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Sign Painting Kit?

G-Artist

New Member
A piece of advice....and FWIW.

NEVER put your brushes into anything that you wouldn't put in your mouth.

Good brushes are made from natural hair. They require a 'natural' product to form them, help keep their shape and to PRESERVE them.

Motor oil, transmission oil, and the like should be a no-no....especially for sign guys who have developed bad habits such as a final reshape with mouth and tongue before dipping in the paint for the day.

I have used lard oil for years and without a problem. I keep a baby food jar of it handy. The only drawback, and it is slight, is that it will attract pests so keep it all sealed including your brushes. I have a plastic tube with a screw-on lid that hold all my oil brushes safe and secure from damage and pests. Protected that way nothing will ruin them while in my toolbox.

Pork Fat Rules!!! And we said that long before Emeril was born. LOL.
 

Mosh

New Member
I always kept extra strength Tylenol in my kit for the migraines I would get from absorbing the lead in the 1-shot.

I kept a bottle of Winsor in my grip for that...
 

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Add to Jill's list a roll of Scotch tape, low tack if you can find it, plain old vanilla if you can't.

You can use Scotch tape to mask the upper and lower edges of a line of text and cheat via not having to cut in the tops and bottoms of letters. Remove the tape and touch up the tops and bottoms of round letters. Like 'O', 'S'. 'U', 'Q', etc.

It's sometimes considered a vulgar technique by unreconstructed sign writers but it makes for fast work.
 

Signguyno1

New Member
Carried in my kit is chalk and a ball of string for use as a snap line and also used as a measuring devise. String coupled with a suction cup used for large circles as well.
 

Arlo Kalon 2.0

New Member
Add to Jill's list a roll of Scotch tape, low tack if you can find it, plain old vanilla if you can't.


It's sometimes considered a vulgar technique by unreconstructed sign writers but it makes for fast work.

The very best, most creative of four sign painters who trained me was done painting if he ran out of tape. I only ever used it when speed was of the essence. Otherwise, I preferred the exercise of squaring off my strokes with the brush.
 

OldPaint

New Member
iam here EVERY AFTERNOON........hehehehehehehehehe mornings are for sleep)))))
G-ARTIST:
Motor oil, transmission oil, and the like should be a no-no....especially for sign guys who have developed bad habits such as a final reshape with mouth and tongue before dipping in the paint for the day.
your wrong here & your right. MOTOR OIL NON-DETERGENT is perfect. reason being it dont have OTHER CLEANING CHEMICALS added as DETERGENTS!!!!!!!
TRANNY FLUID............IS DEADLY!!!!!! so many chemicals added to it its not funny. go talk to any transmission repairman..........and the horror stories they can tell you bout people in that line of work have suffered and died from that stuff.
NEATSFOOT OIL: is ok for short time storage, BUT IT WILL EVAPORATE, and then you got a brush is stuff as hard as paint!!!!!!
LARD.........in the south...............is inviting critters into your paint kit!!!!!!!!!
 

Jillbeans

New Member
I use baby oil on my brushes, I figure if it's safe enough for babies and sexy times it is OK.
I used to love Sapphire Brush Oil but it is now unavailable.
Tried the Walldog kind and it is like viagra for brushes.
The Kafka stuff is OK, smells like patchouli.
Baby oil is inexpensive.
I have also seen people who use mineral oil.
And Vaseline is OK to use, especially if you are flying and taking your sign kit.
The fitches get the motor oil, as I only use them once or twice a year.
 

round man

New Member
Baby oil is mineral oil with perfume added,..mineral oil is what I use,....it is a non drying oil and works great & it's cheap cheap..you can buy it in any drug store,.....it doesn't attract pests like lard oil here in the southern climates and doesn't smell bad once it's been on them awhile,..only problem I've ever encountered is the occasional rare case of the trots when I forget and put an oily handle in my mouth,....the only other oil I'll use is petroleum jelly if a quill gets out of shape and needs help remembering that shape.
 

Dave Drane

New Member
The book that I just got recommends using olive oil?

Thoughts?
DON"T ever use olive oil. It is a vegetable oil that the insects use as salad dressing on their food. I remember getting a new set of brushes and shaping them with olive oil. I stood them upright in a block of styrene foam and when I went to use them the cockroaches had crawled up the handle and nibbled the hair at the stock. Suddenly a #12 became a #6 etc..lol!
Any oil even motor oil is fine just as long as it stops enamel from drying, it can always be rinsed out in turps.
 

G-Artist

New Member
Mineral oil is excellent for many things and can be ingested as well. Some folks use that as a fluid/lube to help relieve constipation. I'd use nothing else for seasoning and waterproofing wood cutting boards. I just bought a bottle at the local drug store 2 months ago and was floored by the price. Ok, so I only buy a bottle of it every 10 years or so and my wife keeps telling me this isn't 1959 anymore...but jeez!!!, the price!

