirror borders.... (you know, the usual stuff) 2) Opaque black background cut in, leaving "shades" still cle...
- Mon May 02, 2016 11:47 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Spanjer Bros.
- Replies: 1
- Views: 2546
Re: Spanjer Bros.
Hmm. It makes sense that Spanjer might make furniture - they show elaborate A-boards and some cabinets for signs - but I don't remember seeing anything like chairs or tables in their old catalogs. Of course those were Sign Catalogs, so there may well have been a different division with its own catal...
- Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:15 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Painting Metal Shutters
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3377
Re: Painting Metal Shutters
Umm, is it bare metal now? Steel or aluminum? On bare metal you do want to get rid of any rust or grease and then prime it with the right primer for the metal - a galvanizing primer for steel, an aluminum primer or prep-coat for aluminum. Then you can coat with whatever kind of paint you like - 1Sho...
- Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:56 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: 1st attempt at some things
- Replies: 4
- Views: 4806
Re: 1st attempt at some things
Coming in late here, but it looks like all went well - so you'll be pumped up for the next round. Go go go... My first and best suggestion is to get a copy of "Gold Leaf Techniques for Sign Painters" by Ray LeBlanc, edited by Kent Smith. Read every word. It really is the bible for this par...
- Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:36 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: "Tennis elbow" from lettering?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5204
Re: "Tennis elbow" from lettering?
I've never had my elbow hurting, but there is that muscle down the side of the spine that a friend called "the truck lettering muscle". Too much continuous lettering and that will flare up big-time. One other thought is about posture - are you keeping mostly balanced when you're working? I...
- Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:26 pm
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Chester Cunningham
- Replies: 21
- Views: 21525
Re: Chester Cunningham
Hi Regina, and welcome to the Signpainter Appreciation Network. How strange to have one of the greats be your father(!)
Your story makes one wonder if there is something genetic about the craft, sort of like the Bach children becoming musicians.
Please keep painting and posting...
Your story makes one wonder if there is something genetic about the craft, sort of like the Bach children becoming musicians.
Please keep painting and posting...
- Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:34 am
- Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
- Topic: Advice on brushes
- Replies: 8
- Views: 8447
Re: Advice on brushes
Looks good!