Black and Brass Sign

[Hitch]

I have gotten myself a little project...
My great great Grandfather was amongst other things, a painter and sign writer.
Sorting through some stuff earlier, I found a very aged sign of his, It appears at first glance to be brass, with possibly black lettering, the brass has been carved out to around 0.5mm and the remnants of possibly paint remains in the letters.

Its a real shame that someone has cut the corner off of it at some point. There is enough meat on the plaque to trim it back slightly, and reshape the corners.

Due to the reshaping and how far gone some of the letters are, I plan to restore it to 'as new'

What paint would be best for the job? Something that will go very hard, so I can flat any excess paint off of the letters, and will polish back to a nice shine...Im thinking the proper solvent based Humbrol enamel...?

 

[Welderpaul]

Can't you weld a piece back on - keep it all a bit more original?

Got a photo?

 

[cumbriasteve]

I would have though cellulose would have been best for flatting back and polishing although I am not up to speed with today's paint products.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I use the black gloss Humbrol enamel for re-touching machine plaques - with no photo I can only assume it's similar. It's a little bit thick out of the tin but thins well.

 

[Wallace]

I have an old CNC engraving machine I'm learning to use and looked into this, there are paints, waxes and finishes specifically for the purpose but there are so many available it's a bit of a minefield so I have avoided buying anything as yet. So far I have had good results with Humbrol Enamel as Dieselkid suggests, Halfords Brushing Enamel and their High Temperature Engine Paint which I tried baking on one plate to get a crisp edge on the sunken letters.

 

[BarrieJ]

I have gotten myself a little project...
My great great Grandfather was amongst other things, a painter and sign writer.
Sorting through some stuff earlier, I found a very aged sign of his, It appears at first glance to be brass, with possibly black lettering, the brass has been carved out to around 0.5mm and the remnants of possibly paint remains in the letters.

Its a real shame that someone has cut the corner off of it at some point. There is enough meat on the plaque to trim it back slightly, and reshape the corners.

Due to the reshaping and how far gone some of the letters are, I plan to restore it to 'as new'

What paint would be best for the job? Something that will go very hard, so I can flat any excess paint off of the letters, and will polish back to a nice shine...Im thinking the proper solvent based Humbrol enamel...?

Your grandfather would have used signwriters' enamel, still available in a wide range of colours and specifications, try:

http://www.stonehouses.co.uk/index.php/signwriting-pinstriping/signwriting-paints.html

 

[fixerupper]

Sounds like a great project ...got any photos ?

 

[Hitch]

Can't you weld a piece back on - keep it all a bit more original?



Got a photo?

I did contemplate that, but being probably 100 years old I wondered about the makeup for colour matching anything I let into it.