diy signwriting

[TimW]

My beautiful Victorian ornamental garden gate is nearly ready to go out the front of the Victorian Terrace. I had a thought that it would be great to paint the house name onto the gate rail in fine Victorian capitals. I doubt that I have the eye-hand artistry to do this well enough freehand, so is there a way to cheat a bit. If For instance I find the font and print it out how would I transfer that to the gate so that I can paint it with a fine brush? Or is there a way of making sticky templates from a pdf?

TW

[Martin Brown]

You can get laser printable clear labels in all sorts of sizes but I am not sure it will stand up to being outside even with a layer of UV protective clear varnish on top. Letraset would be one option.

[newshound]

This doesn't quite answer your query, but when I wanted to make a fake plaque to put on a sports trophy, I did something in Word as you suggest, then laminated it, then used double sided sticky tape to fix it to the trophy base. (This was a sort of joke, so it didn't need to be proper fancy engraving on metal).

Speaking of which, I'm not sure what size the engravers in places like Timpsons and other cobblers go up to, but an engraving in brass would look nice. Limited range of fonts but some can do script.

[newshound]

I had wondered about Letraset too, also some places do vinyl sticky letters in different fonts. And of course a modern commercial sign production place can do customised stuff for reasonable prices. There are also amateur artists who advertise their skills on local Facebook sites, you might get a reasonable quote from one of them (especially if you let them use the example to advertise). Someone might see that as a good business opportunity.

Another thought, an acquaintance of mine has a computerised "laser cutter" that works on thin plywood, they make up all sorts of arty stuff to sell at craft fairs. A suitable laser-engraved wood/plywood/MDF plaque, heavily varnished with proper outdoor varnish could look nice.

[John Rumm]

You can get transfer papers where you flip the image and print it, then iron it onto something else...

[Theo]

For the wheelie bin I laser cut a stencil out of card (A2 size because why not), and then spray painted onto the bin. Worked quite well, apart from paint runs where there was too much paint - should have done it on the flat.

Theo

[spuorgelgoog]

The technique is pouncing

You could also use carbon/transfer paper

Most signwriters (I have a friend who is one) would do it with cutout vinyl these days.

The nicest is of course gilding

Owain

[TimW]

Yes! Vinyl letters, of course! And they can be cut to order, cheap and simple either as letters or as a painting stencil - perfect! Ta!

TW

[tabbypurr]

Pouncing is the traditional way. I find just laying down a grid is usually enough guidance

NT

[Thomas Prufer]

Print the mirror image with a laser printer sometimes there's a driver setting that allows that, or use a gimp/photoshop). Tape paper to substrate. Rub back of paper with a rag dipped in lacquer thinner.

Some toner will transfer to the substrate, enough to guide a painting hand.

(It may wrinkle or dissolve the paint already there, so beware and test beforehand.)

Thomas Prufer

[michael adams]

Print it on heavy paper. Turn it into a stencil by cutting around the edges with a craft knife or similar not forgetting "cross pieces" to hold the stencil together.

Attach to the gate with tape using plenty of masking. Then just *lightly" spray through the stencil with a contrasting colour paying particular attention to the edges. This faint image can then act as a guide for a proper outline to be painted and filled in. Which is why the width of the cross pieces won't be crucial provided you place them along straight edges wherever possible.

michael adams

...

[Jonathan]

I did it by printing what I wanted on paper and then traced it heavily onto the wood with a biro, which indented it enough to paint.

Jonathan

[John Rumm]

Might be worth noting that Rutlands were promoting a router pantograph on special offer this morning. Basically used for tracing an image for cutting into wood.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Can you not find brass etc letters in the correct size/font? And paint those? Alternately, water jet cut sheet metal is surprisingly cheap these days.

[TimW]

An aesthetic judgement - that it might be historically appropriate to paint the letters directly onto the gate and not use a plaque or metal letters. Across the road is the church and the victorian restoration included painting texts on the walls - 'Go, And Sin No More' over the door as you leave fi, in a handsome gothic revival script.

TW