Gilding/Gold Leaf Signwriting/Sign Painting Lesson - Realtime hand lettering on 1940s Bus. 24 Carat 

Thanks

Thanks. French chalk works best as a resist, but baby powder can certainly be used in an emergency, although it may not work quite as well. Ordinary white chalk can also be used by crushing a few sticks into powder in an applicator made from a piece of muslin or mutton cloth (stockingette) tied into a pouch.

The only difference between enamel paint and actual gold size is that (after application) the paint will continue to dry at a steady rate until all the solvents have evaporated from it, whereas the size will begin to dry at a similar rate until it reaches a certain point, where it will effectively stop drying for an approximate period as specified on the tin eg. 1 hour/ 8 hours/24 hours etc. When using enamel as a size, therefore, it requires constant monitoring so as not to lose your gilding window. The enamel method was traditionally used for vehicles due to the fact that they needed to be out and on the road as quickly as possible. The oil size method would invariably add several days to this period of potential vehicular inactivity and the varnishing process could potentially prevent it from ever fully drying.

I served my time with "T. McCluney & Sons". They were originally based in Waring Street, Belfast, but by the time I had started my apprenticeship, Tommy McCluney was long gone and the company was working out of Ballyclare. Interestingly, it was a Holywood signwriter that first introduced me to the trade, via one of the first Youth Training Programmes, way back in 1982...his name was Fred McCracken.

@@JohnBoy-Signwriter Thank you, that's already some accurate information. I have an idea that my granda might have known Tommy, perhaps by the coincidence of names, and the family lived in Hollywood then; perhaps that's where the confusion arose. I heard all this from my Dad who was a terrific story teller but didn't regard details as important! Thanks again.