Raised letters for outdoor sign

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jssussex@gmail.com
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Raised letters for outdoor sign

Post by jssussex@gmail.com »

Trying to determine material to use to cut custom letters and logo for a sign. 3/4 thick x 2 to 4 inches tall
I've not cut letters in outdoor material to mount to a sign but I've carved HDU sign material and acrylic and polyethylene.
Is there a best practice to mount them to an existing double sided sign? The wood panel is already installed. The customer wants to paint/mount the letters himself.

- Letters must be paintable
- customer is willing to lmount through the front of the letters and fill and paint them.

Exterior letter material - MDO, HDU sign board, plastic, vinyl
Questions / what have I missed?
Any info would be appreciated
.
Jim

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ChrisInEstes
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Re: Raised letters for outdoor sign

Post by ChrisInEstes »

Sounds like a perfect job for HDU. It's easy to paint, it holds paint well, it doesn't expand & contract too much with temperature changes, it'll hold up to sun and weather after the customer does a bad job of painting the first time, then never paints them again.

In my 25 years of sign making, I've never had HDU fail due to weather or poor maintenance.

Chris
Aspire 9.5 - FlexiEXPERT 11 - Vytek Rebel 4' x 8' - 5HP Perske Spindle

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jssussex@gmail.com
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Re: Raised letters for outdoor sign

Post by jssussex@gmail.com »

ChrisInEstes wrote:Sounds like a perfect job for HDU. It's easy to paint, it holds paint well, it doesn't expand & contract too much with temperature changes, it'll hold up to sun and weather after the customer does a bad job of painting the first time, then never paints them again.

In my 25 years of sign making, I've never had HDU fail due to weather or poor maintenance.

Chris
Chris;, what do you use to prime the hdu so it takes paint and leaves a smooth finish.? And what do use if there's a defect that needs filling? Do you glue or screw the letters to the sign?
Thanks]

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ChrisInEstes
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Re: Raised letters for outdoor sign

Post by ChrisInEstes »

These days, I use Kilz Premium waterborne primer. I usually go over that with high end "latex" house paint. If I need to fill a hole, I use whatever outdoor rated filler I have at the time. I don't offer a glass smooth finish on HDU, so the Kilz Premium & house paint work great for me. Technically, HDU doesn't need primer, but I've always primed it.

Most of my HDU signs are from a single piece of HDU and have a routed background, which gives them raised letters & decorations. For mountable individual HDU letters, I route them upside down, and machine holes for mounting studs. I have a vinyl cutter/plotter, so I use the same hole pattern to plot the hole locations for a drill pattern.

I have screwed through the face of HDU to mount, and just painted the screw heads the same color as what they're screwed through. They've been far enough away from view that the customer didn't wasn't to pay to have it blind mounted, or to have face screws hidden.

Chris
Aspire 9.5 - FlexiEXPERT 11 - Vytek Rebel 4' x 8' - 5HP Perske Spindle

Mirion
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Re: Raised letters for outdoor sign

Post by Mirion »

I like to use PVC board that I get at the lumber yard. It is 3/4 thick and comes in varying widths. It cuts like butter, it is weather proof and takes paint well.

Image

Here is the cutter I use to get the rounded over edge.

Image

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