What has happened to our creative postings?

[normand]

Thank you Joe for the good words . I should try to post some more .
I see that railing as a piece of art ,sure add a fancy touch .
Brian I would like to see that carving chainsaw bar tutorial if possible . Might inspire me to get out my old chainsaw to carve with.

p.s. Joe, dont worry even my bank misspeled ''sculpteur'' on a box of cheque .They had to reprint it. Dont do that on a sign

[Brian Harnett]

Normand Here is a link to my post unless you are going to carve a lot buying a cannon carving bar would make more sense.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/11856...+a+carving+bar


The bar I made is one piece of A2 steel unlike other carving bars that are made that just have the tip faced. The entire bar after heat treating is extremely durable, they were 3 times the price of a cannon bar but last 6 times longer. Unfortunately most chainsaw carvers did not do the math and the manufacturer did not sell enough to be worth it.

[joe]

Tim,

Glad to see you moving into gilding.

About the underlayment, I'd suggest using artists acrylic colors. Liquitex, Rembrandt or Dana are usually available. Get tubes of Cadium Yellow Medium and Cadium Yellow Dark. The combination of the two will give a good gold base.

PVC is a bit too difficult to sand if you're doing prism letters. But if your texturing, like the one I posted, it will work fine, otherwise HDU is a better option. I like to apply my texture medium with a chip brush using a stipple motion.

Gold comes in either Patent and Glass. You'll find the "Free Gold' known as glass gold is much easier to apply on dimensional work. That's because it will drapes over the letter. Patent needs to be applied directly and works well on flat surfaces. The Glass Gold is picked up a Gilders Tip, See Photo,And laid down over the letter. This process goes quickly and is amazing easy.

Gold Size:
There are several manufacturers of size. I've not found much difference in them but you should start with the "Slow" version. That will give you plenty of time to get the perfect tack. You want it to be almost dry. That will take several hours but the dryer it is the more the gold will flash. Too wet and it will look dull. So you make several test stripes over a couple of hours. Once you are satisfied there is plenty of time to finish the gilding. I like to lay down the size in the evening so the next morning it's about ready.

A couple of reasons I like using gold is it lasts forever. Unlike paint or any other topcoats it will flash a look nice for years. I often have clients asking for "some of that gold paint" be used on their letters. Once you get it out in the community you'll be amazed at how it raises the quality of a sign.



Gilding is a mystery technique that keeps the less talented confused an at bay.

[joe]

Here's a small video I found on YouTube showing the use of the Gilders tip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBFDIES21cI

Let me also say texture isn't always beneficial. The photo below was made with HDU.

[normand]

Thank you Brian for the link .Last time I chain saw carve was 25 years ago when I lived on the west coast . There was no carving bar at least I did not know of. You are right for the occasional use I should get a cannon bar . Your web site and all the link are so inspiring ,make me want to do some again . I Watch many Carver King épisodes , what a treat

[chunkstyle]

Joe,
Many thanks for the gilding advice. Especially the 'free gold' tip for a beginner such as myself. I have a 1/2 sheet of 15lb. HDU leftover from a project awhile ago. Perhaps I could use that on the prismatic fonts to be gilded.
Looking forward to the lunchtime video.
I was driving thru the city over the weekend. On a busy street that had a lot of small business in older houses converted to commercial offices. Dibond vinyl sign here, suitcase sign there, etc.. We all know this kind of street.
It was the gold signs that stood out from the noise of all the others. Nothing draws the eye like gold. I really want to move into this area. Now to get a customer to pay for it.

[joe]

Tim,

You'll need samples to show the effects. The advantage in making samples is the skill you will acquire. For years I made a couple of samples each week.

Another way to get the skill level up is to attend a workshop. There's nothing wrong in inviting a few guys over on the weekend to explore techniques. That's the way the Letterhead Movement got started.

Even if a person involved in signs, it's still a good idea to have a few fellows over to discuss materials and techniques.

[Burkhardt]

Joe,
Many thanks for the gilding advice........

Maybe you can get some more advice from the Chinese...



I am not sure if gilding mummies will be big business in the US though

More pics here of gilding a revered monk.
Sorry this is with German captions.

[joe]

GB,

Thanks for this posting.

The brilliance here is done with Water Gilding. The technique is, free gold is floated over a water size as opposed to a oil based size. It's for interior use only. Most commonly used on furniture and picture frames. For those interested in this process, water is misted or painted on a Bole, or clay base which has a dry hide glue surface. Water gilding is very popular with glass artists also. Dave Smith video's on Youtube are fun to watch.

I've never been successful at selling gold on my signs although it's a common practice to use it. Odd as it may sound the inclusion of gold isn't that expensive or time consuming. $100 dollars of gold goes a long ways on signs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0fOieadP7w