Another,"bein' in th right place at the right time posts.

[knife7knut]

I would like to start by thanking all those who sent me birthday greetings yesterday;makes an old geezer feel good!
So after a pretty much sleepless night I got up early(for me)this morning,made coffee and breakfast and headed out to Jackson(about 40 miles away)to repair some stripes on a couple of cars. The good part was the two shops were less than a quarter mile apart. The bad part was the roads hadn't been salted yet and the driving was a bit less than enjoyable.
Got there and was working on the first car when the second shop called and said the car wasn't finished yet and hoped I hadn't left home yet. They said it would be ready tomorrow afternoon if I could do it then.I said yes and finished up the one I was working on. Not a total loss for the day.
Stopped on the way home for some food for my bride and was going to stop at a friend's antique shop as I hadn't been there in awhile but figured the food would get cold so I passed on that.
Got home and after eating took a quick nap and then had to go back out to get new wiper blades for the car and pay a couple bills. On the way back home something told me to stop in one of the local antique stores. They usually don't have anything in the way of knives but I figured what the heck;I'm going right past it might as well stop.
Inside I did find a couple knives;an Imperial money clip knife and an unmarked bar knife.Nothing special but I liked them so I bought them. While walking down the back of the store I spied a familiar looking case on a table.Went over and opened it;looked inside;closed it back up and walked to the front of the store. Asked the owner if she could do any better on the price and she replied,"Just the usual 10 percent for cash". I didn't argue;just hauled out my wallet and paid her and walked to my car with my prize.
The case was in fact and old sign painter's kit and it was FULL of lettering and striping brushes! Now to the average person their usual response is:"So what?" To a sign painter this is gold! Back home I'm taking inventory and there are just shy of one hundred lettering brushes of all sizes plus ten striping brushes;a couple of which have never been used.Add to that a couple of gilder's tips,a couple bottles of gelatin capsules(for doing gold leaf on glass)strainers.layout pencils;pounce wheels and other goodies.The case is in excellent if a little dirty condition.
So what is something like this worth? In monetary terms the lettering brushes probably average about $10 EACH(!);the striping brushes $12 to $15 each;the pounce wheels(4)about $15 each and the gilder's tips about another $15 to $20 each.
My cost for the entire thing was $31.50 plus tax;marked down from $35!Bear in mind this is what I would have to pay if I went to the brush company and bought them.
I will spend some time cleaning out the preservative in most of the brushes and checking out how they work and they will go into my regular kit and see some action.
One thing I also found in the kit was a couple of transfer lettering decals with the name,"Hamilton Signs Riga Michigan" on them. This should be easy to check out as I have a good friend who lives there(a very small town)and it is only about 25 miles from me.
So here are some pictures of my self purchased birthday present.

[treefarmer]

That was a great find! Had no idea brushes were that expensive ( looks like there are a bunch of them in the box). That just made your birthday that much better.
Treefarmer

[FRJ]

Nice find, Ray.
Happy Birthday!
It's so nice to find something like that on your birthday especially when it's right in your wheelhouse.
I think I can smell the oils from here.

[herbva]

Very cool story and a great find for you! I really like the part about "something told me to stop". That sends chills up my spine!

[1967redrider]

A nice belated birthday present, Ray!

[knife7knut]

Thanks for the birthday wishes and the kind words. I just finished inventorying the contents and here are some pictures.I checked the Mack Brush website to get an idea of their prices.They are the place to go to for sign painter's equipment;especially brushes.They make many styles of brushes right at the factory in Jonesville Michigan. The going rate for quills as of today(and there are many sizes available)range anywhere from $9.81 to about $30.60.Striping brushes average about $15 each now.I didn't see the gilder's tips on the site but I thought they made them.
There was a total of 87 brushes:54 lettering quills;23 lettering brushes,and the two gilder's tips;4 pounce wheels,and some miscellaneous items.The difference between lettering quills and brushes is a quill is brush hair inserted into a plastic ferrule and wrapped with wire to hold the hair in place and that assembly is slid onto a wooden handle whereas a lettering brush has hair crimped into a metal ferrule and attached to the handle. Most sign painters prefer quills as they seem to perform better than the metal ferruled brushes.I use both types depending on the job.
As an aside some time ago I sold an identical case to a fellow artist for $125 and that was an empty case.
I will try to explain the tools included.
#1 is a group of pounce wheels.They are used to trace a drawn pattern by punching small holes in the paper.The pattern is then taped to the surface to be painted and a small pad filled with talcum powder is patted(or pounced)over the perforations;transferring the design to the work. The pattern is removed and the design painted on the surface following the marks.
#2 is a 2 inch wide brush with very soft hair(actually Siberian squirrel hair;I'll explain later)that is used to gently remove any gold leaf that is not supposed to adhere to a surface.
#3 is two transfers that were in the box;apparently they were used to mark the person's work.
#4 is chalk which is used to lay out lettering;gelatin capsules which are melted in hot water and the mixture spread on a window so that the gold leaf will adhere to it and a spatula for mixing paint.
#5 Is a gilder's tip.The brush hair is rubbed on a surface to create static electricity and then to pick up the very thin sheets of gold leaf to apply to the surface. The gold cannot be handled any other way because it is so delicate.
#6 is strainers for straining the sizing to eliminate any lumps in the mixture.
#7 & #8 is a bunch of lettering brushes of many sizes. Many are made in France and Germany. The hair in them and the other brushes is called wolinska which is the hair from a Siberian squirrel.This particular type of hair provides the proper stiffness for a lettering and/or striping brush.One of the reasons the brushes are so expensive is the squirrels cannot be raised in captivity and have to be trapped.As a result the scarcity of the hair drives up the prices.
#9 is a razor scraper.
#10 is a group of striping brushes commonly called "sword stripers" due to the shape. The hair in them is culled from the base of the tail of the squirrel where it is the longest and of the proper stiffness.These brushes hold a tremendous amount of paint for their size. A properly loaded brush with the paint at the right viscosity and you can pull a line down the length of an average car without reloading the brush.The best striping brushes today will cost about $30-$35 each.Properly cleaned they will last a lifetime. I have some that are nearly one hundred years old and they still work fine.
I hope I haven't bored you with my ranting;but I am just really psyched about getting this kit.

[royal0014]

Sounds like you near 'bout stole that outfit ....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

[jmh58]

SCORE!! Way to Go Ray!!!
John

[bighomer]

x10 .

[FRJ]

I hope I haven't bored you with my ranting;but I am just really psyched about getting this kit.

I thought it was very interesting.

[knife7knut]

An update on the info about the original owner of the sign kit I bought.
I contacted my friend Dan who lived in Riga and gave him the info I had and he did some checking. He found an obituary for a Robert Hamilton that was a sign painter from Riga.I read the obituary and found out he was quite the person.
Born in 1921 he served in WWII as an Army Ranger with Merrill's Marauders from 1942 to 1945.after the war he worked for a couple of different companies making signs and such and had his own sign shop out of his house as a second job. He passed away in 2011.
I will make a copy of the obituary and put it inside the box and display it along with my other old sign painter's kits(I have several).
One really strange thing is Dan's youngest son just bought a house almost directly across the street from where Mr. Hamilton had his sign shop and home!

[Colonel26]

What a neat thread and a great find!

I missed the birthday thread, so let me add my belated best wishes to the others! Happy belated birthday!

[doglegg]

Thanks for the follow-up information. Interesting man.