[Pete Witney]

Steve, missed you on the other post , so Hi and welcome. Variety, that’s one of the great things about the sign business. Just one little crit. it may be an optical illusion but the spacing on the secondry copy looks a bit off, especially the i and n look a little close , and also can you make your pics a bit smaller ,I’ve only got an old wind up computer. Pete

[Pete Witney]

Have just painted two logos on vinyl with one shot and household gloss on the larger areas using one shot reducer and a drop of hardener. tried the snatch test after one day and had no problems. the only time I have had a problem , I couldn’t remember if I prepped the vinyl or not

[Pete Witney]

sorry to nitpick but ,if you draw two imaginary lines at the end of the scrolls, try to keep your lettering uprights parallel to them, helps give the illusion that the lettering is on the scroll. Yes you are a signmaker but like the rest of us will keep on learning and making mistakes for a long time yet. Why do we let ourselves work in conditions that we would refuse to work in if we were working for someone else? Had to put a fascia up in a blizzard the other week with the ladder standing on sheet ice.Pete

[Pete Witney]

Joe, thanks will give it a go, I don’t do any carving so will try the 1-5 method. Pete

[Pete Witney]

Joe, Always interested in new techniques, signwriting by its nature is never a quick job, but knowing a fast alternative is always useful, Pete

[Pete Witney]

Joe, I will try both methods next time, I didn’t intend to put down your method, sorry if it sounded that way, I feel that the squeeky method would tell when the size is first ready, useful if you’re in a hurry,the gravity system would probably take a little longer thus giving a better gild.

[Pete Witney]

Martin , he must have very long arms .Could be a solution in some cases, cheers. Pete

[Pete Witney]

Thanks all for your comments/suggestions,I won’t say I’m glad to see it happening elsewhere.The dilemma of course is whether to tell the customers of the chance that their board might be kidnapped.Alan I took a walk round town today and spotted other “hazards” such as council funded benches, children, no railings on the harbour wall etc.Are we going to stop girls wearing short skirts in the summer in case they distract motorists? I hope not.We had an Idea today of converting all ‘A’ boards to sandwich boards

[Pete Witney]

Yeh, suppose your right they don’t take too long, the first one I made had the board fully rebated into the legs with mortice and tenon joints etc. worked up a much quicker design now.I find people really appreciate it if you put a small handle on the top, or it its a large one a suitcase handle on the side. I will find out about the camper.

[Pete Witney]

Steve, when you say £70.00 to make Two ‘A’ boards I take it you’re not including labour, I reckon on about £100.00 to make and paint one board,obviously a little less if you’re making more than one at a time,and with signwriting sell for about £200.00- £260.00 each depending on content. By the way did you ever get that camper van? there’s still one going down the road. Pete

[Pete Witney]

Hi Steve and welcome. Blimey the last time I went to a grasstrack meeting (about 1980) on my “motorcycle combination” we thought we’d have a go on the way home and ended up straddled accross a large ditch with my mate suspended in mid air in the chair.
Pete

[Pete Witney]

John, I agree about the acrylic paints,I try not to use them unless it’s an absolute screamer.I like to use ply because even after a good sanding down,I actually go down to 600 or 800 wet and dry you still do get a little grain coming through, just enough to give it a little character,though I also agree with you about the problem of damp ply. I will give the aluminium primer a go, hoping I’ll be able to get it at the local boat yard, I know boat people always put several coats of primer on, anything to help them last up here in the north sea.
Brian I have found “problem solving primer” works quite well on foamex and acrylic type materials( I think it’s Blackfriars)

[Pete Witney]

John, you say aluminium primer gives better protection, is this because Medite needs better protection or is it as good /or better than exterior ply? I know a chap who uses standard mdf and applys linseed oil to the edges before priming with oil based primer, seems to work for him.
Brian, unfortunately I’m usually the end of the line and the design is already established by the time they think about a sign.

[Pete Witney]

To change tack slightly, the last four shops to open in Whitby have been a variation on -helvetica, lower case, open spacing, small on a plain background – is this a national trend? .I’m doing one next week and thinking “so why exactly do you want it Painted”?

[Pete Witney]

Excellent stuff although a little toooo ornate for me, Is he local to you Steve? must keep you on your toes.

[Pete Witney]

I agree..nice job Jill. Interesting what you say about outlining,not exactly a “beginning brusher” but I still find outlining the most time consuming of all the lettering embelishments.I quite often use paint on vinyl for vehicles (successfully),though I did forget to degrease the vinyl on a job recently and guess what ! the paint fell off. doh!

