What is PVC board used for exactly?

[harryball]

How do you guys use PVC board? When it is in the sun it curls up like a pretzel. Even small peices clamped down contort in slow motion like a slug covered in salt.

I purchased a sheet of 1/2" white and 1/4" black. About 1 foot was open to the sun on the tailgate, the rest was under the rolltop cover. Before I could get home the first 10" or so of both of them were curled up about a foot and the WHITE was on top. I was hoping to make bat house roofs out of the material but that doesn't look like it's going to be feasable.

Then it occured to me... what is it used for?


EDIT: BTW, any ideas on what I can use? I was hoping to have a durable roof material that didn't need painting and could be formed into a slight bow.

/RB

[Brady Watson]

Robert,
It is used primarily for the display industry, but this is mostly indoors.

Exterior applications are trim boards around doors, facia boards etc. I have done quite a bit of Victorian gingerbread, fencing and railing out of the stuff for one of my customers.

I don't know HOW those boards curled up like that on you...Yes, they will bend under heat, and can be molded as such is required. Fastening should allow for expansion & contraction.

Off the top of my head, the best roof material for a bat house would be DiBond. It comes in all colors, machines well and is really stiff for it's thickness. You can buy 91 degree v-bits with the correct geometry for doing bends/folds. Just about every monolithic Honda dealership sign is made out of this stuff. A squirt of 3M marine sealant in the bend will set the angle and keep it there forever.

-B

[joe]

R. Ball,


I 'm kind of amazed you've had a bad experience with PVC. I use the white 1/2 all the time. However the colored materials aren't stablel and I wouldn't advise using them. I have to assume the problem comes with adding colors to the PVC. I haven't had the first problem with 1/2” 3/4” or 1” white.


Let me quality this by saying I've never used 1/2” pvc as a background material but we're now using quiet a bit of 1” for this purpose.


The photo below shows both painted pvc letters, on the Maui sign, and vinyl applied to pvc on Bishops landing. This is an ancient sign which came in for a face lift. Hate to see this fellow go. It was made from beautiful clear heart redwood. The kind you can't get today. My records show it was made seventeen years ago.


http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e115/jcrumley1/IMG_2145-1.jpg

[harryball]

Those are beautiful. I'm looking at the material closely, called the supplier. I'm wondering if I got the right stuff? It looks like pvc, tastes like it and costs like it. But it warps up like nobody's business.

The 1/2" white wasn't as bad as I'd thought. As I pulled the material out I realized it was completely cupped and when laying flat crown down each end was about 5" up (still). The tie downs were holding the other end of the white down making it lift to look like the full 12".

The 1/4" black I don't know if I'm going to be able to recover the last foot. It almost looks like it was being vac formed. I suppose the black would absorb a lot of heat, but I didn't expect that much deformation. don't know how 1/2" black would do. Anybody have a piece to try?


/RB

[eric_schumacher]

Wow. A sign with a phone number and no area code. Perhaps they can go old skool and put "JAckson 7 -1010" :)

[knight_toolworks]

yes dibond is a good choice. though it is about twice the cost. but it is stiffer and can handle the weather better. I just cut a couple of hot dogs with it and a stencil.
but so far I have not been able to vcarve it the letter parts come loose with heat.

[joe]

RB,

Can't figure out what you have there, it might not be classical PVC. Ken Zey brought me some very nice white construction grade from the lumber store called out as "Clear". It had a light wood grain pattern on one side. Wish it was available here.

A few years ago I sold a job needing some exterior Red letters, so naturally I ordered that color PVC. Within a month the red turned to pink. Soon after they started to cup. I've found all colored PVC is subject to deteriorating with UV and heat. Black is close to useless even for indoor use. It's nasty stuff.

My main use of PVC is for letters. The white stays clean and stable with time. The 3/4" is good for larger letters, 12" and above. Once lightly sanded, it will accept most any paint. I like spraying with light coats of plain old latex.

I forgot to mention: The Bishops sign had 1/4" pvc letters just like the one's shown. They lasted very well.

Good luck

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com/)

[harryball]

Here is a photo of the black AFTER I heated it with a heat gun and clamped it down to cool. After this picture I repeated the process. I'll see what it looks like later. I think the black stuff just absorbs way too much heat and the white was too close by. The white did settle back down, it has about 3" of bow left over the 4' cut section.

I'm going to try the white. The panels will be about 20" x 8". I wonder if a grey would hold up? I'm trying to avoid painting, just a ready made roof panel.

What do you spray latex paint with / what paint do you use? I've tried several guns/systems, nothing gives me a smooth finish unless the paint is milk and milk paint doesn't hold up very well.

/RB

[wberminio]

Robert

Add Floetrol to latex paint.it helps to smooth out as it is sprayed or rolled.

[joe]

RB,

In my last post I mentioned PVC will accept almost any kind of paint. My favorite paint sprayer is the Critter. It has only two moving parts and will spray just about anythin. Look to Ebay. They cost $39.00.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e115/jcrumley1/CimarrontoSB.jpg

[Brady Watson]

Robert,
That's pretty unusual for PVC to curl up like that...I mean I guess if you left it in the Summer sun for too long it might curl up like that, but it's still pretty unusual in my experience.

Do you have a brand name? I would contact the manufacturer's tech dept and ask lots of questions.

-B

[widgetworks_unlimited]

Is the PVC material you picked up "foamed" (low density) inside with a smooth skin on the outside?

You may have picked up solid (high density) PVC sheet, which is different from what most of the sign makers use. I've seen it sold for making chemical tanks and industrial machine shields, etc.

In purchasing 1/4" UHMW sheet, I've seen a remarkable difference in quality/price coming out of different overseas mills. Much of it wasn't flat enough to vacuum clamp.