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I am addicted documenting most of the progress of the signs that I send out of my shop and take photos of the progression...so I figured I'd post one from back in the late summer... here ya go.
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4. Finished blasting with a first coat of brown...and that's my homemade grain frame. Works well for my budget $15 bucks.
5. Bluegill I cut out and formed with this stuff called 'dragonskin'. I picked a few sheets up at a Kayak outdoor shop. It is intended to be used to form foam for Kayaks and such I guess...works well with HDU.
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7. This is the lettering 'domed' with a 2 part epoxy I picked up at the hardware store. They use it to coat tables and such...take a bit of practice to work with but really gives a smooth surface to lay the leaf on. This is dry BTW.
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Finished...the bluegill was clearcoated to prevent ozidation of the leaf.
Oh and the casualty...always make sure the hoses are in good shape coming from your pot...this one stung...my hand was blue for a day or so. The hose ruptured and unloaded on my hand.
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Two thumbs up...(pun intended)...thanks for the photo documentation...I'm in the process of stringing an 8' grain frame I had built...do you know what gauge wire you used...looks pretty thick...the epoxy lettering looks fantastic...nice shape and color scheme...but not so nice thumb...ouch!
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I want to say it was like 16-18 gauge...can't recall right now...I eyeballed it at the hardware store and threw away the package. Yes the thumb was a big ouch. Thanks for the comments!
BTW...there are MUCH better ways to make a grainframe...I was in a time crunch and this worked...I'll make a better one with tension screws on both ends to tighten up the wires.
[ January 03, 2009, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: scott eckland ]
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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(isn't it a shame that the oval with 'the' didn't fit more nearly nested into the gap between the ascenders of the h & the d...I think I'd like to invent a doodad to go forwards off the top of the d a little, to remove some of that negative space to the lower right of the word 'the' )
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Good eye there! I probably could have pulled and pushed the kerning a bit to adjust for that...never thought of doing that. Still learning Now I can't stop looking at that! Ha!
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Hey, where you been? I have been wondering about you.
Very Nice Sign. Love the text
Was going through some '08 clean out on my desk and your name popped up on a piece of paper. I taped it to the side of my computer.
I will not be in on Monday but Tuesday morning I will.
Shoot me an e-mail if you will be around and what time is good for you and I will give you a call Tuesday.
-------------------- Sam Staffan Mackinaw Art & Sign 721 S. Nokomis St. Mackinaw City, MI dstaffan@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1694 | From: Mackinaw City, MI | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Sounds good Sam, I'll shoot ya an email. I should be in the shop most of Tuesday. I got busy the last few months with work and kiddos and just made my way back to the letterhead site again so it's good to be back.
Thanks for the comments folks! It's fun to see what other signmakers see when they look at a sign that I may have not seen!
Scott
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Scott....do you have any more specific details of your "Domed" technique? It is really cool! Is there any type of reaction with the HDU? Thanks! Rollie
-------------------- Rollie Eldred Ashtabula, OH
"Making the World Beautiful...One Sign at a Time!" Posts: 66 | From: Ashtabula, OH (Really Saybrook-on-the-lake) | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
let me see if I can dig up any more photos...and no there isn't any reaction with the HDU...the only problems I have is that once the epoxy starts to flow over the letters you'll get points where it will 'flow' over the edge and you kind of just have to wait to clean it up and patch up your paint a bit (typically tight corners and angles). I think I have some photos...in the meantime... Glosscoat this is what I have been using...I have a address sign I made for our home over 2 years ago and it has epoxy lettering. It faces West and gets some very hot months beamed on it throughout the summer. Hasn't damaged the epoxy at all. I say this b/c I am sure it isn't for outdoor use, but has seemed to hold up very well. And on the flipside we get into the below zero weather at times too. Looking for photos...be back...
Ok...back...here is a closeup of the epoxy being applied...the biggest hint is to make sure you mix it thoroughly otherwise it won't set...so make sure you stir it for a minute or so even if it seems done...you have about 10-12 working minutes before it starts to get too thick to flow.
I went down to the pharmacy in town and they gave me a bagful of the syringes too. I mix up probably 2 oz of both parts of epoxy (4 working ounces). I use the tip of the plastic syringe to work it over the letters. I used verigated leaf and it 'seems' to protect it from oxidation too, much like clearcoat. You can dome the lettering...and then apply gold on top of the 'dome' like I did on the other sign.
This is the finished sign for a friends gallery...not the colors I had recommended...I wanted to go with browns and blacks my friend/customer wanted the purples and such. Oh well. Good and bad news is that they just closed the gallery..I get the sign back...and I am going to repaint it and hang it up in the shop.
Hope this helps...It's a fun technique that Don Eckland, my uncle, shared with me.
[ January 04, 2009, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: scott eckland ]
-------------------- Scott Eckland Chelsea Signs web: chelseasigns.com email: scott@chelseasigns.com 734.475.9704 Posts: 198 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2002
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
$15 bucks.
![[For Your Information]](graemlins/fyi.gif)
Oh and the casualty...always make sure the hoses are in good shape coming from your pot...this one stung...my hand was blue for a day or so. The hose ruptured and unloaded on my hand.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Rolling On The Floor]](graemlins/rolf.gif)
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