[Pete Witney]

John, certainly give me a call.01947 604423,you’ll probably get my beautiful assistant(wife Jo) or 07775774323.Jo actually painted one of the pub signs on the website,she tends to do anything with people or animals .Unfortunately the Vincent isn’t mine,I’ve never progressed any further than Triumphs.Talk to you soon

[Pete Witney]

John, welcome to the site.Wow some cracking work.Can,t really add much,from a signwriting point of view I think Henry and Steve have most things covered.There was a course at Hammersmith and West London College in Shepherds Bush up until a couple of years ago,run by Bruce Barber, and I think there was another in Lewisham.I do believe there is a call for hand painted work but it seems to take quite a time to build a reputation which is something you may not have(time that is)A friend of mine does very well painting backdrops for themed party and corporate event organisers.My wife used to work for a company called Sign Emporium in Barking, Essex, painting advertising hoardings,they’ve probably gone digital by now but might be worth a try.If I can be of any help on the signwriting side please feel free to call,good luck

[Pete Witney]

Phil, weren’t Deaf School the ones with the tartan clad vicar on keyboards? sorry I don’t remember “Conquest”.Tom Waites would be my preference, though I’ve just bought Ry Cooder playing some rather groovy twangy guitar.Pete

[Pete Witney]

I thought screen printing was just something you had to do at college? On anything but a perfect surface doesn’t it bleed into the grain,I tried using a vinyl mask to apply the size with Mike the sign but had this problem as they’re usually oiled or waxed rather thn varnished. And yes Gray , Signgold would probably be too thick for honours boards.I quite often see the corners peeling up on vinyled honours boards where the cleaners have been a bit heavy with the duster.

[Pete Witney]

Gray,at last years sign show on the Signgold stand they had some excellent sample boards from the States where they had used Signgold in conjunction with paint( for outlines,shadows,graphics etc)I thought the two complimented each other very well.
Alan I too update several honours boards with both paint and gold leaf,and yes it is nice to see the change in styles over the years but sometimes it can be quite a job bringing the lettering back into line as it gets bigger every year,and on one set of boards they hadn’t even noticed that the last chap had started using gold paint instead of leaf.

[Pete Witney]

Stuart,WBP I believe is Weather and Boil proof ?I always try to frame boards,or at least lip them with a strip of hardwood of the same thickness,if it is an irregular shape I would run filler round the edges like Adrian.I don’t use Weathershield because I find I can’t get as good a finish as I can using Oil based primer and undercoat.Birch faced ply is lovely to work with but make sure you get exterior grade.Ever since I started I’ve been meaning to paint up different substrates and leave them outside to see what happens,one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is “how long will it last?”Some people seem to expect to replace them every three or four years others expect it to be the only sign they will ever have to buy.It’s a tricky one that because we don’t want them to last forever do we?

[Pete Witney]

Steve, lovely job as per usual.I recently came up with the same solution where the customer wanted a copper kettle and a coffee cup on the front of a sign,I had them turned and cut them in half,I’ll post some pics soon, I’m just waiting for them to be added to my website,thats how you do it ,isn’t it? Like Henry I’m wary of MDF and am still using exterior ply. Henry I may give you a call soon for some advice on painting HDU foam.

[Pete Witney]

I won’t make any comment about Yorkshire women.As space is a little tight in Whitby I usually suggest something a little smaller,to catch the unsuspecting sightseer just below the belt

[Pete Witney]

In olden days (PC)a signwriter would have to hand maybe a dozen letter styles,a formal and an informal version of each ,ie.two Romans,two Scripts,Sans Serifs ,Gothics, One Strokes and a couple of his own fancy designs.This is the sort of range I try to show a customer to get a feel for their likes and dislikes and to point out which would be better for Titles, secondry copy etc..I may show them a specific Roman but it doesn’t mean thats what they get it just gives me somewhere to start.

[Pete Witney]

They look a little lighter in weight than the ones I make,but I can’t make them for that price.

[Pete Witney]

Theeere Great ! Terry, even as a SIGNPAINTER I’m always in awe of people with the confidence and freedom in their art to do chalk boards

[Pete Witney]

Dave,don’t get me wrong, a few people on this site probably do as I seem to have a habit of bringing topics to an abrupt end,but I have nothing against vinyl,I have always used pencil,pen or brush since my early days as a Technical Illustrator and I don’t think my strengths lie in the design side so I would just be another vinyl guy.To be perfectly honest I would be quite happy if I ended up just painting house signs as long I was still painting.

[Pete Witney]

My workshop is no more than a garage and” this week I’ve mostly been going outside” to warm up.

[Pete Witney]

I seem to remember a “step -by- step” on the Letterheads site on how to bevel/chisel lettering,I assume this means you can do it to whatever typeface you want ,I don’t know?Personally if I want a chiselled effect I just mix up a tint and a shade of the letter colour and paint em on.

