Acrylic signs and the headaches that can go with them

[SigncoDFW]

I have made my fair share of acrylic office displays. They are my favorite types of signs simply because the finished result can be so rewarding but they are also the most painstaking in many instances. Take for instance this acrylic sign I did.

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It's nothing complicated. Black vinyl cut in reverse and applied to the back of a piece of 1" polished acrylic. The problem is every single blemish and impurity that may find its way underneath the vinyl will light up like a Christmas tree. Any experienced sign maker knows it can be a challenge to make sure vinyl is applied with absolutely nothing underneath but with these types of signs, it often warrants a redo which poses another issue. Removing the vinyl can lead to tiny nicks and scratches in the acrylic. Then you may find yourself buffing the scratch out which adds a significant amount of unnecessary labor. One tiny hair can lead to a complete nightmare. I am not able to create a clean-room environment so this happens more than I would like. Here are several other acrylic displays I have done. Most were issue free but others were not. Again, the results are definitely brag worthy but a pain to push out the door. Anyone have similar issues? I would love suggestions on how to solve.

 

[MikePro]

hinge & wet apply.
moisture kills the static. can even overuse your application fluid to flush the surface of your acrylic prior to setting the vinyl-down.

...and keep a clean area. I get smacked when I buff sign panels, especially recently-routed acrylic/aluminum with scotchbrite/sandpaper anywhere near our application table.

 

[GAC05]

Wear a hairnet and don't let your dog sleep on your layout table?

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Jester1167]

The biggest problem is the static charge inherent with Plexiglas. I clean the table with alcohol leaving is slightly damp. When I clean the surface of the of the plex I mist the table around it as well. Also make sure the back of the liner on the graphic is clean so you don't transfer anything to the plex.

 

[Z SIGNS]

hinge & wet apply.
moisture kills the static. can even overuse your application fluid to flush the surface of your acrylic prior to setting the vinyl-down.

also a clean room and don't expose anything untill your ready to apply.That is leave the mask on the plastic till your ready to apply

 

[SigncoDFW]

...

Wear a hairnet and don't let your dog sleep on your layout table?

wayne k
guam usa

Thanks for the helpful advice.

 

[SigncoDFW]

I am going to try that

The biggest problem is the static charge inherent with Plexiglas. I clean the table with alcohol leaving is slightly damp. When I clean the surface of the of the plex I mist the table around it as well. Also make sure the back of the liner on the graphic is clean so you don't transfer anything to the plex.

Thanks! I will give that a shot.

 

[fozzie]

The biggest problem is the static charge inherent with Plexiglas. I clean the table with alcohol leaving is slightly damp. When I clean the surface of the of the plex I mist the table around it as well. Also make sure the back of the liner on the graphic is clean so you don't transfer anything to the plex.

We also finish using an anti-static ion air gun (ours is a meech). We spray down everything, including ourselves, to help eliminate any contaminants and static.

 

[Techman]

chemical bath to polish acrylic is a life saver. That is how they polish plastic eye glass lenses to make them perfectly clear.

 

[Gene@mpls]

chemical bath to polish acrylic is a life saver. That is how they polish plastic eye glass lenses to make them perfectly clear.

Interesting- a google search doesn't reveal much. Can you elaborate or point us to info on this? Thanks Gene

 

[SigncoDFW]

Polishing

chemical bath to polish acrylic is a life saver. That is how they polish plastic eye glass lenses to make them perfectly clear.

I use this for polishing.

http://www.amazon.com/Novus-Polish-Plastic-Scratch-Remover/dp/B000J41VDM

 

[Gino]

I know you said you just purchased this company in an earlier thread, so while you might not feel comfortable doing it..... don't you think since 1966 and professing to be professionals, you might have people working there that can perform this task without a problem ?? Also, if you do so much of it, why wouldn't you invest in the correct tools or environment ??

Why not post pictures of the signs in question instead of always having us go to your website. If you wanna push your wares, think about signing up as a Merchant Member.

 

[synergy_jim]

I print them on the flatbed….

 

[SigncoDFW]

I know you said you just purchased this company in an earlier thread, so while you might not feel comfortable doing it..... don't you think since 1966 and professing to be professionals, you might have people working there that can perform this task without a problem ?? Also, if you do so much of it, why wouldn't you invest in the correct tools or environment ??

Why not post pictures of the signs in question instead of always having us go to your website. If you wanna push your wares, think about signing up as a Merchant Member.

First off, I bought this company but have been in this industry for 12 years so I do consider myself to be a professional. I have done a few hundred of these types of signs but have been plagued by a 10% redo rate which is standard for most sign shops.

Second, I am not trying to solicit my services to a bunch of people who also do what I do. Not a good use of marketing time. Linking my website was only to show off some other work that I have done. It obviously offended you and for that I apologize. Must be rough having to look at links from time to time.

