Gold Stripes and Lettering Over Latex...Tips

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OLD FORUM POSTS

Posted by Mike Jackson on May 22, 2004

We've had a few jobs over the years where we needed to tape off stripes and also gerbermask letters, then size and gild. The problem that can occur is bleed under of the size on the tape and mask. You can gild while the mask is still on the sign, but you will usually see the glossy clear size that bled under, or yellow if you had added some pigment to the size.

To solve the problem, we put down all mask and tape, burnish it down as normal, then paint one coat of the latex background color and let it dry. When it is thoroughly dry, we apply the gold size (usually quick size in a dusty shop) and gild when ready. With a little care, we can remove the mask and tape by pulling away from the edge. The trick is to allow the latex to seep under the tape where it needs to do it. That dries the same color and sheen as the original background and then it seals the edges so very little gold size will ever seep under it.

Maybe everyone already knows this one, but if not, it can save a lot of time and outlining.

Mike Jackson

Danny Baronian

There's another thing you can do with this method too. Apply the background paint and immediately wipe it off with a rag. That alone is enough to bleed under the tape and dries very fast. The nice thing is you have no build up on the edge when a second coat is applied. All you want to do is seal the tape edges.

I frequently coat out a board, apply Gerber mask then route through the mask. Prime the raw carved areas, wipe off followed by a second coat and it's ready for paint or gilding. When the mask is removed there is usually very minimal touch up. Before I did this touch up took a long time, especially on large blocks of small text.

Danny Baronian

Mike Jackson

Danny,
I think wiping it off might be the secret we never tried. The full coat did make a bigger edge, but that was superior to having the bleeds.


Just in case people are noticing this post, it was an attempt by myself to just make a goofy tip post to keep talking. We have good momemtum going on this BB, so I hope people can add simple tips like this once in a while. In my case, I made the tip, but then got a couple of additional tips for my own improvement.

If you have any similar little tips, start a new thread and post it!

Mike Jackson

Danny Baronian

Only suggestion I'd offer on this one is to summarize all the suggestions in this string into a sentence or two and add it to the tips section.

Seems like a small tip but it makes a easier, better job.

Danny

Jeffrey P Lang

Mike,
Thanks for the reminder! In addition, I have had a background that was blended, so the colors changed under the mask. I have used clear as the first coat (bleed coat) so the variation was not a problem. Gary Anderson has also said the Porter ultra deep base with no tint added dries almost perfectly clear. I have used that before with success also as a clear coat.
Jeff

Danny Busselle

I always had great edges with using shellac. "quick" easy wipe it over edge. can use brush or spray. leaves Blade Cut Edge. with no size leaking through to back side. also on vinyl walls interior, I use 3M magic Mending Tape for straight edge paint does not bleed through and it wont tare background color Off so there is No "RE-Work", it works the best for me. latex is Good a little heaver build up. I just was trying to seal the Edge. I did The Red Onions Restruant where they wanted painted Confetti that was over everything with perfect edges. Lots of Latin pictorials. looked great.

Regards
Danny