I am about to put a sign outside a shop but don't want to spend £100's
A guy I know can print us a banner, stick it to just about anything and then laminate it.
I have MDF and plyboard at my disposal, which would be better for outdoor use? It will be laminated but if weather could eventually get into it which would be the better option?
Thanks!
Waterproof ply aka marine ply Mdf can be got that is moisture resistant (greenish colour) but WPB ply will be best. Bob
Mmm. I would steer clear of wood altogether.
Acrlyic, aluminium, steel..foam board even..
Fair enough, any recommendations of where to get the above from would be appreciated while I go off and google.
WBP or marine ply. They ain't the same stuff, marine has a higher price tag but for your use WBP (water and boil prooof) will be fine. There are some bits of 18 mm WBP that have been kicking about outside with not treatment or protection, lent against a wall so one end (now) in the ground and they haven't delaminated yet.
MDF will just fall apart if any damp gets into it.
Agree; cut vinyl lettering on foamex, or even correx, board would look a whole lot better than a 'laminated banner'
Owain
MDF becomes a soft almost mushy material when wet through.
NT
Ebay for a Plastic/Perspex material,there are more sellers than this...just search perspex on ebay. What size do you need? this material will be your best bet.
We had a Ply sign up for several years and only changed it when the shop created enough money and our Logo changed.
the sign was cut in 2 peices from a sheet of 18mm marine ply IIRC.
Painted with regular silk vynal paint as used inside the shop then the logo and letters were up-scaled and printed in reverse on A4 sheets on an inkjet printer. Pages were then turned face-side down on the board and traced through leaving an outline of letters the right way round on the board for filing in.
Whole lot was then given several coats of a clear varnish (might have been marine or floor grade whichever was the clearest)
Job done.
Then we had a foamex/vynal board/letters which faded quickly and was a bit crap all round but lasted for another 3 years or more until we forked out for acrylic sign with light-box.
Quality of sign depends on funds avasilable at the time, but even a basic ply sign will get the message across well.
Our Logo and sign design has changed significantly with each version so no point forkig out big money for a fancy sign in the first years of business when for a new business it will alomost certainly need revision and re-design as the business evolves.
IMHO
Current sign reflects the fact that we are a significant entity on the interweb these days. (top left image)
Thing is if you'd have used a bit of logic first&formost you would ve saved the penny's ie two 3mm thick perspex sheets drilled at 4 corners and cut to size. The Logo could have been printed out and laminated then sandwiched between the two sheets of perspex and sign changed at any time during the course of the buisness.
Sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Firstly you would have eater ingress between perspex & laminated sheet. secondly, 2 x 3mm perspex sheets would need a lot of fixing points and would be too easy to crack, whereas Ply was just dripp through @ Screw.
I would have no hesitation recommending Plywood again. Actaully better than our foamex experiences bot Acrylic rules if funds allow.
Try boiling an offcut of each to see which holds up.
Both MDF and ply come in different types, which may or may not be suitable.
cheers, Pete.
I have noticed this a lot lately, ebay is one of the expensive places to buy especially with postage.
You've never done that, have you?
Uh huh, you've definitely never tried it. I have.
It's incredibly expensive because you have to buy a full sheet of acrylic even if you only use an A3 sized piece. So unless you're making several signs there's a lot of waste, which is going to cost a lot more than plywood.
There's no weather proofing in what you suggest, water gets between the sheets, and even if the laminating is better than usual, the moisture condenses and makes the sign unreadable.
The use of only four fixing points at the corners is inadequate and the probability is that the pressure of tightening up the fixings will cause the acrylic to crack. Acrylic has a lot of internal stress and cracks easily. Even if it does not crack while being worked it will crack over time, and it will crack and yellow very quickly in sunlight.
It's slightly better to use an acrylic front and an aluminium back, but mostly what you're suggesting is no better than simply using a laminated sheet.
A better job can be had by using a WBP plywood panel given several coats of exterior varnish. I've had good results printing onto photographic paper and then glueing the sheet to a prepared plywood panel. Once the adhesive sets give the panel several coats of an exterior varnish, preferably two-pack "Crystal" polyurethane. I've a sign made this way that has lasted for five years without water damage or fading.
"Norm" often recommends MDO - medium density overlay - for outdoor use and mentions it's made for signs. Wikipedia
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