Some new signs in process

[jhicks]

These are destined to be applied to an EPS monument sign base 48" high x 96" wide and will be photographed again when installed. For now this is the sign face in final form.
Base material for sign back is 1/2" medex, raised/routed letters in 3/4" pocketed into back panel, glued & screwed in place. Gazebo detail is HDU 1" thick cut with 1/8" ball nose.Small EEO text V carved below housing logo.
Heavily primed, painted 3 coats in exterior acrylic latex.
Enjoy.

2086


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2088

[myxpykalix]

very cool, but looks like some small tedious painting..good job

[jhicks]

Thanks Jack, actually the painting was pretty quick & easy. The backboard is a single piece so all primed and color coated in spray booth along with the gazebo.
To fill the small v carved text, it was basically a fill and wipe with a small brush, then damp sponge and paper towel to wipe off top surface excess leaving the remaining red paint in the recess of the v. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes for fill and wipe.
The letters all were simply sprayed in a single group by placing them on a board with rows of 2 sided carpet tape to hold them while being sprayed. Prime & pant all surfaces, Paint backs and sides 1st, then flip and paint tops and sides, done.
Probably 15 minutes per coat in the spray booth per coat.So 2 primes on backs & sides, 2 prime on fronts and sides again ,2 color coats on backs & sides 3 on fronts & sides = 9 spray cycles @ 15 min/ ea = 2.25 to 2.5 hrs paint time per color max 5 hrs total in spray booth.

The Gazebo was also sprayed over back, sides,and top in tan with back board. Then high spots in relief brushed with red. Then simple touch up in recessed areas with tan to trim edges and clean up.
Touch up maybe 20 minutes.
Much easier than detail painting of single sheet with raised letters or recessed area cleared background and all can be done independant of the rest, then simply assembled.
Approximate time for paint and apply to board = 6 hours max.
Don't recall cut time but it was done entirely in one morning so maybe 4 hours + sanding to prep for prime coat. Component segregation saves a ton time by batch processing then final assembly.With shallow pocketing all letters and details are basically puzzle pieces glued and dropped into place. Holes are predrilled in routing so screws from behind are ready to go and not entirely necessary anyway.
I would approximate total time between 12 and 14 hours.

[harryball]

Jerry,

I'm very interested in the painting method for vcarved letters. So you're using exterior acrylic latex paint, like the stuff from the home improvement stores? Once the main color is done how long do you let it dry? You then wipe in the letter/carving color and wipe the surface clean with a damp sponge. This leaves the edges crisp and the color doesn't stain the background color? Is the paint you are using for the letters/carvings also exterior acrylic latex?

The reason I ask is I tried something similar and gave up because the lettering coloring was always staining the background color and I couldn't wipe it clean. Anything I can learn to speed up this process would be great.

Robert

[jhicks]

Robert, yes the paint is exterior acrylic latex. We generally use a Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams. These V carved letters were quite small so a tiny brush is all it took to fill the V and since I don't have the steadiest hand, excess did extend beyond the V outlines.
1st the base prime and paint had set up for at least 48 hours. Then a simple hand paint fill in the V's. The issue of "staining the tan" as one wipes over the red IS an issue but not a huge one.
I simply took a small damp sponge immediately after the brush fill, covered it with a paper towel, and very gently wiped over the top trying not to remove red from the V and maintaining a flat surface with the sponge shape. Then to get the smear off the tan, I gently washed it off being careful not to contact the paint in the well of the V. Q tips or small corner cut off a sponge to control coverage.
There was some light residual red tint after water ceaning so with a small angled flat tip brush wiped nearly dry I gently brushed the top surface lightly with tan over any tinted areas. I mean gently, lightly, and carefully to not apply too much anywhere or intrude with the V red paint.
I try to keep in mind that these signs can be poured over and painted endlessly but in the end, if you can't see it from a few feet to 10 feet away, it doesn't exist.
In these photos nor up close do you see any detrimental tint so get some small brushes and give it a try.
We have also used a clear vinyl paint over the surface to seal the top and then painted in the V to help wipe cleanly off the top/flat surface on larger fonts with stained redwood base and black V carved fonts and it also worked pretty well.
Then after that a clear finish to seal it all.
See the "Home Sweet Home" redwood sign on our blog on that one.
http://whww.blogspot.com/
I guess over time one tries different methods in the effort to make the process easier, cleaner, and more efficient so we learn something every day both in practice and here on the forum so let us know how your testing goes and best of luck.
If we can ever help, let us know.

[harryball]

Well... by no means is anyone's sign business endangered by me. I tried several different practice techniques based on your information and here is what worked for me.

Primed fairly heavy with Kilz2. After a few hours I gave it a quick sand with 220 grit to clean up any fuzzies.

For the primary color coat I tried acrylic latex, spray can enamel and spray can appliance enamel. They are listed in order of worst to best results.

For the V paint I used acrylic artist paint as used for an airbrush. I used a paint brush and put it in the V liberally then wiped it clean with a damp paper towel.

The paper towel was folded 4 times and damp. I drug it across the face as flat as possible to clean up excess paint.

The acrylic latex paint exhibited slight staining issues that needed touch up after the fact. It was exterior semi-gloss, perhaps gloss would do better or over coating with a clear enamel first.

The spray enamel did very well. I had one issue where I let the paint sit too long and I had to scrap it off. The enamel didn't stain but I did chip out some scraping off the dry paint.

The spray appliance enamel (available in white, off-white and black) did EXCELLENT! The stuff wipes clean like nothing was ever on it.

I'll post some photos later.

Robert

[jhicks]

Thanks for the tips Robert, lots of ways to skin the cat. I've never tried the appliance enamel so thats a new one to try. Does the acrylic latex stick to it? Just curious what happens over time and weathering.
Didnt mention one of the simpler techniques so if you havent used it.
Best for stained and painted V or recessed art.
Cut the piece in redwood lets say.
Prime and paint inside the cut areas but dont be concerned too much about overage.
Then after drying, simply surface sand the top to remove paint outside the letters, then stain and seal.
The one thing to be sure of is cut areas are primed up to top edges so paint doesnt bleed through the grain beyond the cut areas.
In the end, whatever works best for you and your shop capabilities is the way to go but its always great to hear how others make it happen.

[butch]

Jerry;
Went to your site - great work. Really nice molding work. Also your signs are real nice. Thanks for posting

[jhicks]

Thanks Butch, as far as your interest in moulding detail, James Booth is the guy you want to go to. great 3d files, reasonable cost and short turnaround on a clean cut file. we can't take credit for the design as it's a copy of a historical piece James helped us with. All we did is find the customer, say yes, send photos to James, tweak a few final dimensions with James to dial in the design, and cut it.