I've been ordering my HDU in bulk but now I'm wondering if this isn't a mistake. Here's my thoughts. The reason sign supply companies aren't stocking this pricy material it takes cash out of their company reserve. That's what happens to me and the answer may be, pay extra for the shipping and let the customer absorbe the cost. After talking this over with my trusty assistant Ron, we decided to stop stocking as many other materials. For example I have a half dozen gallon cans of Sikkens. Then there are several gallons of other texture materials, all setting idle. Not to mention the extra lumber. I've gotta start working smarter.
I've given up on 15lb HDU.From here on it's 18lb. And I've also just about given up on HDU as a background material. Not because of the cost, but it takes too much time and trouble to finish not to mention it doesn't like screws and is often floppy which means building some kind of substrate. O, by the way, routing out a channel on the back to install aluminum rods as stiffeners, doesn't work all that well. It's still floppy. We just finished out three 3'X10' panels using this technique. Man or Man were they floppy.
The new green version of "Sign Foam" arrived last week. Next week we will conduct some tests.
Happy Routing
Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com