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Has anyone come up with a suitable method for joining signfoam edge to edge so that the seam will not show when sandblasting? A way of using scraps.
-------------------- Frisby Signs, Inc. El Dorado, Arkansas Posts: 902 | From: El Dorado, Arkansas, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I've never found a perfect glue for foam, Roy. It always seems to be a little harder than the foam, and doesn't blow away evenly.
Do you use a Grainframe? That could help hide some seams. I don't use one; I blast out the background, then go back and hold the nozzle up real close and blow some fine lines, randomly across the face. Customers have all liked the look
[IMG][/IMG]
This is one I did recently. You can vary the lines in any pattern you choose....more or less.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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Dale...that is a pretty interesting look...kind of a heavy stone look.
Roy...I'm using gorilla glue and if I'm not blasting through my grain frame then yes I get a very pronounced glue line standing up...I take a tiny chisel or an xacto blade and work it down to an even level...my final texturing of the glue line I do with side lighting.
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For most jobs we glue up the pieces, rout the relief and lightly sandblast for texture, no rubber. Sand the raised surfaces smooth again. Very even background, minimal joint cleanup.
-------------------- Dennis Goddard
Gibsonton Fl Posts: 1050 | From: Tampa Fl USA | Registered: Apr 2000
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Thanks Rusty. I've always like the woodgrain look of the traditional sandblasted signs; but since foam has come out, it's opened the door to some interesting and different "looks".
There's nothing "etched in stone", so to speak, about how a blasted background should look, and I like to do things differently.
Actually, the sign pictured, is replacing a deteriorated one that was done pretty much identically to this; but on the old wood. When I showed my customer some pictures of some of the more current ones I'd done with a similar look of this one, she said "I actually like the new one better." Works for me!
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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Roy, if I'm blasting grain that's perpendicular to a glue line, I rout the entire panel to look like individual boards, making sure the routed channels go exactly over the glue lines. You just need to make a jig to control the lateral movement of your router.
Although doing a sandblasted "grain" with a CNC is rather slow, clean joints don't show at all.
-------------------- Rodger MacMunn T.R. MacMunn & Sons C.P.207, Sharbot Lake, ON 613-279-1230 trmac@frontenac.net Posts: 472 | From: Sharbot Lake, Ontario | Registered: Nov 2003
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Roy, one guy told me he uses an engraving bit in a hand router and cuts away a very thin line over the glue line, then blasts down to that depth during his final pass or two. It would probably take some testing and practice to know how deep to cut. I have a bit that is like a cove bit that comes to a point in the center instead of ending with a guide bearing. It would knock off a glue line less than 1/16 wide and deep. That might work but would require some sort of guide on a platform to keep the bit in a dead straight line.
Dale, I love that texture. Nice job.
Roger, yes carving wood grain on cnc is slow, but then again, I'm doing something else while my slow "employee" just keeps working without a break, without texting his friends, without calling in sick, without asking for a raise, and even working through the night without complaining.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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Guys...it's really fast and simple to pop off that glue line by hand with most any kind of knife or fine chisel...it takes a little extra time to blend the texture in after that but it sounds like some of you guys are making it more complicated than it has to be.