HDU Sign

[signgirl]

Being in the biz for 30yrs you'd think I would of done more sandblasted HDU but most customers always wanted wood. I believe I have only done 2 and that was probably 10years ago.

My question is can I pre finish before blasting and then finish the blasted background or is there a possibility paint might come up when I peel the rubber off? I know we tried a time or two with redwood and because of the grain paint would peel costing more labor time.

What primer would you suggest besides the 90 dollar primer they say to use?

Anyone have time to refresh my memory on making a HDU Sandblasted Sign?
Would hate to mess up a 500 to700 dollar piece of material. I do know I can finish up just as I do the cedar or redwood signs

Thanks in advance!!

 

[MikePro]

if you can do it with wood, you can do it with HDU.
plenty of tooth. should be fine.
highly recommend using a higher densitiy. you save $$$ with the lighter stuff, but the finished edges always disappoint.

 

[Jillbeans]

I haven't done many of these because I hate doing them.
But I never primed before blasting.
In fact, lately when I use HDU I don't even prime.
You can hose it off with water and leave to dry thoroughly so it's really spotless clean before painting.

I know someone who had real bad issues with the expensive primer causing a very high dollar sign's paint job to fail after only a very short time.

When I did the redwood I too had issues with the mask peeling up the grain.
Another reason I decided sandblasting wasn't for me, too much fiddly stuff and people are too cheap to appreciate the effort. If I ever did it again I'd sub it out to someone on 101.
Love....Jill

 

[visual800]

people that waste money on all this high dollar primer needs to regroup. It's not only useless its just plain not good business management. I usually go to the paint store in back they have jacked up paint that was mixed wrong. I do get a higher end exterrior flat light or dark color for $6 a can. I have always primed with flat latex I dont but into all this damn porter primer from fine paints of europe, whatever is the latest craze...ARRRRGGHHH!

go to local paint jobber and get you some jacked up paint OR simply just but a gallon of high end flat paint I like glidden and ben moore paints

 

[signmeup]

I wash the HDU with a hose and prime with water based primer from Home Hardware. It's made for vinyl and aluminum siding. Sands great. If you use Hartco mask (the green stuff...425?) I find it will soften latex paint if you leave it on for very long. Then the paint comes off with the mask. I prime because I sometimes lost tiny bits of mask when I didn't.

I just prime, blast, peel and then paint. I use Pittsburgh Sun Proof for top coats.

 

[SignManiac]

You can paint HDU without using a primer if you want to. Here's a half arsed step by step from a couple of years ago I did. http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67823

Using primer on HDU is more for filling in the pores to get a smoother finish if that's the look you want to achieve. Latex paint bites really well into HDU.

I like to use the Anchor continental #125 orange backed stencil. It has a stronger adhesive and is better on raw foam. I wouldn't use it on a prepainted surface as it could lift the paint and cause all that extra work.

 

[signmeup]

Pat,

South Asia Plastics in Toronto carry Corafoam by Duna. It's the best stuff I've tried so far. John Yu is my contact there.

 

[signmeup]

You can paint HDU without using a primer if you want to. Here's a half arsed step by step from a couple of years ago I did. http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67823

Using primer on HDU is more for filling in the pores to get a smoother finish if that's the look you want to achieve. Latex paint bites really well into HDU.

I like to use the Anchor continental #125 orange backed stencil. It has a stronger adhesive and is better on raw foam. I wouldn't use it on a prepainted surface as it could lift the paint and cause all that extra work.

Yup... I ony prime it to fill the pores. I find I can use fewer coats of paint to get the finish I want by priming first.

 

[mrchips]

My only caution is to make sure the primer/paint is really dry before masking......latex takes a lot longer than enamels.

The best test I know is to just put a scrap piece of vinyl down on it and apply some heat......if there is moisture left, it will lift the vinyl.

Joe,

Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!

 

[J Hill Designs]

on the redwood blast mask peeling up grain after blasting, I now coat with 2 coats of thinned spar varnish, sand, coat 1 full coat of spar varnish, sand, finish coat the areas, then mask and blast...havent had paint peel up in years now

 

[signmeup]

My only caution is to make sure the primer/paint is really dry before masking......latex takes a lot longer than enamels.

The best test I know is to just put a scrap piece of vinyl down on it and apply some heat......if there is moisture left, it will lift the vinyl.

Joe,

Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!

Good tip! I'll have to give that a try.

 

[signgirl]

Thanks for all advice...I'm just going to treat the foam as I was using redwood or cedar with the exception of hosing it down first!

 

[signgirl]

You can paint HDU without using a primer if you want to. Here's a half arsed step by step from a couple of years ago I did. http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67823

Using primer on HDU is more for filling in the pores to get a smoother finish if that's the look you want to achieve. Latex paint bites really well into HDU.

I like to use the Anchor continental #125 orange backed stencil. It has a stronger adhesive and is better on raw foam. I wouldn't use it on a prepainted surface as it could lift the paint and cause all that extra work.

Nice, nice nice!

 

[signmeup]

Thanks for all advice...I'm just going to treat the foam as I was using redwood or cedar with the exception of hosing it down first!

I found the hosing down really made a difference in the having the paint stick well. Blowing it off with air isn't quite as good. A good hosing really gets the dust off and out of the pores.

 

[Hytek Tools]

Great, thanks! I'll contact them for pricing.

Just out of curiosity, were you able to get any hdu from them? There is a supplier in Minnesota but you would have that whole border thing to worry about.

 

[Hytek Tools]

I found the hosing down really made a difference in the having the paint stick well. Blowing it off with air isn't quite as good. A good hosing really gets the dust off and out of the pores.

One way we just discovered was using a brush end on your vacuum does pretty good job. Probably not as good as a hose down!

 

[iSign]

One way we just discovered...

speaking of "discovered" ...I've never noticed your merchant offerings before...

...nice website... LOVE those wooden 3D "government plaques" you did!!

 

[SignManiac]

The only thing better than hosing down HDU is full on water boarding! Torture the dust out of those pores...

 

[Hytek Tools]

To be honest with your I haven't had a chance to call them yet. I tried filling out the form on their site and it bounced back....and I've been too busy to try calling them.

I'll let you know what I find out.

I see this so much on forums that I've thought of just sending people a chunk so they can at least try it.

Back when i first started carving out of wood, I knew nothing about HDU. Then after hearing about it, it was like another year or two to track it down, in between worrying if I could even afford to use it. It would be nice to know if you even like it before wasting the time trying to track it down.

If anybody wants to try a small piece of hdu, just let me know and maybe we can work something out.

 

[Hytek Tools]

speaking of "discovered" ...I've never noticed your merchant offerings before...

...nice website... LOVE those wooden 3D "government plaques" you did!!

Thank you sir! and speak of the devil, those are made of HDU and airbrushed wood grain! It's the one and only paint job I have ever out sourced to a friend and you can see the whole process here...check the pictures from the bottom up for the process in order.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150275729011401.327526.346949426400&type=1

We're not positive but there was a hint that one of those signs was en route to The White House (as the NSA meets at TWH weekly) and the other to the NSA facility.

 

[SignManiac]

Nice, I did just that recently for a member here. I have a lot of scraps and sent him a piece to get his hands dirty with. Hell, most of the manufacturers will send you sample pieces to try if you just ask. I think most people are afraid to step outside there comfort zone. They need to realize that the more versatile you are, the better off your business will be.

 

[Hytek Tools]

Very well put signmaniac, I agree!

 

[signmeup]

I don't have a comfort zone. I'll ask anybody for samples or info. The worst they can do is say no. I'll also try almost anything... I'm terminally curious about just about everything.