cut out dimensional lettering.

[Roderick Treece]

Just like to know what everyone else out there uses to make cut out dimensional lettering. Like 1" , 1 1/2" and 2". Also how are you painting it.

Thanks in advance.

[Danny Baronian]

Depends on thickness, but letters that size: acrylic, pvc, hdu, wood in that order best to least.

Carefully.

Danny

[Tyler Tim]

Geez I hope those are the thickness... In the past I've used foam to aluminum to cut letters out of. As far as paint depends on the material used. Nowadays's I'd make a DFX of whatever needed and send over to my Bud with the water jet and pick up the next day. So unless you know someone with a water jet cutter... I'd look at Gemini for them. They have many in stock colors and styles.

[Roderick Treece]

Sorry I should have been more specific. These letters would be from 1" to 2" thick and could be any shape and size within a 4' x 8'. For years I was using Gator Board with great success but on the last project the face on the front is delaminating after about a year outside.

I thought about HDU but the cost was to high.Now that I have to redo it the cost doesn't seem to bad.

[Tony Segale]

Rod,
Do you have more information...?

First, I determine where the letters are going to be used.. interior or exterior, 10' and above or below 10',
and what surface will they be adhered to.

Are you creating the letters from your design, hand lettering style, or are you using a standard font available.

HDU is my favorite, depending on the application. I've also used PVC and acrylic.

I prime raw HDU with Benjamin Moore Fresh Start water base primer, 3 coats, then finish with 2 coats Benjamin Moore Exterior Latex,
or Interior, depending on the application. You can use this same process for PVC, without the primer or one coat of primer.

I use to hand cut my HDU letters, now I use a fella near me who is an experienced manufacturer, using a computer router.
He can cut fine prismatic letters, with an outline back panel if needed. His business happens to have the same initials as my favorite primer and paint application, BM.

One more hint, he also happens to be one of the moderators of this forum....
any guesses?

[Tony Segale]

Look Kid,

I don't believe I would use Gator Foam outdoors.
I would not hesitate to use HDU, cost is absorbed by the client. Knowing the product will hold up for years is the first step to a good nights sleep.
You can use PVC with the same peace of mine.

[Danny Baronian]

Hi Rod,

I'm surprised the gator board didn't deteriorate sooner. I know they make a product with pvc faces, but didn't think the core would last that long.

As for paint, I've seen jobs Tony's done over the years, and the paint has proven to be a very good product.

Top Photo, the letters are 1 1/4" HDU, 14" tall, primed, gilded and mounted to 1/4" pvc, painted black w/ BM paint, by Tony.

Second photo, the letters are 3/4" HDU, 1/4" pvc backers painted black, and mounted to 3/4" HDU with a dibond backer.

Rustic Inn letters are 1" thick HDU, I think Mike primes with Chromatic and finishes w/ 1 shot, but need to double check. Letters are 12-14" tall, by Mike Jackson

These signs could conceivably outlast the business they're made for.

HDU's too expensive? Not anymore is it?! Welcome to the club.

Danny

[Billie DeBekker]

Second and third the Use of HDU and PVC. I recently started using 3/4 and 1" PVC for the higher density and the ability to hold more detail.(But a pain to sand) Since your on the Left Coast cost try to find Duna Corofoam this stuff in my opinion is superior to other Brands of HDU.

[Danny Baronian]

Corafoam is a great product. The dust is more like sawdust, and not as abrasive (?) as other brands.

Problem is Corafoam doesn't seem too excited to sell to the sign trade, at least from my observation. 2-3 years ago a local supplier handled a good stock of sizes, and never had a problem getting what I need.

That's changed in the last few years, and while some problems with supply may have to do with the economy, I think it's more than that. According to the suppliers the minimum order per thickness is a unit at a time, more than most want to stock, let alone of just one size.

The corafoam, as you've probably found, is much denser than other HDU, at the same time being less expensive. Their 15 lb is equlivant to 20 lb in other brands. Unfortunately, price increases for Corafoam recently have surpassed the cost of other brands.

Great product, bad West Coast supply.

[Mark Summers]

For HDU depending on the finish I want. Shiney: spray Chromatic Ti-Cote 1010
clear primer and spray with acrylic enamel. I'm inclined to believe though that anything with 'acrylic' to it doesn't need to prime. Have not done that with
automotive acrylic enamel yet. Luster finish: I would go right to an
acrylic latex with no priming.
Just did some PVC letters. Sand the face a bit for some toooth and shot it with acrylic enamel. No primer. Sides are more matt finish but look fine.

Mark

[Kevin Bergin]

Hi Rod,

These signs could conceivably outlast the business they're made for.

These HDU letters on 1" sculpted PVC backs unfortunately DID outlast the business they were made for. I get to enjoy them every day though- they hang in my shop.



Kevin

[Lee Littlewood]

Well, a lonely fan of Gatorfoam here. Maybe it has declined in quality, but I too used to use it for bigger cut-out letters on a moderate budget. These were cut, primed and painted with exterior latex and put up before 2000 (it could well have been 1990), so I don't have the files in digital form. The pictures are from 2010

CityMkt1.jpg (117.85 KiB) Viewed 26426 times

CityMkt2.jpg (121.26 KiB) Viewed 26428 times

Now if you have the chance to do some shaping, then HDU seems to be the cat's pajamas. We will usually have the letters routered at a local shop, then shape the faces by hand. We've been using 2 to 3 coats of HDU primer (FSC88 from Coastal Enterprises) and then either water-base paint or 1Shot. If we're going to gild we'll use slow size over the hard dried enamel - makes a lovely letter if it won't get touched.

ChangSmall.jpg (129.46 KiB) Viewed 26425 times

[Mark Summers]

Say Kevin, how bout posting a head on picture of your bear sign?

Mark

[Roderick Treece]

At this point I have contacted the rep for gatorfoam which is 3A Composites and placed a claim for the problem. It's just a waiting game now. They had alot of delam problems with gator foam so they now have Gatorfoam exterior . I'm not even going to try it until I find out if they are going to honor this claim.

I have moved on to HDU>

[David Slade]

This is off target, I know. I thought it might be interesting or helpful...
I see folk here in Japan using polyester resin mixed with what they call talc. I think the talc is really pulverized glass. It makes something like Bondo filler. You can adjust the thickness with how much talc you add. Dry time is adjusted with how much hardener. They ruff out the shape they want and then carve and sand it to finish, and paint it.
The resin is real cheap at the boat repair shop.

[Roderick Treece]

Over here we have a auto body primer that is polyester resin based that already ready has all the Talc like fillers in it making it very sandable.It works great over HDU.
Sad I didn't use that system on this job.

Hey Lee, Did you use white or black on that market job ?

[Kevin Bergin]

Say Kevin, how bout posting a head on picture of your bear sign?

Mark

Sure can, I'll fire up the camera and get some pics tomorrow.

[Kevin Bergin]

Hey Mark,

You can check out a bunch of pictures of the Cinnamon Bear sign here-

http://signdesignguy.com/2012/03/09/dim ... one-right/

Enjoy! Any questions, feel free to ask!

Kevin

[Mark Summers]

Thanks Kevin. I appreciate you taking the time.
Good looking sign for your wall.

Mark

[Lee Littlewood]

Roderick,
It was/is a dark blue, probably an acrylic. It matched the trim color of the original wall, before they repainted with the burnt orange. Maybe they repainted my letters while they were there, but I don't think so.