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We paint trim cap once in a while. Since we use Matthews paints almost exclusively, we follow the protocols in the Matthews manual for painting trim cap: 1. Clean with 45330 Speed Prep Cleaner 2. Abrade with Scotch Brite pad (I usually spray glue a pad to the DA sander) 3. Clean again with...

I have used many of these methods, too. Most of the installers at my place use Gerber mask with voids cut where the letters are to be placed. Often, for a row of letters, the mask is just a strip with voids showing only the bottom halves of the letters. I like pounce patterns. The problem...

In my opinion, the bricks at the bottom should not be used for attachment. That little double wall (no doubt made from hollow bricks) should be viewed as decorative. It will hold weight, but it will not hold up against sideways pressure, that is, back and forth pressure from front and back. Even...

Stylized letters don't qualify for copyright protection. In a circular published by the US Copyright Office, in the section that describes things that cannot be protected by copyright, it includes "mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring..." Regarding trademark...

For a very clean cut I like using a 20-teeth-per-inch hollow ground blade. There is no set to the teeth like on most blades, and the teeth don't hook upwards like a wood blade. On plywood the cut rivals a bandsaw cut, looking almost sanded, and it leaves the best-finished edge I have ever seen...

Yes. This can be done differently. Good point. The initial consultation with the client can give you clues for the order of importance. I probably would have suggested to the client to drop "BUY SELL TRADE" (every gun owner knows what happens at a gun show, right?) and then downsize or even...

I'm not sure a design can be too simple. Simplicity can still have eye appeal. I have made this design simpler than it already is by reducing the number of background panels. Also, whenever I approach a job like this, the first thing I do is prioritize the information. The idea is to create a...

The trend in the sign world these days is to do design work for free. A typical sign shop now will spend time doing sign drawings on speculation with no guarantee of getting the job. This is a relatively new development and is not a good practice in my opinion. But since so many do it, others...

.177" would be the minimum thickness for me for polycarbonate faces this big, with at least a top hanging bar. Using top and bottom bars is even better. Hanging bars allow the faces to hang flat. When faces are allowed to bow, the center seam can open up. This would be even more of a problem...

Is this dollars or euros?

This is a good question. The days are gone when the artist/designer was so highly respected that he or she was usually deferred to. I knew sign makers who regularly turned down jobs rather than work with poor design brought to them by a client. They did not like their design authority...

This has been an interesting thread. If this thing goes to court, and surely it will if the bank has anything to do with it, a judge will sort it all out. I hope the local sign guy doesn't get pinched. He seems to have acted in good faith and to have followed accepted industry practices...

We do installs and removals regularly for other sign companies that have national accounts. None of these sign companies order work to be done with just a telephone call, though they may phone us to ask if we are interested in the job. They then email or fax a request for a quotation, or they...

I have also used two thicknesses of Gatorfoam for one sign. I made a scarfed seam for the front pieces and a simple butt seam for the backer pieces, making sure the seams are not in the same place on the layers. This way the straight part of the baker supports the seam in the front pieces. The...

I used to do a fair amount of large Gatorfoam signs for stage backdrops. Sometimes they were mounted on stand-up panels, often they were hanging from wire. Many involved multiple seams, especially if they were 30 or 40 feet long. I never used anything thinner than 3/4-inch Gatorfoam and I...

Putting your company 'bug' on the face of your work, very small, was a common practice among sign painters in the old days. Not everybody did it. And not everybody did it on every sign, but it was very common. I never thought of it as a moral issue. Back in the day, I actually had customers who...

It is possible that these letters are not from a font at all, but hand drawn. This is not a particularly difficult letter style to execute. It appears hand lettered to me. The edge of a clear coat is clearly visible in the photo. And the center of the nine is slightly imperfect. The placement...

My first question for a client like this is, "Why do you want a thick slab of wood for your sign?" Is he thinking that it would look 'historic,' so that it would harmonize with the building? In my mind, a 2-inch thick wood sign, especially with sandblasted graphics, is neither traditional nor...

2x4 rectangular tube should be available from an aluminum supplier. I've never bought anything that was pre-capped. Capping one end is not difficult. I knew guys that cut the cap 1/16 shy on all four sides, leaving a tiny step when the cap rested on the top end of the tube. Then they placed...

I agree that this is a simple paint failure. Why does it look red underneath? Perhaps a lacquer-based automotive primer-surfacer was used. I knew some guys that did this for a while. I don't know if any still do. This type of primer is not considered suitable for high quality work, even by the...