L Town Graphics
New Member
For those of you doing routed outdoor signs what type of wood are you using?
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Outdoor wood signs
- Thread starter L Town Graphics
- Start date
L Town Graphics
New Member
Do you purchase it locally or do you have it shipped to you?
J Hill Designs
New Member
if you have nothing nearby, you can get em made here
http://www.perfectplank.com/cedar_sign_blanks_signs.html
http://www.perfectplank.com/cedar_sign_blanks_signs.html
L Town Graphics
New Member
I posted this question on another forum and they were recommended there as well. Anyone have any feedback on these guys?
J Hill Designs
New Member
I've used em. quality.
L Town Graphics
New Member
Thank you for the recommendation!
limacchina
New Member
material for outdoor signage
MDF is the mostly used wood for outdoor dimensional sign making
MDF is the mostly used wood for outdoor dimensional sign making
Jackpine
New Member
Not the best but it is cheap. Cedar or redwood is my choice.
SignProPlus-Alex
New Member
If it doesn't have a wood grain then HDU or extira. If costumer want a natural or rustic look then cider or reclaimed wood.
J Hill Designs
New Member
extira is crap
J Hill Designs
New Member
yeah MDF is silly to use for outdoor stuff
only thing I use it for is sacrificial boards on the router
only thing I use it for is sacrificial boards on the router
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Based on the comments and selections of many here... are we talking carved wood as the OP stated or sandblasted signs ??
I've always found the hard woods much better for carving, while the softer woods like cedar and redwood far superior for blasting.
As for the Xtira, MDF and others mentioned.... aren't they for beginners ??
I've always found the hard woods much better for carving, while the softer woods like cedar and redwood far superior for blasting.
As for the Xtira, MDF and others mentioned.... aren't they for beginners ??
Terremoto
New Member
I've hand carved lots of Western Red Cedar signs.
Your chisels, gouges, and sweeps have to be razor sharp and you have to be cognizant of the grain direction while carving. Western Red Cedar lasts a LONG time. I guess that's why the West Coast Natives used it to carve totem poles.
Avoid any boards with a face grain or you're going to get "cupping". Edge grain boards only for laminating in to larger panels and you'll have a panel that's good for both carving and sandblasting. No problem running laminated panels through a CNC router either.
Best practice for carving signs is to coat out your panel right down to the final finish, cut your paintmask letter pattern, line it up and stick it down, then use that as your carving guide. Lay in your gold size, let it tack up and then lay in your leaf. When you remove the paintmask the gold leaf will have a nice crisp edge and nothing more is required.
Avoid doing it the other way around. That is carving first and painting after. Way too time consuming and less accurate than doing it the right way the first time.
If you're going to do the carving on a CNC router just cover your coated out sign panel with paintmask and router your letters/design right through the paintmask. If you're just doing a contrasting colour for the carved part of the sign you can do it in a hurry as your paintmask will do what it's supposed to do and keep the paint where it's supposed to be. I usually use a little of the background colour to seal the edge between the paintmask and the sign panel but it's not entirely necessary.
Western Red Cedar is the right product for a number of reasons.
If you want to carve wood that the Maya used for their carved lintels then get a hold of some chicozapote. That stuff will last 500 years or more without any special treatment. Carved some of zapote when I lived in Belize but it's not the easiest stuff to work with.
Dan
Your chisels, gouges, and sweeps have to be razor sharp and you have to be cognizant of the grain direction while carving. Western Red Cedar lasts a LONG time. I guess that's why the West Coast Natives used it to carve totem poles.
Avoid any boards with a face grain or you're going to get "cupping". Edge grain boards only for laminating in to larger panels and you'll have a panel that's good for both carving and sandblasting. No problem running laminated panels through a CNC router either.
Best practice for carving signs is to coat out your panel right down to the final finish, cut your paintmask letter pattern, line it up and stick it down, then use that as your carving guide. Lay in your gold size, let it tack up and then lay in your leaf. When you remove the paintmask the gold leaf will have a nice crisp edge and nothing more is required.
Avoid doing it the other way around. That is carving first and painting after. Way too time consuming and less accurate than doing it the right way the first time.
If you're going to do the carving on a CNC router just cover your coated out sign panel with paintmask and router your letters/design right through the paintmask. If you're just doing a contrasting colour for the carved part of the sign you can do it in a hurry as your paintmask will do what it's supposed to do and keep the paint where it's supposed to be. I usually use a little of the background colour to seal the edge between the paintmask and the sign panel but it's not entirely necessary.
Western Red Cedar is the right product for a number of reasons.
- It lasts a long time.
- It's easy to work with.
- It looks nice if you clear coat it.
- It has a beautiful patina if you just leave it to age naturally. (At least I think it does.)
- It holds OneShot very well if your intent is to cover up the wood.
- It's considerably lighter than Medex or Extira.
If you want to carve wood that the Maya used for their carved lintels then get a hold of some chicozapote. That stuff will last 500 years or more without any special treatment. Carved some of zapote when I lived in Belize but it's not the easiest stuff to work with.
Dan