I have done enough signs to know how to do them, I was just looking for some more knowledge and clarity on the subject. You have offered neither but I still appreciate the feedback.

 

[SigncoDFW]

I print them on the flatbed….

I printed some acrylic signs on a flatbed a while back but the ink wouldn't stick very well. We ended up redoing the whole job. Maybe it was a problem exclusive to that type of printer?

 

[Gino]

First off, I bought this company but have been in this industry for 12 years so I do consider myself to be a professional. I have done a few hundred of these types of signs but have been plagued by a 10% redo rate which is standard for most sign shops.

Second, I am not trying to solicit my services to a bunch of people who also do what I do. Not a good use of marketing time. Linking my website was only to show off some other work that I have done. It obviously offended you and for that I apologize. Must be rough having to look at links from time to time.

I have done enough signs to know how to do them, I was just looking for some more knowledge and clarity on the subject. You have offered neither but I still appreciate the feedback.

Sorry to have ruffled your feathers. I offered positive feedback in the way of... after your 48 years [1966] of being in this business, one would think you could afford the things you need, such as a clean room or at least a better controlled environment for your 10%. Perhaps, you could turn that 10% into only say.... 3.5%. That is the magic number for short comings..... not 10%. To me, that's better than trying to figure out how to keep doing the same thing over and over and still coming up with a 10% loss. That to me sounds silly. Sorry, but it does.

No, I'm not offended in the least. Just thought you'd like to become a Merchant Member, since many of your posts lean that way. Thought that maybe you didn't know you could do that and I only invited you to try. Again, sorry for trying to help you. I was not aware you were so easily upset. I'll try to be nicer to you in the future. Thank you for your time.

 

[SigncoDFW]

Sorry to have ruffled your feathers. I offered positive feedback in the way of... after your 48 years [1966] of being in this business, one would think you could afford the things you need, such as a clean room or at least a better controlled environment for your 10%. Perhaps, you could turn that 10% into only say.... 3.5%. That is the magic number for short comings..... not 10%. To me, that's better than trying to figure out how to keep doing the same thing over and over and still coming up with a 10% loss. That to me sounds silly. Sorry, but it does.

No, I'm not offended in the least. Just thought you'd like to become a Merchant Member, since many of your posts lean that way. Thought that maybe you didn't know you could do that and I only invited you to try. Again, sorry for trying to help you. I was not aware you were so easily upset. I'll try to be nicer to you in the future. Thank you for your time.

Must have misconstrued your reply. It seemed to imply I was trying to peddle my signs because I linked my site.

The big guys (Fastsigns, Signarama) have a 10% redo rate and that is how I have modeled my business. In fact, one of the big sign franchises near me had a 25%+ redo rate... 3.5% would be nice but we do a wide variety of signs so that would be a hard number to achieve. I used to work for this company and ended up buying it so I was the professional who did signs like this for them and have always had issues with this. I do have a "clean"ish environment but I only have 3000 square feet to print, cut, apply, and fabricate so it is hard to keep things clean and static free all the time.

The company is very old but has changed owners/names more than once so its longevity doesn't really reflect its success unfortunately. Anywho no hard feelings!

 

[Gino]

Yes, we usually reverse flatbed print also. That's the bee's knees. We do quite a bit of that and haven't had but a few errors in almost 5 years.

About 2 years ago, we did a few thousand of them for a university campus this way and had maybe a total of two go bad. Some remained clear, while some then had a flooded color over the print to indicate sections/areas of the entire campus. Vinyl applied is still done, but not too much anymore.

 

[TammieH]

Push the customer towards glass

 

[shoresigns]

Push the customer towards glass

Whoa, calm down there Rambo

 

[SigncoDFW]

Bahahahahaha :ROFLMAO:

To the OP...I feel your pain.

Question for you - do you have white ink capabilities?

Reason I ask...we do lots of acrylic plaques for a good customer of ours. I can't really go into details about all the materials used...but we do reverse print on clear then mount to acrylic with a laminator. Our laminator can't handle 1" acrylic, but there may be some out there that have a larger nip.

Regardless.... doing full panels rather than cut does increase the area that can attract dust etc...but the advantage is that if you do end up having to strip it, you're stripping one panel rather than a bunch of cut letters which as you mentioned can lead to scratching the acrylic.

And Tammie's suggestion about glass is a good one....we work with tempered glass just as much as we do acrylic and it is much more forgiving.

A couple things to think about.

I reverse print on clear, laminate onto acrylic, and overlay with white as white completes the color mixture. I can't print white but my laminator can handle 1 inch if I depress while the material is partially loaded. I have never worked with glass but it is something to think about for sure!