posted
What do folks out there use to paint on awnings? I've used Block Out and 1-Shot.
-------------------- Laurie Corl Same Day Signs 5327 Jacuzzi St. unit 2D Richmond, California 94803 Posts: 30 | From: Richmond, California | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
Click "search" up under the "new topic" portion, by the IM button. Make "sunbrella" your keyword. This question has been asked before, and you should be able to get some info easily. Myself, I avoid those like the plague. Love....Jill
Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I've been doing a little research on this topic lately. I was asked to letter an awning for a bookstore. I think I lost the job because of price, but I'm glad to learn what I did before getting into the job uninformed.
The awning is Sunbrella, Kelly green, and has been up awhile, but looks fairly new. When I went to test a piece of premium vinyl on it, I noticed a large amount of green dust on it. Not a little, and quite a deep green. I have no idea how that is. I was thinking of using the vinyl as a paint mask for plotter cut letters. I was hoping the premium grade had more tack. As it turned out, I changed plans, because I didn't want the dust interfering with the mask operation. So I decided to hand letter it. I went to the art store to get some Saral transfer paper, which is like carbon paper, only it leaves white lines, instead of dark. The Saral worked great on my test piece of Sunbrella, which I obtained from an awning shop. While at the art store, I decided to look over their artists brushes. I usually get my brushes elsewhere, but decided to look at theirs. They have quite a selection.
What I found, I was quite pleased with. It's a lot softer than a fitch, but angled the same way. It's a little stiffer than a lettering quill. I tried it on the awning material, and was very pleased with the results. I call it the soft fitch. It's just right for those in between jobs, where a fitch is too stiff, and a quill is too soft.
The one I bought is made of synthetic bristles. I want to go buy another one made of animal hair. I'm planning on making a new post about it then. Again, I was very pleased with the results. Over the years, every now and then a job comes up that is slightly textured, where these would work great.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Are you using Acrylic for both the base (same color as awning) and the letter color? or is the base some type of primer tinted? When the mask is removed, there is no problems with edges of the acrylic paint lifting with the mask?
I have been asked to letter on this material also and am glad to see the subject pop up again.
Pam
-------------------- Pam Eddy Niles, MI ple@qtm.net Posts: 460 | From: Michigan | Registered: Dec 2000
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I have used nothing more than One Shot for years and never had a failure ...if it is truely "Sunbrella" you'll find a need to double coat the letters ...the first coat will soak in a bit but usually never bleeds through.
The first lettering takes a little while but the second coat takes no time at all.
Good part is ...should you drip or spill you can remove the mistake with lacquer thinner without damaging the material and without staining (but remove it immediately)don't wait til your though. (mineral spirits can create an oil stain not visible till the awning has been up a while)
Another plus...because of the dense weave you can actually use masking tape for sharp corners and terminal ends. (brush away from the tape).
I use the paint "fat" (not much thinner) and apply it with a bristle fitch (large letters with a bristle cutter...small letter (under 3"" with a synthetic (stiff) artist brush either squared or angular.
You'll find this is much easier than you think and keep your prices up ...they are worth every dime you charge. Lettering on "sunbrella" takes about double the time alloted to do the same hand lettering on a slick surface.
Hope this helps!
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
posted
Sometime back in this discussion here, someone had a vinyl masking product made specifically for this function. Anyone use it or remember what it is, or claim it to be superior to the above mentioned methods?
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6713 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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The best stuff we've ever used. You don't use OneShot - you roll regular housepaints/acrylics. Saves times - saves money.
The mask cuts sharp corners - lays down easy - fairly stiff backer so sometime you don't even have to premask - peels easy and very, very little bleed.
While we've done what Glenn Taylor does - and David Harding does, this is better - faster - easier. Email them and ask for a sample - then try to get them to be Merchants here.
-------------------- Jay Allen ShawCraft Sign Co. Machesney Park, IL jallen222@aol.com http://www.shawcraft.com/
"The object of the superior man is truth." -Confucius Posts: 1285 | From: Machesney Park, IL, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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dido to what Jay said ... FabTac ... Great stuff ... sharp image.
They have easy to follow instructions. When you use the latex house paint, it won't pucker the fabric like 1 Shot. I have used both and like the latex best on Sunbrella.
