jshoes51
04-19-2009, 11:51 PM
I volunteered to make new signs for the local village library. Since they exist entirely on donations, and always struggle for hand-outs to pay for maintenance etc, I decided to give Extira a try instead of HDU for the 6'x4' oval signs they asked for. I got two sheets of 1" as they'll get mounted on each side of posts already spaced about 3' apart.
I did a search about Extira beforehand as I had read about its painting issues. I washed both blanks down with soap, water and scrub brush, let them dry overnight, then primed with Sherwin Williams Prep-rite quickseal, an oil-based primer/sealer. I lightly sanded that, then followed with three coats of Ben Moore Aura acrylic latex paint. I brought them in the house and put them near the woodstove for four days before masking and carving.
I used Gerber sign mask, and when I gingerly pulled it off, enough of the paint came with it to wreck the job. It didn't come off with the mask, but it did pull up in little blister type areas that I could easily pull off with my fingers.
I'm a pretty patient person so instead of getting out the sledge hammer, I thought about it overnight. The next day I got out my 6" fein sander and stripped all the paint and primer off the sign, which left me with nice, gold painted carved letters surrounded by bare Extira. This time i went to Extira's web site and bought the Zinsser oil base cover stain primer recommended. I lightly rolled on a primer coat so hardly ant paint went down into the letters. I followed with a couple very light coats of topcoat rolled on.
Now I have an idea which may be may be sheer folly or may be worth a try, so I thought I'd mention it to see if anyone has tried anything like this or has any advice to save me hours of handpainting. I'm thinking I might be able to fill all the carved letters with water and then spray on the final top coat with my HVLP sprayer. That would keep the top coat out of the carved gold letters, and when it dried, I could just drain the water out. If the HVLP air stream is too strong and blows the water out of the letters, maybe I could thicken it with something? Has anyone ever tried anything like this? The worst thing that could happen is having to sand all the paint off again and start over.
I did a search about Extira beforehand as I had read about its painting issues. I washed both blanks down with soap, water and scrub brush, let them dry overnight, then primed with Sherwin Williams Prep-rite quickseal, an oil-based primer/sealer. I lightly sanded that, then followed with three coats of Ben Moore Aura acrylic latex paint. I brought them in the house and put them near the woodstove for four days before masking and carving.
I used Gerber sign mask, and when I gingerly pulled it off, enough of the paint came with it to wreck the job. It didn't come off with the mask, but it did pull up in little blister type areas that I could easily pull off with my fingers.
I'm a pretty patient person so instead of getting out the sledge hammer, I thought about it overnight. The next day I got out my 6" fein sander and stripped all the paint and primer off the sign, which left me with nice, gold painted carved letters surrounded by bare Extira. This time i went to Extira's web site and bought the Zinsser oil base cover stain primer recommended. I lightly rolled on a primer coat so hardly ant paint went down into the letters. I followed with a couple very light coats of topcoat rolled on.
Now I have an idea which may be may be sheer folly or may be worth a try, so I thought I'd mention it to see if anyone has tried anything like this or has any advice to save me hours of handpainting. I'm thinking I might be able to fill all the carved letters with water and then spray on the final top coat with my HVLP sprayer. That would keep the top coat out of the carved gold letters, and when it dried, I could just drain the water out. If the HVLP air stream is too strong and blows the water out of the letters, maybe I could thicken it with something? Has anyone ever tried anything like this? The worst thing that could happen is having to sand all the paint off again and start over.