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how do i fix letters to uneven stonework
I have fitted raised letters to stonework on many occasions, fortunately the stone face has been flat and the stone large allowing me to make the fittings suit the stones.
Here the stonework is very uneven with many lifting edges, I would like to keep the letters individually raised if I can but open to ideas. Is there away of using two carrying rails that could look part of the design, finding easy points to fix the rail and then fix the letters to the rail.
CARROWMORW MEADOWS ark text from inside window reveals over doors.
with Residence centre in script level at the bottom of the ark, again open to ideas. Maybe the text will have to be on a backboard I’m just not sure.
Russ
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8 Replies
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Alternatively, don’t have normal locators on the letters. Instead, have rods attached to the back. Then you can adjust the depth of each letter individually until they look nice and flat. Use gripfil or something to stick ’em in the holes with.
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The main problem is where a fixing lands on the edge of a piece of stone and the drill slides off in a different direction, some letters just will not match up with the stone as a direct hit. Being able to adjust the depth is a good idea and will get me over one hurdle. Maybe I Should look at a different kind of layout or style signage any help or design ideas will be very welcome.
Russ
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I see what you mean. At least with this method you can drill the holes a bit bigger to give you a bit of margin of error. Also, sometimes it helps to punch the holes first to give the drill a place to grip.
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We did something similar recently, letters with locators fixed to a stone wall. All the stones were very uneven and we used spacers to get the letters to look even. It took hours to do as the stone was like iron and we went through numerous masonry bits drilling the holes. It is a good idea to punch the wall prior to drilling as it helps to stop the bit slipping. Make sure you’ve allowed enough time in the job as this could take you far longer than you might think
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I have had to replace missing lettering in the past and have done this by firstly leaving off the male locators on the back of the lettering that was to be re-fitted. Then I have fitted the female locators onto the brickwork using the original holes for the "missing" letters. I then pressed into place the male locators (still not attached to the lettering at this stage) then finally used a double sided VHB tape to attach the flat cut lettering onto the male locators by holding the lettering in position until it looked about right before pressing it on.
You could adapt this idea to suit the underlying uneven brickwork by using a paper template as normal but with plenty of scope to decide where best you wish to drill the holes for your locators (as long as they lie within the shapes of each letter).
Hopefully my explanation makes sense?
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i have used same sort of methods in the past that andy has described.
the drilling next to the edge of a brick is difficult. a tip here is…
get a regular cordless drill with an old blunt 5mm drill bit. slowly drill a hole on the point you wish to fix. because the dril is NOT on hammer it doesn’t move about due to vibration. because the drill is a proper cutting drill it will cut into the brick a few mill before spinning on the spot, as its not going to penetrate the brick. the idea here is that you have created a little pocket for the masonry drill tip to sit in, preventing it sliding left and right when its turned on.
when you do actually start drilling into this little pocket, do it slow and build up the speed the deeper you go. works for me 9/10 time. 😀 -
I would use threaded rod….alternatively cut a 5mm base letter and secure it directly to wall through contersunk holes..fix with screws… make sure it’s not wonky then overlay a face letter [I prefer the look of this rather than seeing load of locators or rods] .
I know you are router cutting the job twice but they will be secure and level 😀
Cheers
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Russ I have used two clear acrylic rails in the past to fit lettering that was to small for locators and in my opinion it doesn’t look that good. Even with a narrow clear rail it is still visible between the lettering and I just think it makes the job look cheap.
Andy’s suggestion with rod’s would be the way I would probably go, you can always get round the problem of a rod in an awkward position like the corner of a brick by overdrilling the hole or starting the hole at an angle and then straightening it.
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