Bringing old signs back to life

[David Iannone]

This is a project I wanted to do and learn. These existing signs are 3'x12'. A while back Dr. Crumley and I had a conversation on the phone about this one.

3 Entrances with one sign on each side so 6 3'x12' signs to be refurbished. I am doing 1 side on each entrance this year, and the 2nd side next year (civic association budget).

I have the go ahead to move forward with production as of about a week ago. This is a refurbish job based on what I have learned here on the SB forum. I will document my progress as I go along as a thank you to Joe for the ideas of how to turn this one into a money maker.

[David Iannone]

Blasting it now, I am working on getting the stuff that isn't sticking anymore off. After that I plan to put a backer board out of primed MDO from N Glantz. Screws and glue from the back to try to keep it as straight as possible. (when we took it down it was bowed like a banana, but after it sat overnight it flattened out?)

Since there are 6 of these that are exactly the same I am redrawing every letter of this sign that is raised. The letters and borders will be cut from .040 black alum and the hills will be cut from .040 alum and overlaid with cast vinyl to match the customers color. The cut shapes off the SB will then be glued to the raised portion. Background will be white. I gave them a schedule to be finished by July 23rd with the first 3.

Dave

[joe]

Good to see the progress. Like you I enjoy bringing these projects back to life. Good money too.

My experience has been these old signs will last just as long or longer than the original one. Lots of fun.

[Riptide369]

Thanks for sharing your progress. In many ways restoring old signs is more work than just creating new ones, but the insights you are gleaning and sharing should help folks design and restore signs that last even longer!

[David Iannone]

Thanks Joe, you know so far I have only used a paint brush to make sure the primer and paint got into every nook and cranny. Yeah a little more time consuming than spraying it but I am having fun with this first one out of 6.

No fancy paint setup needed to do this type of work if you enjoy it.

Riptide, this sign is made out of old wood that is not rotten. I was told the subdivision was started in the late 80's. So it is 2016 which lets say the sign is 26 years old? Well from the first sign I am going to reintall next week I feel confident it will last another 10 years. I told my customer I don't give warranties but I will always back my work up.

[David Iannone]

[David Iannone]

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[joe]

Good to see the progress.

This kind of work is fun. The finished sign can look even better than when it was new. After all we have computers and better paints.

Last week I took in one of my old dental sign that needed to be updated. The original had 23k lettering and the dentist wanted the same. What fun! I'll get around to taking a photo soon.

Keep up the good work.

[bobmoore]

Looks great David. I am a little concerned though about moisture content of that wood. If the sign came out of there bowed like a banana it might have soaked up enough moisture to blow your paint out when the hot summer sun hits it.

[joe]

Bob,

It's interesting how a wood sign can curl and warp but with a little drying time it flattens right out. I've seen that happen dozens of times. Here's what's going on. When a panel is blasted or routed on one side tension is released on that side. Even if this doesn't curl immediately it's likely to do so. One of the reasons is the difference in moisture absorption from front to back. Another factor is if the panel ends up against a wall, like brick where dampness is trapped there could be problems. It's a good measure to have a little relief behind the signs which allows for rain to escape.

With our new acrylic paints adhesion to raw wood is amazing. Even so I always apply an oil based primer like Ronan's Block Out White. It traps tannin's. But you gotta apply paints to dry wood. With proper priming and painting these old signs will last and last.

After all, at my age I'm giving clients a "Life Time Warranty".