Hi all, Somewhere in Dave Draper's post below I strayed off course and mentioned Chester Cunningham, with additional responses that further strayed off course. Chester was doing his creative sign work before computers, so you will enjoy seeing the stylish hand lettering and bold layouts. SC told me ...

Though this post doesn't necessarily relate to dipping a paintbrush in a can of paint, it does fit the topic of "sign making, fabrication, design" in the list under the large green banner above. For the most part, we hear Vector files are capable of being enlarged as much as you want witho...

Hi Rick,
You might consider using rouge instead of talcum powder. Two other options would be koalin and spanish whiting. They lack the fragrance additives.

Rouge is used to keep leaves of gold from sticking to the patent leaf tissues papers.

Good luck,
Mike Jackson

Hi Mark, I am quite happy you found the Hand Lettering Forum. Feel free to post as often as you can! This thread seems to have hit a nerve for many in a positive way. The Forum has a diverse cross section of sign artists and we all struggle to balance the creative spirit with the technology at our f...

Sarah, Due to the extreme dangers of using acid, I had hoped to keep specific instructions to these types of processes off this forum or site. Larry has his own web site and I'd feel much better/safer if he posted the specifics there. We can create a link from here to there, but for liability purpos...

Lee and Joe, Rick Sacks sent me a little bottle of original "Sign Painter's Mud". I think it is a product that disappeared because of better technology. Atkinson gives a formula in his first book for mud and again in his last and final book on sign painting. Spraylat and GripFlex (same pro...

Catharine, You might want to go back and dig around for posts on the old Forum dealing with Glue-Chipping. Seems like we had a similar discussion there not long before the board crashed. Grease or oil on the surface of the glass can cause problems. That can happen if you handle or touch the sandblas...

In retrospect, it would have made sense to do a test piece using MacTac using anything other than known paints. Now all you can say is "Who'd a thunk it?"

Mike

Steve, You might hear for Cam Bortz on this one. I believe he was doing some demos at some of the meetings where he applied gold size to the letters and then wiped them down to create a brilliant gild. To be real honest, I haven't seen that done, but I get the impression the size was applied directl...

Steve, When a panel is large, we often cover the panel with 24" rolls of Transferite and then hand cut it using a full sized pounce pattern as a guide. Transferite works great for that, but you wouldn't want to leave it on a panel more than a day or two. About the only computer cut stencil we h...

http://www.theletterheads.com/signphotos/glassslide.jpg Hi all, I ran across this piece on eBay a few days ago and won it for $16 today. Other people here probably know more about these things than me, I just thought it was cool. Here's the description: VG Sign, Banner & Flag Maker, on Glass Sl...

William, While 49% hydroflouric acid is VERY DANGEROUS, it gets less dangerous as it gets diluted. For example, one ounce of 49% acid has only 1/2 oz of pure acid. If you add one more full ounce of water, the precent drops to 25%. Add two more ounces of water and it drops to 12% (just by adding 3 oz...

My 50th birthday was on the 11th of February, and a book I had ordered a week or so earlier arrived on the 12th. What a birthday present to myself! The plates are just a few from the book/folios. If interested, you can read more about the comments we made on the earlier BB by clicking here: http://w...

William, When using the Etching Creme, you can simply print it directly ONTO the glass through a screen with a bit of a coarse mesh. No need for asphaltum on this one at all. The creme acid I bought has a rough texture, almost like it has sand mixed in. I didn't use it enough to know, but I'd bet it...

William, Screen printing the asphaltum would not be a necessary step for glue chipping, only for acid etching (WARNING: DANGEROUS). For glue chipping, you coat the entire piece first, then frost the open areas of asphaltum away with a sandblaster. There is a TON of information about glue-chipping if...

Doug is right about the asphaltum. You can paint it or screen print it. There are a couple of caveats however! At the Conclaves, they often screened the asphaltum resists, but you would later find each person at the light table filling in all the micro holidays with asphaltum using a small brush. If...

Joe,
They say there are lots of ways to skin a rabbit. Your idea might work? I don't know, so go give it a try. I don't think I called you any names!

Mike

Joe, I am sure there products I don't know about, and this might one case where it highlights that point. You mention : I've been told that 3M makes a mask that can be washed off with water I'd like to hear more about that material if it is available. Back in the old days, they used to sell a produc...

Steve Vigeant called today to order a CD and was asking about latex paint. I know a lot of people use it for their backgrounds, but he pointed out something I notice here but has never affected us. When coating latex out on a flat board like MDO, it is difficult to get a smooth, even finish without ...

Joe, I would prime and sand the piece, then paint it entirely with black paint. When dry, I would size only the top with oil size mixed in with one shot imitation gold or ivory and gild it when it is ready. If you have any gold on the black edges, just touch them up with black and you are done. I be...

Dave Smith, in England, told me how he was masking areas prior to silvering, so I am quite sure it can be done. With that said, I think it would take quite a few test pieces before I committed a big job to it. He uses a back up paint available in England and to my knowledge it is not available here....

Roderick, It CAN work, but it is a gamble. The gamble is if all the graphics, or even part of the graphics come off during silvering, is it worth the risk? The glass piece we did for the Atkinson Colorized plates was silvered after the artwork, but I had to rework a couple of parts twice before I go...

I should have said "silk screen". It will not harm the glass during a screen "pull". You can see me screening on the recent gold leaf piece in SignCraft. No mask was used on the entire sign...just two screens.

Mike

Ron, I think I understand your question...at least the end product. If you silvered the glass first, then backed up the silver with a screen that covers all the silvered parts (background) leaving the lettering and ornamentation not screened....then you can use the silver strip to remove the exposed...

Jeff and Darryl, When Rick first started showing us the Angel Gild process, he was working mostly upright on doors and windows, using a "Prevail" spray bottle. He'd mix the two parts in one bottle, mix and swirl it until he thought the two were "going off" and then sprayed it on ...

It has been a long time since I bought mine, but my spray gun was around $300. I only used it once or twice. I think Frank Mason had one for sale a few months ago.

Mike

Try visiting this link: http://www.cometobuy.com/elitefin/elite_mir_sys.asp?number=38 There is an 8 photo slide show illustrating a home shop silvering system. You can at least see how he does it, even if you order the supplies from Sarah King. I'd say you need a serious air filtration system if spr...

Hi Cam, Normally, when we start reading a post like yours, we expect to hear you ended up shafted for the balance. This one is ironically funny. Now you just need to send a letter to them giving them a couple of months to pick up the sign at $X per month storage, and after a specified date, you will...

Catherine, (You "can" used hot glue around the edges to build up a dam....BUT...don't let that concept cloud the big picture.) You just silver the whole glass and if you have a few imperfections around the edges, don't worry about them. If you don't "back up" the silver with the ...

Catharine,
I paint the borders after the silvering. With the right paint (as mentioned in the other posts) you might be able to silver afterwards, but that is not the normal set of steps.

Mike Jackson