Sandblasted Extira?

[3Dsigns]

I have a customer who wants me to sandblast some kind of pattern/mold whatever, that he can press into beach sand to imprint words. I tried to talk him into going with CNC routed but he thinks he wants sandblasted and he wants it done in Extira. Has anyone ever blasted this stuff before? Thanks

 

[Z SIGNS]

I would want to do this on the cnc as well.Never blasted extira but I would imagine it to be a PIA. Especially trying to get a decent depth.Nothing irritates me more than a customer that wants to dictate how something should be done.Give them 2 prices one for doing it in foam and double for doing the nasty sandblasting.

 

[TimToad]

I have a customer who wants me to sandblast some kind of pattern/mold whatever, that he can press into beach sand to imprint words. I tried to talk him into going with CNC routed but he thinks he wants sandblasted and he wants it done in Extira. Has anyone ever blasted this stuff before? Thanks

Unless they've greatly improved the water resistance, I've not had good results on its weatherability.

 

[tbullo]

I had some left over pieces and I tried blasting it since I saw on their website it could be done. It blasted ok. I blasted some with the grain frame and it looked good as well. These were just samples I did for myself. I have never used Extira for a sign job since I've seen a few just peel apart after a while outside.

 

[Billct2]

I haven't used Extira in a while, and when I did we routed it. We followed finishing instructions exactly, and then some. It didn't hold up well. we had to refinish it in less than a year.
If the place hadn't folded I would've had to replace it.

 

[3Dsigns]

I had some left over pieces and I tried blasting it since I saw on their website it could be done. It blasted ok. I blasted some with the grain frame and it looked good as well. These were just samples I did for myself. I have never used Extira for a sign job since I've seen a few just peel apart after a while outside.

Was it harder to blast than, say cedar or redwood and get any depth to it?

 

[MikePro]

The trick to extira, is finishing both sides of the panel. if you only route/sandblast one-side, the other factory-finished side will cause the panel to potato-chip over time.

I'm sure your client wants to use Extira since it holds up well against moisture without special finishing, but I'm curious why he wants sandblasted vs. cnc routed, as Extira has no woodgrain pattern to expose. Regardless, with the right combination of Straight/V-engrave/Roundover bits you should be able to CNC pretty much any effect he's lookin' for.

attached pics of my recent Extira endeaver. I wasn't a fan of previous jobs where we were of having to stop the "woodgrain" pattern in a perimeter around the lettering, to account for the V-bit profile not cutting into them, so I mounted square-cut letters on top of the field of woodgrain instead.

 

[tbullo]

It was harder than cedar. Looking to see if I still have that sample lying around.

 

[Sandman]

I'm wondering if it was truly Extira that failed. I've never used it but I saw a demo where they took pieces of it and left it submerged in a bucket of water for 3 days. They measured it before and after and there was zero swelling. That said, I have no long term experience as I have avoided it because of the extreme weight and painting it can be a challenge and I would think it would have to be painted to last. He would be better off with a lower density Precision board (maybe 10#) or pvc.

 

[Mal]

Unless they've greatly improved the water resistance, I've not had good results on its weatherability.

We do all of our hand-carved, gilt work in extira. No problems for years