Sign material question??

[gundog]

I have told my wife I can make some letters to hang on the wall of my new Grandson's nursery and I need to know what material would work well. I am not a sign guy nor have I cut much wood products with my SB I cut plastic for my marine products.

I heard her talking to my daughter about some letters for the nursery to hang on the wall spelling out my new Grandson's name. I asked her to show me what she was wanting and after looking at it, it looks easy enough but I am not sure what material to use. The letters will be painted by my wife after they are cut and I will need some way to put them on the wall. She wants the letters about 6-8" high and spelling out Mason. Mason is not expected until March but they are trying to finish up the Nursery so I need to get busy with making the letters.

I let my wife look through the different fonts in Partworks and she chose Minya Nouvelle. I have never cut any letters before. She wants the letters about 1/4-3/8" thick. I thought about using some MDF but I am afraid they would break easy and most plywood have blows and so the edge would look funny plus I don't want to have to buy a whole sheet just to cut a few letters. I am thinking maybe some clear poplar or something like that.


Thanks for any advice you can give Mike.

[john_l]

Michael, what plastic scraps do you have from your marine plastics? PVC cuts very nice, good edges, etc and can be quickly painted Krylon Fusions plastic spray paint in a variety of colors.

Wall mount the letters with double sided tape and a couple small blobs of silicone.

[Gary Campbell]

Michael...
Use the MDF, seal with any of the methods the sign gurus use in the sign section and have your wife paint them with non toxic acrylic enamel (latex)
Gary

[gundog]

Thanks I was going to do a test run with MDF anyway. The plastic I use would not take paint and she plans on hand painting she is a very good artist and she is painting a patern like tiger spots or something like that.

Mike

[navigator7]

Why letters, Michael?
Start with a boat!
You are gonna have a built in fishing buddy soon!
;-)

[bob_s]

Try MDF with the following process -I have done a bunch and they work well
cut the MDF
sand to 320 and brush away the dust do not blast with compressed air
paint on a nice coat of Titebond II cut with water 60% glue 40% water
sand again after 18 to 24 hours 320 grit
if there are any open areas on the edges recoat with glue mix - dry & resand
brush on a coat of Sealcoat shellac sanding sealer
sand 320 or 400
spray on finish I use ML Campbell Aqualente water based lacquer
I was having a terrible time with voids in the final finish until I started with the Titebond as a base coat.
If you have Aspire try "lofting" the letter shapes for a really nice organic look
I cut keyhole slots in the back for easy hanging, just be sure to hit a thick area if they are sculpted or lofted shapes

Bob

[lshuck]

Michael:

I have been making a # of small signs and plaques for indoor use and find MDF a good and stable material. I was somewhat surprised because B4 my Bot I considered MDF to be an unsuitable material for any "quality" project but, now I look at is a material of quality when used properly.

Originally I used a primer, sanded and then applied color coats but, recently I have been using Fusion w/o the primer for the coating. It dries quickly and with about 4 coats on the exposed edge of a cut (and sanding with #320 between coats) none of the porous part of the cut shows. Sometimes I end with a clear coat but have found on some occasions it will lift some of the color coat if the first coat is applied too heavily. This seems strange to me since it is from the same mfg but somewhere there is a small incompatibility between the color and clear. These painting materials probably would not be a good idea for anything a child might put in his mouth.

Sounds like your wife has her own "favorite coatings" so none of the above may apply for you at this time but if you do something a small project with MDF in the future, you may want to experiment with the Fusion process.

Les