Sandblasting Cedar

[BillyBoy86]

yesterday i blasted my first cedar sign.
i bought a ready-blank from Allwood.
it's looking pretty good so far, but i wanted to know, is there a standard depth?
all the blasting i've done so far, i've pretty much just gone with what i thought looked good, but i wasn't sure if there is some rule of thumb about the depth of carving?

 

[tbullo]

I blast till i think it looks good. A little deeper then you think cause the rubber will make you think its deeper than it is. Nothing worst then then background not deep enough for painting the text. Depending on the size of the blank from Allwood, you will have all kind of different grains. I glue my own blanks form clear all heart vertical grain 2x12 I can get locally. I have found that Allwood blanks are nice but sometimes all those 3'' strips take away from the finished look.

 

[BillyBoy86]

I blast till i think it looks good. A little deeper then you think cause the rubber will make you think its deeper than it is. Nothing worst then then background not deep enough for painting the text. Depending on the size of the blank from Allwood, you will have all kind of different grains. I glue my own blanks form clear all heart vertical grain 2x12 I can get locally. I have found that Allwood blanks are nice but sometimes all those 3'' strips take away from the finished look.

Yeah i learned early on to go deeper than you originally think. one of the first stone projects i did.
i went with the allwood this time because of ease of access for this project,.....also, it was a small sign, 18" x 23"
i think i will look into gluing my own boards in the future. i'd really like to start pushing wood and stone signs as my main sellers.

 

[blufftonsignguy]

Yeah i learned early on to go deeper than you originally think. one of the first stone projects i did.
i went with the allwood this time because of ease of access for this project,.....also, it was a small sign, 18" x 23"
i think i will look into gluing my own boards in the future. i'd really like to start pushing wood and stone signs as my main sellers.

I use the rule of 1/4" depth. Its obviously hard to measure that so I gauge it by eye and what looks good on it. Not sure what everyone else uses to laminate boards, but I laminate my own using West Marine 2 part epoxy. Never had a joint come apart.

 

[tbullo]

I use Sign Life Ultra bond one part glue.

 

[BillyBoy86]

I use the rule of 1/4" depth. Its obviously hard to measure that so I gauge it by eye and what looks good on it. Not sure what everyone else uses to laminate boards, but I laminate my own using West Marine 2 part epoxy. Never had a joint come apart.

thanks, i'll look into that also
the piece i just did (the allwood blank) it varied a little board to board.
the grain was a lot different in each one, but the client loved it....thought i did it on purpose.
but anyway, i was about 1/4" deep on that one

 

[ExecuPrintGS]

Lots of useful info in this post, thanks everyone.

Billy - any finished photos?

 

[BillyBoy86]

Lots of useful info in this post, thanks everyone.

Billy - any finished photos?

it's not quite finished yet. but here is where it stands right now
we're going to add color to the target and put some arrows in the bullseye

 

[TammieH]

Always used Tightbond 2 ...now Tightbond 3 on wood, waterproof and the joints never fail...a lot less expensive than those new-fangled glues


Also Billy what kind of clear did you use, is the sign going to be an exterior sign?

We started using Sikkens years ago, not sure whats on the market now. But I have not seen a clear that withstands mother nature...I am sure someone will correct me

Nice project though!

 

[AF]

Resorcinol glue would be best. Titebond is good as long as it is protected from heavy moisture exposure. Epoxy with 404 filler is great but very expensive.

 

[Pippin Decals]

that is way cool looking . now im curious lol.... did you just make a stencil and then just sandblast inside it or ? and what sandblast material did you use,,Thank you for any info..

 

[ams]

yesterday i blasted my first cedar sign.
i bought a ready-blank from Allwood.
it's looking pretty good so far, but i wanted to know, is there a standard depth?
all the blasting i've done so far, i've pretty much just gone with what i thought looked good, but i wasn't sure if there is some rule of thumb about the depth of carving?

Can you post a photo? I was always curious if you could sandblast Cedar but never tried. I did try with a different wood and it was a failure.

