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Michael Boone
Sign Painter
5828 Buerman Rd.Sodus,NY 14551
Ontime @localnet.com

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AZBrad
Artisan Signs
Phoenix, AZ
www.artisan-signs.com

A large HDU sign needs some support. It will flex alot. I agree with the Grain Fraim guys that it doesn't make sense to glue on MDO to a sign that won't rot, unless you want to shorten the life of the sign. I think Alumalite is a better backer. I had a 4 by 12 get ripped off the poles by a 60 MPH wind. I did not have a backer on it. I will beef up mounting methods on all future HDU signs.

These guys have a new product out that I'm excited about for painting the letters, especially where damage could occur. Its a type of 2 part 50/50 epoxy that you add a little One Shot to it for the color you want. Then you pour it on the letters with a needle nose bottle. It doesn't run over the edge and sets up very smooth and VERY hard.

Do a little research and if you do it right I'm sure you'll like working with HDU. The Grain Fraim guys will help you over the phone if you don't talk too long. You can call me too and I'll be happy to help you with questions about HDU.

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Dave Sherby
"Sandman"
SherWood Sign & Graphic Design
Crystal Falls, MI 49920
906-875-6201
ICQ: 21604027
sherwood@up.net

You may like HDU so much that you never go back to redwood.
Coastal Enterprises publishes an informative booklet on fabricating and finishing. Awhile back somebody said it was even online, too.

I also agree with those, like Dave, who prefer not backing up their HDU with MDO. It's just too many letters.

I've installed single face foam signs in several different ways to compensate for the flexiness of the material.
One way I like uses square tube for posts, 3" or 4". Weld horizontal stringers of inch or inch-and-a-half square tube. Four horizontal stringers can yield approximate centers of 16" on a 4'x8' sign. I've even done this in a knock-down version by welding stubs of inch-and-a-half tube to the posts, for accepting the one inch stringers. This way I could transport and install it by myself by carrying it in pieces and assembling it on the lawn on site, pulling it together with pipe clamps, then raising it by hand, leaving the clamps holding it together till the concrete sets up in the holes.

Another configuration I have used is an entire back-frame, not just stringers, of one inch square tube. The perimeter of the frame could match the blank, with center braces on 24" centers or less.

This back-frame I have also made out of one-inch square aluminum tube and no welding. At the corners I use a plastic elbow from Outwater Plastics. It perfectly fits the aluminum tube I get locally from the steel yard. For attaching the vertical braces, Outwater has plastic 'T' fittings. I secure all the joints with stainless screws or pop rivets.

When I make the frame of aluminum, I attach it to the back of the HDU prior to installation on the posts. If the frame is steel, it's easier to weld it all together, then paint and install, hanging the sign blank last.

For fastening, quarter inch stainless through-bolts with a carriage head looks nice. If you don't want to cover the whole face with bolt heads, just use them at the perimeter, or even just the corners. Then use large thread sheet metal screws, such as a #12 or #14, into the back of the foam from behind for additional attachments. Run these screws in by hand, not with your 18-volt cordless. Also, I believe that putting some epoxy on the threads before you put them into the foam will add strength.

If you want totally blind fasteners, you could glue the foam to the frame, then countersink and fill bolt holes at the corners and/or perimeter, using the knife consistency filling compound.

One advantage of using a skeletal frame of tubing is in case you want the back to be visible. If you are marblizing, for example, it can be very striking for the entire back to be marblized. You can also lightly etch into the back, very inconspicuously in a corner: "Florence Marble Works", in Italian, or some such nonsense, for a final touch of faux.

Brad
Paris, Arkansas,
home of "Paris Marble Works".

By using square steel posts
You can take advatage of all the decorative finials, caps, ornaments, etc., made in cast iron, cast aluminum, or brass. These are made by many different companies as fence components, and fit different sizes of square pipe. Rosettes, coner brackets, etc., can be welded, drilled & bolted, pop-riveted, or, in the case of a cast iron finial, simply siliconed to the top of the pipe. These ornaments can often make a plain installation into something very beautiful, even ornate-looking.

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Brad Ferguson
4782 West Highway 22
Paris AR 72855
501-963-2642
signbrad@cswnet.com

[This message has been edited by Brad Ferguson (edited February 25, 2000).]
 

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AZBrad
Artisan Signs
Phoenix, AZ
www.artisan-signs.com

[This message has been edited by AZBrad (edited February 25, 2000).]