Welcome to The Hand Lettering Forum!
This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.

Vault Door Restoration

Posted Images from various artists

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

Post Reply
Dan Seese
Posts: 324
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:29 pm
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Contact:

Vault Door Restoration

Post by Dan Seese »

I'm working on a 1910 courthouse historic restoration project. Part of it involves restoring a couple of vault doors. Some of the doors are in near-mint condition. A couple of them were covered with white latex paint. The contractor has removed the paint and would like me to restore them, retaining as much of the original lettering & striping as possible. I'll include photos of one of the good doors and a close-up of one of the damaged doors.
Some paint has been removed down to the metal. In some areas there are simply chips of paint missing. The overall black finish has a weird texture that almost has a "glue-chipped" appearance which I assume resulted from the doors being painted over for years.
I've done some site-testing. Determined that 18kt gold was used on the lettering with a 2-toned drop-shadow; a metallic gold bronze paint was used on the main stiping with a transparent ivory for some of the decorative embelishments in the ornamentation. Matching the black will be a real challenge. The chipped areas also create an uneven surface which might need sanding (maybe filling & sanding) to feather it out before painting. They would like the entire thing cleared at the end to help protect it (which would be needed for the 18kt gold touch-up anyway.) I also expect that the clear coat should help to unify the "glue-chipped" texture to a more even sheen.
Has anyone here had experience in this area?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
Overall view of "near-mint" vault door
Overall view of "near-mint" vault door
Vault_1st_floor2.jpg (235.08 KiB) Viewed 13358 times
Attachments
Close up of door needing extensive restoration
Close up of door needing extensive restoration
Vault_NW_close.jpg (199.27 KiB) Viewed 13355 times
Close up of "near-mint" condition
Close up of "near-mint" condition
Vault_1st_floor1.jpg (232.48 KiB) Viewed 13355 times
Dan
"The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne."
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340 - 1400)

http://DanSeeseStudios.com
http://www.DanSeeseStudios.com/blog/
http://www.facebook.com/DanSeeseStudios
Tony Segale
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:20 am

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by Tony Segale »

Looks like a nice project, Dan.
I've lettered two before, but they were repainted and ready for my gilding and lettering.
Can help you, there, Marshall.

Send us before and afters, and maybe step by step.
much obliged.

Aho.
and he took that golden hair and made a sweater for baby bear.
http://www.tonysegale.com
http://www.tonysegale.wordpress.com
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by DAVE SMITH »

These are nice Dan keep us posted on what you do here.
Dave
GEET Faulkner
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:35 pm
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Contact:

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by GEET Faulkner »

Dan... we have a nice "sister vault" down here in Cripple Creek...
Com'on down and check it out... We'll grab a sandwich!

http://www.goldrushsigns.com/CCPVault

Thanks to Cat Kennedy for letting me know about this post.
Dan Seese
Posts: 324
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:29 pm
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Contact:

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by Dan Seese »

Hi GEET,

Good to hear from you.

The vault you linked to there is a beauty. Obviously done by the same artisan but a step-up in quality from the ones I'm working with. I do have 4 vault doors in very good condition that I can reference at the same courthouse where the damaged ones are located, but then I would miss out on sharing a meal together with you!

If I'm down your direction I'll give you a ring. Otherwise, the invitation is mutual if you're in the Fort Collins area. (The courthouse, though, is in Sterling - another 2 hours to the east of me.)

Very nice pinstriping on your web site, by the way. I'm really not a striper and if there were a lot of striping to be done on this job I'd probably give you or Joe Broxterman or someone in the area a call to handle that. But I think that portion of the job will be minimal as it is not a complete "make-over". Thanks for chiming in and sharing the sister vault. There were a lot of these Diebold vaults around but from the photos I've seen, there appears to have been one in-house journeyman sign painter/striper.

I haven't gotten much help in this post with technical how-to info, but that's OK. I'll figure it out. Just thought I'd see if anyone had experience with this as I don't want to mess up an artifact that has some historical significance. (I always hate it on the Antiques Road Show when someone has had a beautiful antique botched by an amateur restoration.)
Dan
"The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne."
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340 - 1400)

http://DanSeeseStudios.com
http://www.DanSeeseStudios.com/blog/
http://www.facebook.com/DanSeeseStudios
GEET Faulkner
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:35 pm
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Contact:

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by GEET Faulkner »

Thanks for the nice compliments!

Technical Stuff.....

The vault I sent is at the C.C. Jailhouse Museum. It has been " ? professionaly cleaned ? "
In an attempt to preserve it. The wrinkly stuff you speak of can be many substances,
i.e. varnish applied some time later as an attempt to preserve, minor fire or heat damage,
even random liquid like wax, blood or Col. Sander's secret recipe.

The best way to clean is to pick a "safe" spot and start with the least caustic cleaners
and work your way up. 409 and windex can really get you in trouble fast, I'd skip over them
completely.

The "Blistered Areas" can be repaired to almost undetectable....
Matching the color and lustre is tricky but can be done.

Histerical Preservation can be real tedious!

Charge accordingly and have fun!
John Lennig
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu May 13, 2004 10:53 am
Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Contact:

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by John Lennig »

beauty work, all
not anything to add, cept, "Hi Geet", and, always wonder about that backslant lettering??

seep safe

John
"You spelled it wrong!"
GEET Faulkner
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:35 pm
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Contact:

Re: Vault Door Restoration

Post by GEET Faulkner »

Back Slant ????
That's a lefty signwriter !
Bahahahahahahahahahahaah
G :mrgreen: :mrgreen: T
Post Reply