 

[BillyBoy86]

There is a photo posted up above, I added color to the target last night. I'll be posting some. Updated photos in the next couple of days. I'm not totally set on a clear yet. I certainly will accept any suggestions on the clear coat.

I used Hartford landmark for the stencil. I'm sure there is another landmark that is easier to work with but the Hartford was recommended by my supplier when I was carving into stones. I was told it is a higher tack mask than the others

 

[BillyBoy86]

Can you post a photo? I was always curious if you could sandblast Cedar but never tried. I did try with a different wood and it was a failure.

Ha-ha, I tried a piece of cheep wood just to mess around. It basically just ended up being a painted sign.

 

[Gino]

It's probably too late for this, but to get the best clearcoat, you must first seal the entire piece, BEFORE any blasting takes place. There are all kindsa sealants from clear to opaque. You just need to get the one appropriate for your situation. Once the wood is ready to put the mask down, you must seal the wood wirh a good sealer. Once the wood is sealed, then you can either paint your background color or as in your case, since it's a natural finish, ya just put your mask on top, once it's thoroughly dried. Once you blast, d!ck around with effects, colors and whatnot, then you clear the entire piece..... front, sides, edges and back. No one clear is better then another, unless you are using water-based clears. Your clear will eventually burn the paint, so adjust accordingly.

When I did natural backgrounds, I generally rubbed the wood with tongue oil or penetrol before sealing.

Also, it's really ashame you blasted the letters away and not the background. When blasting, you are doing it to show the beauty of the wood, not an effect. 1/4" is the least we'll blast and we've blasted redwood, western red cedar, white cedar, oak, bricks, stones, marble, corian, glass, mirrors and lots others.

 

[BillyBoy86]

It's probably too late for this, but to get the best clearcoat, you must first seal the entire piece, BEFORE any blasting takes place. There are all kindsa sealants from clear to opaque. You just need to get the one appropriate for your situation. Once the wood is ready to put the mask down, you must seal the wood wirh a good sealer. Once the wood is sealed, then you can either paint your background color or as in your case, since it's a natural finish, ya just put your mask on top, once it's thoroughly dried. Once you blast, d!ck around with effects, colors and whatnot, then you clear the entire piece..... front, sides, edges and back. No one clear is better then another, unless you are using water-based clears. Your clear will eventually burn the paint, so adjust accordingly.

When I did natural backgrounds, I generally rubbed the wood with tongue oil or penetrol before sealing.

Also, it's really ashame you blasted the letters away and not the background. When blasting, you are doing it to show the beauty of the wood, not an effect. 1/4" is the least we'll blast and we've blasted redwood, western red cedar, white cedar, oak, bricks, stones, marble, corian, glass, mirrors and lots others.

Hey Gino. Never heard about sealing first. Will keep that in mind for next time. As far as the background being blasted out I agree. But I did what they wanted this time just to get the experience of working with the cedar. The client is in love with it so far, but I'm definitely hoping to do this more often,

 

[Gino]

If you can find a market for these signs, they are, in my opinion, the finest and most elegant of all signs...... if done right.

What are you using to blast ?? Certain things will work better for varying effects. Are you blasting in a bin or out in the open ??

 

[BillyBoy86]

If you can find a market for these signs, they are, in my opinion, the finest and most elegant of all signs...... if done right.

What are you using to blast ?? Certain things will work better for varying effects. Are you blasting in a bin or out in the open ??

I agree. I'm tired of what I call the fast food signs. I really want to push these and I also have done some stone blasting. I am blasting in an open room with a pressure pot. There aren't many shops in my area that offer this type of stuff.
I'm just getting into working for myself. I've been working for others in the business and they all seem more interested in digital printing or the last company I was at wanted to do nothing but those led screens. Not interesting to me.

 

[BillyBoy86]

Final product!!!

had some requests for a photo of the finished product. here it is folks. first attempt at blasted cedar.
customer loved it