Robert, I've had great success with Gerber Mask - the regular tack, not the high tack. (High tack is difficult to remove from the glass.) I also made the mistake once of using high-performance vinyl. It stretches when you remove it and it leaves adhesive residue. You'll want to experiment a bit with...

Thanks for posting this, Gary. This guy is amazing. I haven't been familiar with his work before but looking at the other examples online he reminds me somewhat of Rick Griffin. This particular piece would make great glass piece with toned etching, carving, gilding all rolled into one. I wouldn't be...

This is interesting (& a bit disturbing.) The first time I've had gold leaf failure on a sign was this summer. I had installed it this spring. Gold just flaked off a bunch of the letters - in spots. Similar to what Raymond said, it looks like the size is still on the letters. I thought maybe the...

Pat,
Yeah, that looks like some nice shading.
But then, he'll probably only need to shade one side as it will show through, don't you think?.
At least that's the way this poem rhymes to me.
Well, it's probably out the door by now anyway.

Thanks Mark.
Gee, you're swell guy.
I forgot about this site. Don't know who turned me on to ole' Shorpy Higginbotham originally (maybe you did) but what a treasure chest.
Gotta add it to my favorites.
"Fine for Children, Good for Grown-ups!"
Dan

Hi Mark, I've gilded many times on acrylic painted signs, mostly dimensional but also some flat signs painted with acrylics. I've usually used LeFranc slow size or combination of slow & fast size. Have never had any problems with it. Was the acrylic cured before you did the gilding? That might m...

James, I've used both the Costal Enterprises FSC water based high build primer as well as the Sign Foam primer - Sign Prime. I like them both because they fill the pores and sand so well. You can build it up and then sand, taking care not to sand down to to the HDU surface. My preference is the Cost...

Abrading the surface well ought to work. Also, X-I-M makes a Plastic & Vinyl Bonding Primer (XIM No. 1137S). I have some in an aerosol can, but it also comes in a regular can, I believe. The Product Description says XIM's Plastic & Vinyl Primer is an adhesion promoting primer that will adher...

Dave, Here's a window sign I did several years ago. The lettering was heavily influenced by Eccentric French from Atkinson's book which, as Frank Smith points out, is one of the fonts you're borrowing. We all borrow from others. None of us are creative in the absolute sense; rather, we all work with...

Hi Vance, That link you provided about shellac is helpful. I used to use quite a bit of shellac as a barrier coat. I especially liked it as a backup to matte centers. After gilding, I would mix a little gold bronze powder in the shellac, brush it on and it would fill the holidays beautifully. Within...

I just finished this job today. American National Bank wanted their copper logo on 7 windows. The logo is made up of prismatic copper letters. I first saw this done in an article in SignCraft several years ago where you do surface gilding, cut acetate masks and burnish the gold different directions ...

Hi GEET, Good to hear from you. The vault you linked to there is a beauty. Obviously done by the same artisan but a step-up in quality from the ones I'm working with. I do have 4 vault doors in very good condition that I can reference at the same courthouse where the damaged ones are located, but th...

Hi GEET, Good to hear from you. The vault you linked to there is a beauty. Obviously done by the same artisan but a step-up in quality from the ones I'm working with. I do have 4 vault doors in very good condition that I can reference at the same courthouse where the damaged ones are located, but th...

Doug - very decent of you to re-post this for Rob. Hello Rob & welcome to this site. I'll take a stab at this and hopefully my erroneous answers will rouse some of the more knowledgeable Dead Men from their sleep of death (Roderick, Larry, John, Patrick, Dave, etc.) and they will correct what I ...

I'm working on a 1910 courthouse historic restoration project. Part of it involves restoring a couple of vault doors. Some of the doors are in near-mint condition. A couple of them were covered with white latex paint. The contractor has removed the paint and would like me to restore them, retaining ...

I'm working on a 1910 courthouse historic restoration project. Part of it involves restoring a couple of vault doors. Some of the doors are in near-mint condition. A couple of them were covered with white latex paint. The contractor has removed the paint and would like me to restore them, retaining ...

Hi Dave,
Absolutely amazing. Nice of them to share this.
(And the whole thing only takes Bill less than 3 minutes!)

Mike,

I continue to be astonished and humbled by the talent and the diverse directions taken by the "hand-lettering" artists who participate in this forum. Your new distinctive site has raised the bar to yet another level. Thank you for sharing these beautiful images.

Dan

Actually, that's probably not a bad motto. As a Dead Man, just don't say "We was hired exclusive . . ." That just ain't so, kid. I remember Dusty Yaxley talking one year out at Rick's place and it seems to me he said that he sometimes tells people they can't afford him. It eliminates those...

My experience in carving letters is limited, so I have a question related to that. I'm having a vendor cut out some 1" thick HDU letters for me on their CNC router. They will also router a prismatic face on the letters. I will then clean up the crotches to make it appear hand-carved and other d...

Wow, Pat. Thanks for posting this.
70 murals, and just perusing them they all look top-notch.
My wife and I have talked about making a trip to the Northwest this fall. If we do it, Toppenish is gonna be a stop on our itinerary!

Hey Doug, Thank you for the compliment. It was clearly one of my favoirte pieces and I was sad to lose it. And I have to tell you - it's a bit embarrassing to be asked by you about where I get my ideas. I'm not being coy or promoting a "mutual admiration society" but, frankly, your work is...

Very nice work, gentlemen! I looked at your website the other day but it's nice that you posted these pics as we can look a little closer and see some of the works in-progress. I like the picture of several large windows in your shop that appear to be finished and ready for delivery. One of the thin...

Hi Vance, Glad to hear that you did it successfully with a soft brush. It would be nice to see the end product if possible. Domed letters with a texture sounds really interesting. For myself, I like to spray the size whenever possible. It takes some practice and care to avoid puddling and sometimes ...

I could've used some of this advice a few months back. About 10 years ago I did a window for a business here in Fort Collins, "Cache La Poudre Rifleworks". http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s203/Dan_73373/DSSRifleworks640.jpg The owner died a couple of years back and his brother finally d...

Luke, I haven't checked in for a few days but I'm a Fort Collins guy too. Brian Oliver (Paxton Signs) & I are buddies and we collaborate from time to time. It's always a thrill to find someone who is interested in the trade. The possibilities are endless and you have a great start with an origin...

Dave, This stuff takes my breath away. I may never be able to do this type of work but it inspires me, expands my horizons and drives me forward in what I do. Thank you, as always, for posting these pictures. It's stuff we would never see without your excellent photos and willingness to share them w...

Erik, Thanks for your insight. I can especially appreciate the disgust for comodifying an antiquity by making it into a piece of jewelry for resale or defacing a painting to make it fit. This is a little different since what we're talking about is old windows which were removed from an old building ...

I had someone call me today who has several panes of old glass that he had removed from a building and he was wondering if I was interested in purchasing them. They're around 100 years old and he described them as "wavy" glass. I think he said they're around 3' x 4'. I don't have an immedi...

Jerry, I usually like to add a bit of gold bronzing powder into some varnish or into the same medium I used for the matte center and use that as a preliminary back-up. The bronze powder is close in color to the gold leaf and gives a little reflectivity and opacity so that it helps hide any holidays....