posted
A recent thread involving mahlsticks went in a wacky direction to say the least. I always think of some older craftsmen that I knew, when I hear a mahlstick mentioned. The majority of the participants on the recent thread really aren't aware of what a mahlstick is and what it is used for. Even those of you that may still use a brush, may not realize the true function of a mahlstick. Bear with me, as I pay respect to some oldtimers and try to explain.
The example is for a right handed person.
A Mahlstick is more than a stick to keep your hands off the wet paint or to run long vertical lines. In actual fact, the mahlstick works very much like your plotter. The blade is held at an exact distance over the surface of the vinyl, and the blade then travels back and forth and the material passes underneath. If you were to place the left side of the bar, that the blade slides on, in your left hand, and leave the right hand side anchored, you would have the same principle of the mahlstick.
In other words, a mahlstick is about 30 inches long and and the right end that has a ball that rests on the surface. The left hand is toward the left end of the mahlstick and lower than the right. (The example is for a right handed person.) You rest your right hand on the mahlstick about a foot from the ball on the right end. You adjust the distance from the ball depending on the size of the lettering. Now the trick is to keep the very tip of your brush touching the surface with your right hand, and with the left hand you can pull away from the surface or push toward the surface, to vary the distance from the surface, and with your right you make the strokes, so that the tip of the brush is just touching. It is not easy and it is like rubbing your tummy and patting your head, it takes practice.
When it is done right, you can get flowing scripts, razor sharp roman, and true block lettering, to perfection.
Now, I never mastered the mahlstick, but I remember and respect some oldtimers that could do it with elegance. Next to a brush, it is the oldest tool of the signwriters trade. Michelangelo, used one on the Sistine chapel, Norman Rockwell used one on all his paintings.
Someone used an example that his boss said never to use a mahlstick again. That boss obviously never knew a true craftsman.
I promise I won't respond about mahlsticks anymore, but I hope that someone will appreciate the history about the trade, and realize what a mahlstick can do.
It is hard to try and explain, but this is the best I can do. I really enjoy lurking here. Bob Nugent
-------------------- Bob Nugent Hotrodsonline.com Gainesville, GA 30506 hotrod@hotrodsonline.com Posts: 46 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Mar 2003
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-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror cause I get better loking each day. To know me is to love me I must be a hell of a man. Oh Lord it's hard to be humble but I'm doing the best that I can. I used to have a girlfriend but she just couldn't compete with all of these love starved women who keep clamoring at my feet.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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