If non-detergent motor oil is so good and safe why isn't the BP spill which is crippling my state a non-event?

Yes, lard oil will attract roaches and the like if your brushes are left out. At the end of the day/job my brushes get carefully and properly cleaned then are dipped in lard oil, shaped and then stowed properly in an airtight and insect-proof container.

The only thing olive oil is good for is salads and cooking.

Hey, if you don't think LO is good (and CHEAP) then don't use it. I've used it since the late 60's and love it. I have tried Sapphire Brush Oil (as mentioned) and have no complaints about it...it worked just fine. The selling point is that it was 'acid free' and had no wax in it. Lately it's hard to get and costs something like $14 a bottle.

Anything that doesn't attack the glue in a brush should be suitable.

Stolen from a brush co. sales flier:

HOW A BRUSH IS MADE:

When a brush is made, a group of hair is separated & put into a sizing cup.
This determines the size.

The hair is then tied together with twine. This temporarily holds the hair in place
until it is inserted into the ferrule.

After inserting into the ferrule, a setting compound or glue is added.
The glue actually holds the hair together.

A brass winding is added to help secure the hair until it dries and to draw
the ferrule tighter so it will fit accurately into the handle.

When the glue compound becomes weak or is destroyed by impurities, additives,
or improper cleaning, the brush will start to loose hair.

The answer to longer lasting brushes is proper cleaning and storage.
 

Pat Whatley

New Member
One of the sign kits I just got had been in storage for 12 years. The brushes in it were oiled with mineral oil. Even after 12 years they're incredibly soft and the hairs are in almost perfect condition.
 

OldPaint

New Member
OK, motor oil 10-30 NON DETERGENT............if you ingest it will do nothing more then what a good dose of CASTER OIL will do)))))))))))))
like it says on the can, NON-DETERGENT, which means it has no added chemical cleaners.
i have a sign kit from an older sign person, his brushes are still in the same kit i got in 1998-99. these are sitting in MOTOR OIL, and he had passed away bout 4-5 years beofre i got his kit. i can go out there and take out one of his brushes, clean it in turps and use it.
so i believe them to have been in the motor oil for at leastbout 10 years......with no problem.
sticken with the motor oil end here, most paints you use are what base???? OIL BASED PAINTS, huh? and where do you suppose they get that OIL???? its a PETROLEUM OIL!!!!!
and yes virgina, if your paint gets to thick sometimes adding a little motor oil with bring back its proper viscosity)))))) as for motor oil hurting the glue in the farrel, unless its glue made from animals, then it also is PETROLEUM BASED. and the NON-DETERGENT OIL, will not harm it.
now TRANNY FLUID, MARVEL MYSTERY OIL, and other automotive products, ALL CONTAIN DETERGENT TYPE CHEMICALS. this is what makes them work so well.
as for lard, i agree its good stuff, but just like one eye, dave drane and i have said, warm climates, is not a place for this. i dont care how tight that box is, say your out lettering a window, open your brush box, and leave it open for 10-20 min. HERE, the chances of some critter checking out its contents is way better then if your in mich/new york. and say you didnt see the critter get in there.........well next time you open the box, she had a family, and they all are good and fat..............from eating the brushes))))))))))
as for neatsfoot oil, getting 100% of this is almost impossible today. what you do get, will EVAPORATE over time. how do i know? i stored some brushes in it..........when i went to get em......THEY WAS ENCASED IN A HARD VARNISH LIKE GOB. cleaning them was a bear and i lost a couple good langnickles!!!!!
 

jscarl

New Member
You talk about a sign kit !!! About 12/15 years ago i stopped at an estate sale - auction. The thing was about over and most people had left. Items were in poor shape and not selling well. As the auctioneer was about to close the auction, Jim Beam and I spoke up and said $200.00 for the stuff in the garage, site unseen. He yelled SOLD. I packed the stuff up into several trailers and van loads. This old gal was a real pack rat. I unloaded the majority of it to flea marketers, and put the rest in the back of the shop. Last week i was cleaning out the back end an saw a wooden suitcase like object. 4" thick, hard handle on top for caring it, 16" high, 24" wide. I opened it , and the front laid down like a table on hinges. It has a double ended paint brushe, a rack of old glass covered paint jars, some kind of colored discs in four colors. several stencil sets. blank sign papers,like the ones you saw setting on the counters and on the tables, some used, The table top was grafted out in measuring squares, with a spring loaded hinged board to hold items in place, Looked like you placed the paper under the board and lettered your sign. I think it is some kind of sign man's tool kit for going store to store selling signs to the owners. A painters book inside dates 1951. It is really a clever tool. Label and brochure inside call it Sign Boy Sign kit. It also has several rubber stamp letters. Maby i can post some pictures.
 
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