I made this sign on June 30, 2003 and hung it on our shop wall. Last Friday, I show it off to a client, and egg on my face, the gold is sprinkled with tiny brown spots.
What happened? The sign was never outdoors. Never in sunlight. The sign is HDU with latex paint and SignGold on top.
[ September 01, 2003, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: Dave Draper ]
posted
Last Friday was August 29, 2003. (2 days before you made the sign.) So the problem is likely something to do with a malfunction of your time machine. Which brand of time machine do you have and is it still under warranty? I think most of them are warranteed for +/- 500 years.
Edit>>>this reply isn't going to make a lick of sense now that Dave has changed the date he made the sign. Not that it made all that much sense in the first place.
[ September 01, 2003, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
I never clean a fresh layer of latex paint with ANYTHING before applying SignGold. The latex was dry for at least 24 hours.
I don't think its a cleaning / chemical problem.
And, these "freckles" are not on top, cause I can't scrub them off.
If it keeps freckling and then tunrs green...then that can only mean one thing....and I don't know what that is.....hmmmmmm...but it hasn't turned green yet.
Cheap gold rings will sometimes do this also. I wonder if the gold is not as pure as they claim?
posted
I was out of town this past weekend, or would have responded sooner.
If I read this correctly...you laid the SignGold directly over latex? If this is the case, the "freckles" could also be referred to as "not reading the directions".
You can't lay SignGold directly over latex, as the latex acts as a wick for moisture. The freckles are more than likely moisture based contaminents that have "wicked" up between the gold and the Tedlar.
Secondly, the gold is 22 karat. It's everything that SignGold says it is.
Third, the reason you probably wouldn't have had this problem when gilding in a traditional manner, is that the size would have doubled as a waterproofing behind the gold, and the gold isn't "trapped" beneath a material, like Tedlar.
The answer..is if you ARE going to use latex bases or stain, you have to seal the area where the SignGold will be placed, with something waterproof. The company's recommendation is West System Epoxy. I have also had good luck personally with 1Shot.
I wish I could say the freckles were going to go away, but chances are, they'll actually get worse or increase in frequency.
What was that old saying about when all else fails, read the instructions?
Keep on keepin' on.
Brian Briskie
Posts: 465 | From: / | Registered: Jan 2000
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If anyone ever has any questions regarding SignGold products, I encourage you to take advantage of our tech line, (585) 415-7496, Mon-Fri 8-5:30.
W.R....just for the record, SignGold is not "sandwiched" in plastic, it's Tedlar, a PVF substrate that is embossed from behind (to create the pattern), afterwhich 22 karat gold is vaporized and adhered from behind to that embossed surface. Finally, it's backed up with an adhesive.
With a 10-14 year outdoor life, it can often outlast even the best surface gild on commercial vehicles and other "high wear" surfaces. I've been laying gold for almost 25 years, and regardless of your gilding skills and how well you clear a job, very few traditional gilds will hold up the way SignGold does, especially on the aforementioned vehicle applications.
It was in fact, the gilding community that first embraced the product line...
From a business standpoint, I still run a fairly busy shop here in western New York, and I charge MORE for SignGold than I do for a traditional gild. Why? Because rather than tying up my customer's vehicle for 2-3 days, I'm only keeping it 1 day, if not a half day. Additionally, they don't have to have me come back and maintain any gilding after 5 - 6 years...they don't have to worry about maintaining it all at in fact. That's a convenience that they are willing to pay for.
I still lay gold every month, the "old fashioned" way, and I'll be the first one to tell a customer if gilding the traditional way is a better option than SignGold. But even when gilding, a certain set of proceedures has to be followed, or the gild will fail in some respect.
W.R....Dave's problems didn't occur because he was using some "new fangled" product (SignGold's been on the market 10 years now in fact), Dave's problems arose through a simple oversite. The same thing can happen in ANY aspect of this trade, or life in general.
And isn't it ironic, that you posted your opinion using one of those "new-fangled" computers, as opposed to using smoke signals or a carrier pigeon.
Not all technology is bad W.R.
Keep on keepin' on,
Brian Briskie
Posts: 465 | From: / | Registered: Jan 2000
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