Redwood Sign

[butch]

I am needing some advice on making a 2X4 foot sign out of redwood.
My intent is to take 8-4x2x4" clear redwood boards - drill two holes through edges - run a 2foot threaded rod, with chain loop ends to make a 2'X4' panel.
Then make a letter M 10" tall out of 18# foam - gold leaf - spray with a clear coating(?) - and attach to the panel with screws from the back.
This sign will be a yard address sign, so in the elements.
Should end up with a silver/gray sign with gold letters.
Is this the best way to do this?
Thanks for any help - first outdoor sign for sale, so want to do a good job.

Butch

[joewino]

That should work. You didn't mention any adhesive on the edges of the boards. I would suggest West System or similar epoxy.

Also, I wouldn't suggest any clear coating over the gold leaf. Clear will dull the brilliance of the gold and cut the life of the gold because of the UV rays of the sun on the clear. Gold is best left alone unless it is in a high traffic area where a lot of hands will be touching it.

[jhicks]

Butch, not sure about the attachment technique so puting it out there for comment. If one simply screws into HDU it doesn't have much strength to hold threads so I suggest a construction adhesive to secure it to the redwood. Maybe some epoxy in the HDU screw holes or something like that.

I'm sure others have ideas but once assembled it should look nice.
How are you bonding the redwood plank lay up?
Or is is just bound between threaded rod assembly?
Post photos when completed.

[butch]

Jerry and Raymond
I was wondering if I should glue the edge - I think now I will epoxy the edges.
Do I need to worry about wood movement with the connection between the redwood and foam letters?
I guess I was worried about the wood movement, so was just using screws, but would feel more comfortable with epoxy to hold the letters to the board.
Thanks for the help. That is what I was worried about, ...missing the obvious.
No there shouldn't be any touching to talk about - so I dropped the clear coat idea.
I will post pictures,
Thanks
Butch

[jhicks]

Butch, I cant say for sure as I've never worked with redwood but imagine an epoxy or Gorilla glue would do the trick on edge glue joints.
I would also say one always needs to worry about material expansion under weather conditions and different materials.
We generally "screw and glue" letters or layers on top with stainless steel screws but in cases where screws are not an option, pins and glue/adhesives also work.
Whatever you do, try some test materials and glue or adhesives to make sure you're getting the bond you want.
Construction grade polyurethane adhesives seem to hold to just about everything.