After 10+ years in the sign trade I find myself up against a problem I never anticipated. A customer requested outside wall mounted plaques at their office complex. They wanted polished brass or plated frames with acrylic panels and vinyl graphics. I said no problem without having provided this framing to anyone previously. Then I couldn't find a source for the frames. Does anyone have a source for custom sized framing of this type? Or does anyone know if framing from any frame shop would work for this application? I'm not sure I trust what frame shop operators tell me in this regard. You guys I trust.
Posted by VICTORGEORGIOU (Member # 474) on :
Phil, this is partly a bump and partly an attempt at an answer.
The problem with brass is, it tarnishes like crazy, and if you put a regular clear coat on it, it looks good for a few years til the clear coat burns off, then it looks really bad.
US Sign located in the Northeast, I don't have their info here, makes pan letters coated with titanium. They look gorgeous and they won't tarnish. I have had them make letters from my line art and they turned out great. You might call them to see if they can make you a frame.
There's an outfit here in Sacramento called AFI, short for Architectural Fabricators. If you can design it, they can build it. We have done a couple of signs, one using polished sheet brass and another using sheet copper and sheet brass. Both of them were spectacular. Architect said he expected it to tarnish. It was his job so we did it.
Another approach we have used is plating. We had two or three jobs where it was necessary to make mismatched bronze letters match. You take them all to the plater and he just plates them all to a uniform finish. The fellow here in Oakland CA looks to be 1000 years old and knows how to plate darned near anything to any kind of fimish. I'll bet if you poke around your valley a bit, you can find a plater locally.
I've never tried plating kits, but I have seen gold plating kits sold for what seemed like reasonable prices at the time. Gold won't tarnish and will look great.
Also, Crazy Jack worked for AFI for quite a while. If he reads this post he might be able to offer some advice.
Hope this rambling is helpful. Vic G
Posted by Dan Streicher (Member # 4515) on :
There is also a company here (Portland Oregon) called Architectural Metal Crafters they also own a sign company that is at the same location here;s their #(503) 557-7686 but you may also try Gemini letters I am 99% certain that they do brass casting for plaques you could have them made with just a frame surrounding a slightly lower and smooth area inside of the "frame" and apply your acrylic or whatever other signage the customer wants with VHB or sylicone...just a couple of ideas
