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Re: food safe neon coating

Posted By: SVP Neon Equipment
Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2013, at 11:18 a.m.

In Response To: Re: food safe neon coating (H.Erickson)


> worth a try , it would cost quite a bit to
> fill a dip tank with whatever Everbrite was
> using.

> I have heard of some neon shops spraying
> tubes with aerosol translucent paint to
> achieve the look the beer sign manufactures
> get with dipping , to get the look of real
> Ruby Red or any of the classic colors. Have
> not tried this myself,,,yet.

> I would stay clear of the electrodes , like
> you said.

I will add my $0.02.

In the early 80's I was making all kinds of "unusual colors". Purple and lavender were a couple of my favorites (long before purple was introduced to the industry), and I even did brown one time, though that was not as good of a color as you might think. I would lay out the glass face up on saw horses (not a table top), connect it to a conventional transformer and spray it with the type of translucent paint that is used for plastic sign faces (several brands). A word of caution here: Don't spray it by trying to follow the neon around. You will end up with thick and thin spots. Spray it like you would the hood of a car; back and forth in an even over-lapping pattern. The reason to have the glass lit is because the more coats of paint you put on, the darker it gets. So this way you can see the depth and darkness of color as you go along. Be sure to thoroughly clean off the glass with solvent before painting. After painting you have to be similarly careful when handling and mounting as you would with the "made for neon" dipping paint as it will easily scrape off the glass. But once mounted and left alone, it will last for years.

Regarding the dipping paint, you do not need to fill a big tank. All you need is enough to pour over the face of the glass. If the back is going to be dipped to block out, it doesn't matter if the back doesn't get coated with color. I have known a few shops who have done this with good results (or at least as good as you can get with this stuff). They set the piece to be painted in a tray only so they can reclaim the paint that runs off. Again, thoroughly clean the glass before painting.

Mark


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