First Exterior Sign

[tallen84]

I am looking at making a simple exterior sign for my home owners association and since I have yet to do any exterior signs I was wondering if I could get some advice.

As of right now I am planning on making the sign approximately 3'x7' and mounted between two wood posts. I have some cutting area limitations since I only have a 2' powerstick on my 48" Shopbot buddy, as a result I was thinking about carving the face on 4 pieces then fitting them togeather and securing them to some sort of backing board.

Based on what i have read in the forums I am thinking about using extira for the sign face and trim on the posts. Only issue is it appears that local distributors only have 3/4" extira so I might have to laminate two 3/4" thick boards togeather to make the carved pieces double thick.

I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the above as well as some suggestions for the backing board and any cross bracing that might be needed behind the sign. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.

[bobmoore]

Todd; Good question that I would like to see an answer to as well.I have made quite a few wood signs but have not worked with extira. If you get those phisics questions answered I would suggest a design idea. Create a design to maximize the center area to the maximum size of you router and then create 2 symetrically sized wings on either side recessed back aways from the more prominent main face. There are some signs around here like that which are very appealing.
On another note I sure hope the sign portion of the shopbot forum stays active regardless of other sites taking some of the juice away from here.
Thanks
Bob

[kg4mon]

We span 4 x 8 between posts all the time without any issues or extra bracing. If it is a 3d sign we use 1-1/2 HDU glue to a 1/2" sheet of MDO Plywood (douglas fir). If its a 2d sign we use 3/4 MDO Plywood. Never heard of extira before.

[hh_woodworking]

Extira will hold up but like all things it has its draw backs. Do a search for it here and you will see a lot of posts talking about it. Two big things are 1. dust can be very bad for you very high in chemicals. 2 if not finished right the paint will not stay on it. It will peal off in a short time.

[banderson]

Do people Vcarve MDO or is it just used as a backing to glue things to?

[bleeth]

MDO is not for carving but it is used for more than sticking things to. The original purpose is to have an exterior grade plywood with a surface ideal for sign painting. A lot of 3-d sign makers use it as a backer for HDU (sign-foam).
For some info on this from some of the best signmakers in the country (and some across the globe) go to http://www.3dsignforum.com/. The gallery is outrageous.