Ready to install !

Next Morning. . . .
I took the sign out of my studio and here have photographed it in both the shade and in the direct sunlight. Details here show close ups of the sheen of the 'Smaltz' - crushed black glass, the colouring on the stones, the gold foil and the brushed aluminum.

I am very proud of this - one of my favourite and best !
I spent time preparing for install and got there to find the wind had picked up too much to safely install. Brenda was fine with that and was glad to present me with the ring she so lovingly crafted. So Saturday Morning I got there early, put up the scaffold, remove the old sign which was crumbling as I removed the screws, and bolted the frame work to the fascia. The sign went up easily and hooked on as planned. Two screws near the bottom back sides hold it from ever slipping of the z-bracket hook.
I will post here Tuesday her comments and include a picture of the sign installed, and also the ring she made for my Lady ! I presented it to her Friday night on the eve of our 2nd anniversary together ! Let's just say she was speechless !!!!!!!

Complete ! Last stages of a Sign in Progress

I will be installing it later today and finish off the details and description here as well as replace this picture with a better one, outside of my studio during the morning.
I took a few hours longer than I reckoned and had some other things to do, so I didn't finish assembly until a few minutes ago, 3 am. so i'm going to have to sleep in a little in the morning or i will be no good up a ladder.

Oh yeah, after the 30 hours of waiting for the black coating to dry enough to hold the smaltz securely, I stood the sign upright over a clean roll of paper shaking off the loose, unstuck smaltz, reclaiming about half of what I spread on.
In the morning before installing, I will make sure all screws are sealed, thin black calking around all the edges of the 'stone' board, to prevent moisture getting behind anything. I want this sign to look good for many years.

all else i'll say tonight is that I am Very Pleased with my finished product.

Step by Step in the creation of an exquisite Sign ( if I do say so myself ! )

Today, after 24 hours of drying time for the 3rd finish coat on certain areas of board, I applied the gold lettering on the surface and masked over specific areas around the lettering. This will give the gold lettering it's own gloss background. Then I applied the third coat of black to the whole sign, even over the masked letters. I added spar varnish and kerosene to this black gloss Benjamin Moore paint to increase it's stickiness and drying time. I removed the masking Then I poured One gallon of dry crushed black glass to the entire surface as shown in the photograph. I will let this dry for 30 hours before standing the sign on it's edge to shake off all the excess. This technique is called 'Smaltz' and was first used in the early 1900's to create a spectacular effect of sparkling black unlike any sign you've likely ever seen. My Dad taught me this which was rarely used mostly because of the cost in material and it is very labour intensive. It has not been used much since the advent of computer generated lettering in the 70's, mostly because a computer cannot, and I will bet cannot ever, reproduce this effect. I don't even know if it is available anymore; I've used almost all my supply that my Dad gave me 25 years ago. I last used it for the letters with a slightly different approach on the Museum-On-The-Boyne sign which can be seen on the institutional signs page of my website.
Enough said . . . . wait till Monday's post to see the final results.

Step by Step progress of a sign part two

Day three - everything got a light sanding and its second finish coat. I welded studs on the back of the aluminum lettering so they will stand off the surface when finished. Then three coats of laquer to protect. I took the board for the coloured band and meticulously followed Brenda's design and copied the grain and colours of the stones she gave me as samples. The stones of course are smaller than a centimeter, The full size faux-stones are 6" tall. Day four I have cut the gold lettering ready to lay, and put two coats of premium high gloss clear UV coating to the faux-stones. Everything now is waiting for paint to dry thoroughly before the final two steps: coating the whole background with a black crushed glass and assembly - then for install - Friday hopefully.

Step by Step of Fascia Sign

I was walking along our mainstreet one Saturday with my fiance window shopping with My intention of seeing what kind of rings she might like for an engagement ring. She didn't like anything ordinary but she was interested in a Jewellery artisan.
I went back to the store on Monday with a design I had in mind for a ring with lapis lazuli and a diamond and so the ordering of her ring was in the works. I mentioned that I am a signmaker and she was definitely interested in trading our talents.

So I returned sometime later with several designs; back and forth with changes and so the final design here. It is a medium-high budget sign with extra special details.


Yesterday I cut the background of 3/4" crezon plywood, rounded the edges and filled them with bondo; cut 2 horizontal 2 x 6 's on a 45 down the centre and afixed one pair of them to the back for easy mounting, the other pair I framed for easy attachment to the wall. When the sign is complete, it will very easiy hang on the boards, level and secure.
Next I cut the 'stone' board from 2 x 8 clear kilndried pine.

Everything was primed/sealed front, back and edges, sanded 8 hours later and filled and coated again, this time with a premium undercoat.

Today I lightly sanded everything once again and put on the first of three finish coats.
Then I took a sheet of 1/8" sheet aluminum, brushed in horizontally with the belt sander extra carefully and Hand-cut the name Brenda Roy and spent a couple of hours filing and brushing the edges for a fine finish.
I also cut and bent 4 aluminum brackets - 2 long for the top back and 2 short for the bottom back so the sign will tilt forward for easier viewing from the narrow sidewalk. The sign next to this store is tilted outward and so I also wanted to do this so the sign would not be hidden from the one direction.

more to come on Monday

Check out my new website

I'll keep this going for all the stuff I originally wrote, but updated info will most likely be on the website.
I have all the photos there.
I wish to thank Rimatas from SOS for helping me on the website and Rogers and Google for providing the place and software.

alliston creative services dot googlepages dot com ( no spaces )