Sign foam primer

Roderick Treece · Post by **Roderick Treece** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:55 pm

When I use sign foam I prime it with Evercoat feather fill polyester primer.I love the stuff but I have one problem and thats ,when you put it one ,spray or brush it's really hard to get it into the pours of the foam.Anybody use this material and have any sugestions?If youv'e never used this primer you should try it .

Roderick

www.customglasssigns.com

Jim Moser · Post by **Jim Moser** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:45 pm

That type of primer is hard to get it to flow into pinholes or pores of a material like sign foam. You might try a squeege or maybe a foam brush which will force the primer into the pores. I have had similar problems when putting clear over epoxied carbon fiber.....sometime just use my finger to push it into the pinholes..........

Jim

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:44 pm

Just a couple of notes....
18 lb foam is much finer and easier to paint than teh 15 lb material. It costs more, but is more dense and quicker to paint.

We use Chromatic High Viscosity Block Out White, something we keep in stock for priming our MDO. The game plan is to cover the pores solid and not have to worry about pressing paint into the pores. Once the first coat is applied, you can sand the small burrs off the surface, but don't sand through the layer of paint.

Mike Jackson

Roderick Treece · Post by **Roderick Treece** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 7:48 pm

Mike,
How does the cromatic sand and whats the drying time.Thats one thing about the feather fill,it sands great and is ready to sand in an hour.I'll try the 18 lbs next time.
Also if you learn to spary the feather fill on thick and slow at a low pressure it fills great .You can build it up fast and it all dryies because it' s catylized.

Roderick

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:25 pm

Roderick,
We have never had a spray booth, so spraying paint has not been much of an option. We normally let block out white dry all day...sometimes adding a second coat just before bed. It sands okay once dry. We often just use a foam roller and a 3/4" fitch.

I've seen some really high gloss finishes on foam letters, but we seldom felt compelled to finish cut out letters to that degree...same for our MDO panels.

Best regards,
Mike Jackson

Tony Segale · Post by **Tony Segale** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:47 am

I've used the Chromatic Primer as well, worked great.
Then I tried a primer that Mike (can't recall that last name right now, one of the original letterheads and was sign shop foreman at Six Flags park in Denver, CO, is it Reilly?) told me he was using....Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start water base primer. This primer is awesome. Dries hard, sands very well. Easy cleanup, no fumes.
Since using the BM Fresh Start, I have slowly begun painting a lot of my signs, including MDO with this primer and top coated with BM 25 year exterior latex house paints.