Harvey's Helpful Hints
June 2007 Spoon / Burnisher Here’s an oldie but goodie – when erasing on your art paper and you want to smooth the paper for correction and re-writing but don’t have a burnisher handy just grab a spoon to smooth the paper for writing. Simple, but it works. Sharpening Broad Edge Nibs Sharpening a broad edge nib is simple with a Dremel Rotary tool with a sander attachment. Be very careful when touching the nib to the sanding tool – you’ll remove more of the nib than you want to as the r.p.m. is about 25,000. Just touch the nib to the tool, check with a magnifying glass (10x preferred), if it looks satisfactory turn the nib over and do the same to the other side, check again with the magnifying lens. If the tines are square use the buffing wheel to the nib in the same manner above. This will give you a very sharp nib for finer hairlines – far sharper than the factory. CAUTION AGAIN! Just touch the nib to the sanding tool or you might ruin the nib by taking off too much metal and check often with the magnifier. Sealing Wax To enhance the beauty of your envelopes use sealing wax and an initial or decorative stamp. Melt the wax by holding it over a candle flame using a teaspoon to catch the wax. Pour melted wax from the spoon directly onto the envelope flap – just enough wax to cover the size of the decorative stamp. Colored wax is available from some art supply stores or catalogs. Forgotten Nibs Have you forgotten some nibs and let them get rusty? You can save them by inserting them into a container filled with lemon juice, vinegar or oxalic acid. The acid will reduce the rust to the original metal and the residue can be cleaned off using a Dremel Rotary tool and polishing or fine grinding wheel. CAUTION: Don’t leave the nibs in the acid solution too long or they may become pitted and have to be discarded. Non Toxic Sizing A good, non-toxic size for Oriental paper: mix ½ tsp. methyl cellulose (wallpaper paste) with ¼ cup cold water. Set aside for an hour to thicken, then brush on the paper with a large brush and let dry. Rubber Cement Thinner Keep rubber cement thinner in the studio … it cleans fingerprints from photos, removes price sticker glue from tools, removes excess wax from paste ups, and 1000’s of other uses. It’s a good idea to divide your practice time into two parts: a. analytical practice (critiquing and perfecting letterforms). b. rhythmical practice (writing continuously and not stopping to correct a bad letter or mistakes). Melted Paraffin For a long lasting ornaments, decorations and centerpieces write on leaves, then dip them in melted paraffin. Waste Paper Recycle old telephone books by using them when you are applying glue or rubber cement. Place the paper you are gluing on top of the telephone book page. If you get glue on the book page simply tear it out and toss it away. Smooth Gouache Mix gouache 24 hours before using. This will allow the glycerin to evaporate and make it write and flow smoother.
|
