Help hanging a sign from a post.

[upsman]

Hi I am hanging a sign made of 2” thick Sign Foam (HDU) it is 3’L and 2’W. My question is can I hang the sign with eye bolts going into the top of the sign and then hang them with a hook or quick links or should I do this in some other way? Also do I need to use some kind of bounding agent on the eye bolts? Any suggestions

Tim

[harryball]

I don't know the professional way to do it, but I hung the regular blue foam stuff with some eyebolts that were 4" long, predrilled the holes a little smaller than the bolts and injected PL roof and flashing sealant (some very tough stuff we use on bat houses). Last I talked to the guy it was hanging fine.

/RB

[dakers]

Tim,I will mention things we have done that work.
I am interested in what others have done that work also as there are so many ways to install things and always wanting to learn what the options are.
if we had to install the sign as described if it was a true rectangle sign and it had to be up for 5 to 10 years in conditions with occasional wind gusts up to 65 mph we would probably use two 1/4'' lexan straps 2''x33'' attached to both sides of the sign long stainless screws every 2'' with a hole in the top of the strap to attache to the other hardware on the horizontal arm. I say this because we have done it this way and it does hold up very well over 10 years and high winds. The only other thing we have done which we prefer to do it make the sign with two 1''pieces of hdu and put the staps in between in a slot or run two pieces of metal tubing vertically in between the two pieces then use threaded rod inserted in the tubing which attaches to an eye bolt with a coupler.
the 2'x3' sign is very light weight due to size so it will swing alot in the wind.
if this sign goes inside then you can do about anything to install it. Then you have the aesthetic factor to be concerned about too. Some clents expect different things depending on the budget for the sign.
We have worked with some who would want a steel or aluminum decorative frame, etc.
I think RBalls method should work fine also since the 2x3 sign is light weight it should not be stressed to much.
I like options to think about.

[joe]

Tim,

It's good to bare in mind, HDU doesn't as much stregnth as wood. It's cellular and will give up screws overtime. You can get around this by pre-drilling a larger hole and fill it with Epoxy. Make sure the bottom of the hole is larger than the top. Then while the epoxy is setting up, insert a couple of I bolts. Use some thin cardboard to keep them upright.

My best method is to have a steel frame around the whole sign. In this photo the steel frame is seperate from the ornate structure. Using this method the sign goes along for the ride and has no structural requirements. Any welding shop can build a neat little structure with a couple rings on top.

Here's another favorite of mine. When your chain is kind of long, as the one in this photo, I have the welding shop weld up all the links. That makes it a solid piece and cuts down on the bouncing during strong winds.

Problems like this probide you with a golden opportunity. Think beyond the task.


5656

[jamesgilliam]

Tim, Another thing you can do to avoid the swing during a high wind is place another eyebolt on the side closest to the post, another eyebolt into the post and a qiick link in between. I did this on my last sign and it works great. I would have to agree with using a frame around HDU. I did the last one two sided, 3/4" HDU on both sides with a piece of Polymetal sandwiched in between. Then a cypress wood frame for the wrap. I would post a pic but my laptop is in the shop and I have hijacked the wife's computer.

[jshoes51]

I was just at the Boat Builders show and West System Epoxy had a booth there. on display they had a piece of 22# HDU with a 1/4" eye bolt bedded in epoxy on the top edge. They put the end of the eye bolt on their stress testing machine and put pressure to it. At 525#, the eye bolt straightened out. The bolt bedded in epoxy in the foam never let go.

[upsman]

Thanks for all the help. Will let you know how it comes out.

Tim