Advice on old metal cemetery sign

[James Burke]

Show me the metal!

Block-sand a small spot on the border until you get down to bare metal.

Looking at the typeface they used, I half suspect that it might be made of bronze.

If it is bronze, have it sandblasted and paint the entire thing black. Then block-sand the tops of the letters and the border, and then apply a clear coat.

JB

 

[VizualVoice]

so i was actually thinking similarly! My original thought was to sand blast the original work off (not sure if that is the same as blast cabinet?) but I no longer have access to a sand blaster. I would love to hear if a blast cabinet is different but for the sake of time and my wallet i think stripping is my best bet...
Because this is a commision from a friend, and they are paying very little to none, i don't know if i can afford aircraft stripper. Can i get that locally or what do you suggest? I have never worked with that before.

A sandblast cabinet is just less messy than open-air blasting. Unless you already have a fairly decent sized compressor you're not going to run one efficiently. Where are you located? There may be someone nearby that can assist with that. I'm looking at and thinking about how much of a PITA it would be to try to get paint and stripper out of all those little nooks and crannies of the raised letters to get fresh paint to stick to it. Like any paint job 95% of it is in the surface prep! (I say that as someone who's painted/coated everything from cheap trinkets to multi 10s of thousand dollar value high-end firearms in my other business). Don't skimp on the prep work, use good materials, and it'll outlast you. Make it the next guy's problem!

 

[visual800]

now that i have come back to this post i see more detailed pics of this sign! sand it and strip it, prime it with 2 part epoxy and spray with latex white and paint letters white no clearcoat needed with this method

 

[Medina Signs]

Sandblast, prime and repaint

 

[chester215]

Ive been watching how they hot tank acid bath and rust neutralize old cars on youtube.
It may be something that would work for you. they hot tank it in an acid bath to soften the paint.
Remove the old paint with a pressure washer, then dip it in a rust neutralizer/ preventer.
Seems like a good way to remove the pant & rust without potentially damaging the material.