Attaching to HDU

[genek]

What is the best way to attach eye bolts to HDU. sign has to be one piece foam no glue up..

this is a two sided sign (same thing on both sides the sign will need to swing with the wind. the sign is 36 inches wide by 64 inches long



thanks

[steve_g]

Gene

What works best for me is to laminate wood or a steel angle inside the foam and attach to it.

SG

[genek]

problem there customer wants one piece of foam no glue up foam to be 1.5

[steve_g]

Gene

I'd put it in a frame of either wood or metal... The HDU can't be relied on to hold an anchor any amount of time.

SG

[genek]

Thanks will do so... by the way how are you doing...have you gotten your shop re-wired.
if you were close would come and do the wiring for you.

[steve_g]

Gene


"by the way how are you doing...have you gotten your shop re-wired."

Thanks for asking... I can see that It won't be long until I consider my new hip my "good" one... I'm still working on endurance though. My grandson came over Friday noon, we assembled his new two-wheeler together and I pushed him up and down the alley a few times. After his mother picked him up I slept the rest of the day!

My son-in-law came over and helped me finish up the wiring... It's sure going to be nice getting the extension cords off the floor! I put all the outlets in the ceiling... now I need to make 3' or 4' drops for all of them.

SG

[genek]

since you did that make sure you have a way to anchor the drop cord to the ceiling.. they make a stress relief for cords.. also put a pulley at each outlet and pull the cords up when not in use... otherwise you keep on bumping them.

[jerry_stanek]

Use long threaded rod with a coupler and go all the way from top to bottom fill the bottom holes with scrap

[genek]

not sure how i would get the rod all the way thru the 5 foot 4 inch sign... any suggestions... drilling is out of question.

[kurt_rose]

You could always route a channel and fill in with epoxy.

[genek]

the sign is a two sided sign... so i can not route a grove in it and fill it back up..
the sign will need to swing with the wind.

[jerry_stanek]

We chuck a length of rod and use it as a drill bit. E start with a normal bit and just keep getting longer pieces

[sneakers]

First let me say HDU is not very strong just swinging in the wind especially not a sign as large as you are making. For smaller signs than yours I drill a hole larger than the eyebolt then hog out the opening below the surface by moving the drill on an angle to open the hole below the surface. Think reverse cone then fill the opening with 2 part epoxy and insert the eyebolt and let dry then hang the sign. I have done this many times and have not had a failure yey.

Good luck
Gary

[jim shula]

West Systems Epoxy had a booth at the boatbuilders show a few years ago. One of their displays was an eye bolt set in epoxy in hdu foam. They drilled the hole for the eye bolt out oversized and filled the hole with epoxy. Then they screwed in the eye bolt. The salesman claimed it would hold several hundred lbs. This was a few years ago so I don't remember the exact details, but West has a good customer service phone line, so you could call them and ask.

[dakers]

at the point you are at with customer demands i would frame it to give it weight and rigidity in the wind gusts.

[bleeth]

Eugene: If the customer requires construction in such a way that is not prescribed normal practice then it is usually due to his lack of knowledge. A 2 sided sign only 1 1/2" thick in HDU just wont have a lot left after carving unless there really isn't much material taken out. Does he want it to fail?
I would be asking him why he doesn't want to sandwich the sign over MDO and then put a trim around it? The trim could be done so it were part of the design element or invisible. Either way he ends up with a far superior product.
There is a reason why many methods are considered "standard practice". Design style may be out of the ordinary but construction standards exist for a reason.
Believe me, I have had enough prospective clients in my life who want to tell me how to build something that I know is not the right way to do it and I learned the hard way early that it is a mistake to let them talk you into doing something the wrong way.