Which canvas?

[TyrantDesigner]

If it's solvent, no, if it's inkjet i would probably say a good spray varnish coat will help prevent the ink from bleeding. the table top urethane they have that makes those huge bar tops is different than regular urethane you'll find it above the regular varnish and it does something like 10 or 20 coats of varnish with one pass. It may have a yellowish tint to it though so be prepared for the colors to possibly shift though.

 

[Signed Out]

Done a little googleing and Min Wax Helmsmen spar urethane seems to be a popular choice for bartops other than the epoxys. Most of the reading ive done says to lay down several coats, but could I just pour it on, it is self leveling haha and the frame has a nice ridge all the way around to hold in the flood.

 

[Circleville Signs]

I definitely think flooding it out makes much more sense - especially with the level of craftsmanship that it appears is going into the rest of the sign. Only thought I have is that it is probably silly to use canvas if you are doing it this way. I'd probably just print it on poster paper instead - you aren't going to see the tooth from the canvas is 1/4" of urethane on top anyways...

 

[Signed Out]

I was wondering that. So you don't think that you would be able to see the texture of the canvas? How do you thhink it would look with cast vinyl print with lam and a 1/4 poly? I would guess that you would be able to see some of the texture from the canvas, but don't kknow first hand.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

my suggestion ... experiment ... probably take you an hour to route out some test panels and print what you need and another hour to put it all together. the important part is to be bubble free with your stirring ... gentle motion, no churning or folding of the stuff.

 

[Circleville Signs]

I wouldn't use vinyl - just because as the epoxy dries it is going to shrink to an extent. I'd just use spray adhesive and poster paper. But that's just me.

 

[Signed Out]

Thanks for your responses. I know these questions probably seem pretty dumb or intuitve, but am just trying to narrow down the best path for this project. First time doing a sign like this and i want it to look awesome. My plan now is to use a 2 part epoxy coating, its called famowood cryltal clear glaze. I am going to expeirement with test pieces before anything touches that hdu frame. My little problem is I don't stock canvas material so without buying a roll I can't test how canvas will look with 1/4 epoxy coat compared to paper or vinyl. It has been suggested in this thread that one probably wouldn't notice any difference. Which I hope is true, but like I said I want this sign to look awesome so if there was any noticeable difference then I would definitly go the canvas route. So just this one last question... well at least untill I start expierementing.

Would there be any noticeable difference between paper/vinyl with a 1/4" epoxy coat compared to canvas with a 1/4" epoxy coat?

Thanks,

 

[Circleville Signs]

I don't believe there would be. Although I would REALLY be tempted to print the design on clear, mount it to the thinnest clear substrate you can get your hands on, and THEN poar your epoxy. That would give it a real translucent feel, which I think would lend itself to the illustration quality of the image.

 

[Signed Out]

Wow thats a cool idea. I don't have white ink. Did you mean mount clear print to a thin white substrate?

I have some .060 clear lexan. what if i sheeted the bottom side with white vinyl and applied the printed clear to the top side, then coated with epoxy?

Is that what you suggested circleville?

 

[Circleville Signs]

If you go that route, I'd use translucent white as an undersheeting - but you shouldn't need to. There isn't any white in your design.....

 

[Signed Out]

Right there isn't really any white in the design but ink is translucent right? wouldn't it get very dark against the "wood" painted background? I'll experiment with it. This is a cool idea, should make it look like the image is floating in the epoxy coating. Thanks.

 

[Circleville Signs]

Yup no problem.