New to sign making need some advice..

[Jeron]

Hey guys/gals.. first post here.. obviously...

But i am a screen printer by trade, and have a vinyl cutter that i use to make one off shirts out of heat press vinyl.

I just did my first vinyl window sign and i sparked my interest in sign making. Then i saw the sand blast mask sold by my vinyl supplier and has me even more curious. So here are my questions and keep in mind i have no knowledge about sign making so spell it out for me as best you could... thanks.

I get the idea about putting sand blast mask on a board and then blasting everything else away...

What woods work best, or I've seen the term "HDU" on this site but not sure what it is... Can i blast HDU???

Also my father has a sand blast cabinet that he uses for automotive purposes... it is filled will glass beads if i'm not mistaken. is this ok for blasting wood signs?? if not what should i use??

Any tips on how to get started would be awesome. I don't plan to do this to make money at the moment just curious and want to play around with it in my spare time for now... Maybe make some custom signs for my shop and what not getting the hang of it...

Thanks again for any info you have for me.

 

[MikePro]

high-density urethane foamboard rocks. handcarved, sandblasted, routed ....it does it all.
varying levels of densities are available, as well as thickness, but you can always bond layers together with gorilla glue to make thicker objects.
google and youtube can be your friend, merchant suppliers list here on the forums, or check for some plastic supply companies in your area and they'll most likely have odds & ends for sale, but get your hands on some and start playing.

:Welcome:2:signs101:

 

[w2csa]

Not sure about the glass beads. I use a synthetic silica, about $50 pound. I thin it is silicone dioxide.
You don't ant to mix abrasives, that is blast a car part ad blast a piece of glass. The particles from the car pats (Rust etc.) can contaminate the abrasive
God luck, hiss a great forum, vey helpful!

 

[Hayward Mike]

Redwood is the best wood to use to make sandblasted signs. Cedar may also be used but, is not quite as stable, tends to have more knots and is a bit too hard to blast efficiently.

HDU has become the ultimate material used to create sandblasted, routed and hand carved signs. Aluminum oxide is a very aggressive medium and can be recycled as long as it is not contaminated with wood dust which can absorb moisture and clog your blaster. Glass beads are not aggressive enough to blast your signs efficiently. Aluminum oxide is very aggressive and does not break down allowing it to be recycled many times along with the HDU dust. Aluminum oxide costs about $50 per 100 lbs. so you will want to recycle it to make it cost effective.

I will invite you to go to the www.signfoam.com website to view some tutorials that we filmed at our school about making sandblasted signs.
If it is not too much of a shameless plug, I wrote a book called "Mastering the Art of Dimensional Sign Making" also available on the Sign Foam website.

Good luck, they are fun signs to make, profitable too.