[Pete Witney]

Steve,great, it’s all becoming clear.My technical notes tell you to paint on asphaltam varnish before laying the vinyl ,then after blasting remove the vinyl leaving the varnish as a mask,maybe Brian or Paul can shed some light on that?Also I understand you only need a very lightg blasting,could you achieve the same effect by sanding/abrading?And heating the gold,makes on site glass gilding sound viable.

[Pete Witney]

Steve -Beautiful!!!-On a whim I bought some chipping glue but on reading the technical notes that went with it chickened out,As Mike says would be interested to see how You went about it.

[Pete Witney]

Paul, thanks for the info on spray guns ,I’ll have a look at them.If it’s a fixing job in Whitby give me a shout if you need a hand, as long as I don’t have to go up ladders,Mike can tell you about me and ladders.Also my wife insists that I admit to some of the work on the website as being hers,cheers Pete

[Pete Witney]

Mick,when I’m spraying onto ply I finish the board as I would if I were lettering it,ie 1coat primer,2 coats undercoat,2 coats gloss(all oil based),I find that when you sprayingyou don’t really get a great deal of paint on the job.I use 1 Shot,or plain old dulux,can’t get on with quick drying acrylics or the Dekka Airbruh paints,as someone else said ,you spend more time cleaning out the airbrush.As for varnishing you will find you get areas of gloss and areas of matt were you fade out during spraying so varnishing helps even out the finish,again I use oil based varnishes but they do tend to yellow and I don’t know how they stand up to the tests of time. Paul , fantastic work down there in Bridlington,do you use an airbrush or a small spraygun,we used to use small sprayguns by a co. in Spain ,Victory I think,haven’t found anything like them in this country.Also admired your Gilding on the other site,I get to see a lot of Alan Freemans work up here in Whitby,and would like to come down and see you working sometime,I do alot of surface gilding but not much glass gilding.

[Pete Witney]

WOW!! great to see some different shapes,a lot of swing signs,funnily enough on my way home tonight I noticed SIX unused swing sign brackets in one street,is ther some new law about swing signs or is it just because it’s so damn windy up here?

[Pete Witney]

I posted this in the wrong place so here we go again.Not really a sign book but-A NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS-by Bill Evans andAndrew Lawson,ISBN 0-85965-165-7.Loads of pictures of British shop fronts from 1900s-1970s

[Pete Witney]

Maybe one cold Whitby winter we’ll pack up our brushes , come over and paint our way round visiting friends and relatives,can you still do that?

[Pete Witney]

HI Leeroy,welcome,I’ve got a friend in Australia perhaps you know him.Would that be the Nulabar(is that how you pronounce it?I’m affraid my geography’s dreadfull) that Grays talking about?This friend told of how he rode accross it and since then its always been a dream of mine.

[Pete Witney]

Looking at the photo Mike ,can’t you just use you fingernails.As for your other post I’ve been dying for a chance to throw in your 3.8 law,ah well he who hesitates….

[Pete Witney]

As a southerner up north I’ just confused.But I trained as a Technical Illustrator originally and it is general practice to assume that the sun is coming from the left hand side of the draughtsman and its kind of stuck ,most of the time.But being right handed I would probably put a high-light on the right hand side as well???Not at the same time obviously

[Pete Witney]

I try to stick to” hand painted wooden signs”,that’s what I do,it say’s so on my bus.card, in my advert,on my ‘a’ board.Another chap came in the other day looking for something a bit different from his nasty old “hand painted wooden sign”.what can you say?

[Pete Witney]

Kevin; thanks again,he’s now talking about a digital sign that you can change the message etc. and christmas lights around the b&b all year round,I think I’ll wash my hands of this one.Thanks again again.Pete.

[Pete Witney]

Thanks Paul and Joe.It turns out the guy was asking on behalf of his son who was’nt around so I just passed on the number ,He’s only up here at weekends ,if he has’nt had any luck by next weekend I’ll get him to call you Paul .AS for the sideburns I was hoping to get a part on “Heartbeat”

[Pete Witney]

Kevin ;Thanks I’ll give them a call-Pete

[Pete Witney]

Tim,and you told me you struggle with the design side.I particularly like the use(not use )of colour / tones. I must pop in for that cup of tea sometime

[Pete Witney]

Mike ,I will be in your neck of the woods on Friday, will call in.Gray-it’s currently home to the HMS Bark Endeavour just sailed round from your end of town.You should come to Whitby, great scenery, great fish and chips,great beer and great signs,even the fish and chip shops have gold leaf on thir windows thanks to the legacy of one Allan Freeman

[Pete Witney]

Thanks for the welcome Robert and Gray! You may have read this already I’m not sure if I’m replying correctly. Got to go now will talk soon.