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Anyone Know What This Is- Failing Media

W

what the

Owner/op
I look over at a random sign and noticed a sign that was distroyed and hope to god This is not gatorboard / gatorplast because I have a job with this media. Is this the nature of gator material? I did notice it did have a foamy back. Maybe it is a different media other than gator-
 

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rossmosh

New Member
I've never trusted Gatorboard/Ultraboard for exterior use, but plenty do. The issue here is they painted it black. Once they did that, failure was kind of inevitable.

I'd say toss the letters in the garbage and swap them to 1" PVC.
 
Stella_FB700

Stella_FB700

New Member
what the said:
Thanks Stella,
Is Intecel what you are suggesting? What supplier do you use for this?
Thanks so much!
Amber
Click to expand...

Hi Amber,

Yes! its durable or outdoor use. We use intecel for most of our cheap dimensional logos. As well as it works well for pinning logos.

Well i'm up in Canada - but Sabic Polymershapes is where we order from. I know they have US locations too.
Worth looking into..

Hope this helps.
 
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rossmosh

New Member
Intecel is just another cellular PVC. Any sign supplier should have PVC. You want stuff for exterior use. Typically it comes in a white gloss finish. I've found what brands are carried are quite regional. Up here, everyone pretty much sticks to Komacel but there are other manufacturers that produce a similar product.
 
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shoresigns

New Member
As a shop with no CNC, why not acrylic instead of PVC? Just curious. My supplier here says PVC is a ton of extra work, sanding and filling the returns before painting, whereas acrylic doesn't require all that. Is it really worth the savings in material cost?
 
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rossmosh

New Member
shoresigns said:
As a shop with no CNC, why not acrylic instead of PVC? Just curious. My supplier here says PVC is a ton of extra work, sanding and filling the returns before painting, whereas acrylic doesn't require all that. Is it really worth the savings in material cost?
Click to expand...

1. Price is quite a difference. A 4x8 sheet of 1" Thick acrylic is almost 4x the price of 1" PVC
2. The prep work to PAINT isn't all that different. Still requires you to sand down the letter before spraying. The amount of time to sand the faces should be nearly identical. The time to sand the sides depends. Even laser cut,
3. Acrylic is more brittle than PVC. Drilling and tapping studs on PVC is as easy as can be. Acrylic you have to be more careful.
4. PVC machines WAY faster than acrylic.

Really, there is a benefit to every material. If you want me to make 5 - 6" letters and paint them gloss black, I'm going to price for Gemini acrylic probably. If you want me to make 50 - 18" letters in some special green, PVC is going to be just as nice and way more cost effective. For appearance, PVC looks a little bit "less than" acrylic when you get up close but that's why it's a bit cheaper. From a reasonable viewing distance, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two materials if they're painted.
 
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shoresigns

New Member
rossmosh said:
1. Price is quite a difference. A 4x8 sheet of 1" Thick acrylic is almost 4x the price of 1" PVC
2. The prep work to PAINT isn't all that different. Still requires you to sand down the letter before spraying. The amount of time to sand the faces should be nearly identical. The time to sand the sides depends. Even laser cut,
3. Acrylic is more brittle than PVC. Drilling and tapping studs on PVC is as easy as can be. Acrylic you have to be more careful.
4. PVC machines WAY faster than acrylic.

Really, there is a benefit to every material. If you want me to make 5 - 6" letters and paint them gloss black, I'm going to price for Gemini acrylic probably. If you want me to make 50 - 18" letters in some special green, PVC is going to be just as nice and way more cost effective. For appearance, PVC looks a little bit "less than" acrylic when you get up close but that's why it's a bit cheaper. From a reasonable viewing distance, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two materials if they're painted.
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks for the detailed answer. I guess you have to be Gemini-sized to make acrylic your primary material for routing. They use laser, so less sanding, and they melt down and reuse all their scraps so they actually use 100% of an expensive sheet of acrylic.
 
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