Signs for local Am. Legion and VFW

[phil_o]

Our local Am. Legion and VFW share a building. Recently they asked me to carve signs for both organizations. Both are 32" x 32", the material is Azek. They supplied the applied decals.

Phil

[Georgia Design Works]

Looks great Phil. I been lurking in the background trying to learn as much as I can. Just got my PRSAlpha up and running. Please correct me if I am wrong, but Azek is a PVC decking material. Did you glue up some deck boards to get those 32x32 panels? How did you avoid the glue lines? When you say "carve" do you mean the lettering around the decals? It doesn't look v-carved. Did you pocket the letters? Please share the process. What type of primer/paint did you use? Did you use a mask? Inquiring minds would like to know. Thanks.
George

[phil_o]

Thanks, George. Azek (http://www.azek.com/) is a company that manufactures a variety of PVC products for home building. It is available for house trim in standard trim dimensions, eg. 1" x 4, 6, 8, etc. I purchased a 4' x 8' x 3/4" thick sheet and cut it to the dimensions needed. There were no glue lines. The letters around the decals are V-carved. I used Benjamin Moore latex exterior paint, no primer, no masking. I used three coats of paint and sanded the panel to clean up where I got paint outside the letters .
On paint, this is a page from the Azek website. http://www.azek.com/technical-center/faqs.aspx#qTrim-20

Phil

[mikeacg]

I use a lot of Trex brand from my local lumberyard as well. The wood-textured 1x12s are great for small signs (like for a cabin) and with the texture, you can just v-carve the lettering and it looks like a fully carved 3D sign. It comes in different thicknesses and I don't have to pay delivery like I would from a sign supply company. When I lived in Wilmington, NC I got free delivery several times a week because there were a number of sign shops in town but up here in the middle of nowhere (Newberry, MI) the delivery for a 4'x8' sheet is more than the product in most cases so this is a good solution for me. I used some leftover 1/2" to convert a rectangular window into a half-round window.
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25745&stc=1
Handy stuff to have laying around. They wanted $435 for the round window and only $88 for the rectangle! And the rectangular window was easier to side...
Mike