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Dimensional sign advice

fwgrafix

New Member
attached is my first dimensional sign carved from Komacel Rigid Foam PVC. First off, Am i using the correct material and what paints do you recommend for such an application. I was planning on using a hammered gold leaf vinyl for the lettering color of "signs" and painting the rest. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Since now that I have started I am getting conflicting opinions of materials to use Thanks
 

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Kottwitz-Graphics

New Member
attached is my first dimensional sign carved from Komacel Rigid Foam PVC. First off, Am i using the correct material and what paints do you recommend for such an application. I was planning on using a hammered gold leaf vinyl for the lettering color of "signs" and painting the rest. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Since now that I have started I am getting conflicting opinions of materials to use Thanks

how thick is it? For an interior display sign, you would be fine. Exterior, PVC has a tendency of warping... unless it is really thick... something like 3/4" or so.

As far as paint, I've been told that you can prime it with a special primer, and paint with whatever you like. I've never tried it, myself, so I can't speak from experience.
 

fwgrafix

New Member
the sign was carved from 1" thick material after being carved now the only part remaining 1" thick is the text itself, the background where it has the wood grain effect is only about 1/4" thick. This particular sign will be displayed in our showroom only, Just want to make sure this will hold up if it was outdoors ?? In your opinion did I go about this the right way using 1 piece of substrate and machining the different layers or would i be better to do in a few layers, for example have the text a seperate layer installed on top ??
 

signmeup

New Member
It's a nice sign but calling it carved is a bit of a stretch isn't it? I carve signs with chisels and knives. I think what you have there is a cnc routed sign.

Adrian
 

synergy_jim

New Member
believe it or not... Sherwin Williams exterior grade latex paint will stick to lightly scuffed PVC all day long. We usually jump straight to base coat colors with that then add others over top.

Zero issues in all the years we have been using PVC and HDU.
 

SignManiac

New Member
Along with Sherwin Williams, Matthews Paint is also another good choice. Biggest concern with PVC is dark colors and size/thickness ratio with regards to expansion/contraction issues. It's a learning process that takes some time to figure out.
 
Pvc will take any good quality acrylic paint just scuff it with 220 grit sand paper and wipe it with alcohol. Here is example of two layers of pvc 0.75 and 0.5
 

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