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I use Fabtac nearly everyday but not with any of the above paints. I use screenink and most times it only requires one coat. Been doing this type of work for over 5 years now and no problems.
[ April 12, 2007, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: Miles Cullinane ]
-------------------- Miles Cullinane, Cork, Ireland.
From the sometimes sunny south of Ireland, Posts: 913 | From: Cork, Ireland | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
95% of the awnings I've painted are up on the building. I've looked at Glen's step by step before and think it would be fine for doing in the shop but a bit unweildy from a ladder.
-------------------- Laurie Corl Same Day Signs 5327 Jacuzzi St. unit 2D Richmond, California 94803 Posts: 30 | From: Richmond, California | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
I've been told about Fabtac but haven't tried it yet. I had plenty of untrustworthy cast vinyl to get rid of.
Pam, we use the same acrylic paint for the base coat and the final color. We use flat paints for the awnings. They look better to me. If I wait to the next morning to pull the mask and pull the mask away from the letters, it pulls off cleanly.
We use a #16 X-acto for clean up of any slightly ragged parts or drips. When dry, we scrape the paint off with the blade.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Fabtac is a great material to use for masking awnings. I just don't like having to keep more money tied up when I have plenty of calendared vinyl and spray adhesive lying around.
The main thing is to find what works best for you.
quote:Originally posted by Laurie Corl: 95% of the awnings I've painted are up on the building. I've looked at Glen's step by step before and think it would be fine for doing in the shop but a bit unweildy from a ladder.
It is.
I would dare say that 99% of the awning graphics we do are done inside the shop. I've only had one case where I had to do it on-site. It wasn't that much of a problem because it was just straight text. But, doing a large multi-color graphic just wouldn't do well. It would be a struggle to say the least.
posted
In our small town (your standard U.S. midwestern downtown square with the courthouse in the middle)just about every other store has Sunbrella awnings on aluminum frames. The Mainstreet program we have decided that was a look that was more in keeping with the appearance the town had around the early 1900's which some consider the heyday for downtowns such as ours.
I have a bunch of experience with these awnings and have had to paint over them when stores have changed and have had to paint several of them on site. I started painting them with 1 Shot using a pounce pattern, but moved to latex on a tip from an oldtimer who clained it helped eliminate excess puckering.
Now that's a challenge -- painting a moving target like an awning, blowing in the wind -- while shoppers dodge your ladder from the sidewalk below. I swear Sunbrella will suck the heaviest load of paint imaginable from your fitch.
A good gust of wind will carry a big old drip of paint right out of your brush. If that happens to you, DON'T try to wipe it up. It's there to stay. You can try to paint it out, but it will show when the awning gets wet.
If you can get to these awnings when they're new and before they go up, you'll be much happier. I think they look cool when they're new, but they look like crap as they weather. Some colors like yellow get dirty and moldy looking.
Since the Mainstreet program encouraged them around 30 years ago, most have been changed at least 3 times in our downtown area. I tell customers to not paint them, but maybe put the address on there instead, in case they go out of business. Sad to say that happens all too often.
Ironically these type of awnings replace the aluminum awnings the Mainstreet program didn't care for. Those awnings lasted forever, but they harolded the 50's - 60's era. Eventually that era will be in vogue, you can bet on it. The major setback to those awnings is they get really heavy with a snow load and have been known to pull the brick veneer away from the store fronts.
But, hey with global warming (this winter being the exception) we won't have to worry about snow loads and the quintessential aluminum awning that looked like the front grill of Dad's 50's Buick will be all the rage. Hahahahahahahh!!!!!!!!
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
We have done them both in the shop and on the jobsite. It's much easier done here. I charge about a 25% premium plus a dollar a mile additional for ones done on the job site. We're on good terms with several awning companies. If it is a fairly large job on location, I just pay them to bring the awning to us and reinstall it later.
Our jobsite ones use the same techniques as the ones we do in shop. We'll take a piece of scrap Dibond or MDO to hold behind the fabric to give a firmer surface to squeegee the mask on. The acrylic paint dries quite fast here in Texas and we can usually do it all in one trip, with a little bit of waiting. Often, the paint at one end of the awning is dry by the time we have moved the ladders a few times and painted to the other end.
If the job is close by and our schedule tight, we might do it in two trips.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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