Acrylic Sign Advice needed Please

[Marko YYZ]

Interesting design. Will look fantastic if executed properly.

Here’s what I would do:

1) The back (main) sheet would be made from 12mm cast clear acrylic. The blueish tone would be applied to the back surface. This is done so you can adhere the letters to the front without worry about the blue vinyl/paint (whichever is easier) and provide a nice 3D look to the main sheet.

2) Cut the ‘essence’ and ‘paradise’ either out of 12mm White acrylic (as initially thought)… or use clear and mount white vinyl to the surface. This again gives you a 3D look, but you could could put the white in either the front OR back of the letters (experiment first).

3) The flowers… same as #2, except it’s a digitally printed image rather than solid colored vinyl. Could be placed on the back of the flower cut-out *so you sort of look through the clear to see the image… cool effect).

4) Cut other letters and flower petals (what is that at the bottom??) from 6mm material, so they are thinner and feel secondary, as they should.

5) I would make every attempt to get the letters and shapes cut out by laser. This will will give you a clean, polished edge with sharp corners. Cutting them on a router and having a 2 or 3mm radius on all your inside corners would not do justice to this design. Another thing is that a laser cut edge is not exactly 90 degrees to the surface – it tends to taper a bit as it gets deeper into the material. This will help the water drain from certain areas that it would otherwise pool up (top of the ‘n’, ‘r’, ‘d’, etc…)

6) Important. I would use 3M 467MP tape to adhere all the letters and shapes. It is a VHB (very high bond) tape that is made from a very thin, clear material. It can be purchased in sheet form, so you can lay it onto the letters after they’re cut out (to cover the entire surface) and trim to the outline with an exacto knife or razor blade. Once adhered, this tape is almost perfectly clear and provides a very string bond that will not be affected by the water. Using small pieces of tape would be bad for 2 reasons: I) it will be visible through your letters II) water will drip into the cavities where there is no tape and eventually dirt and grime will build up.

Using clear materials will give it a real glass like feel and add further dimension and depth, especially as the water if falling down the front.

As for the water fountain source at the top, I can’ think of anything from the top of my head that is available. We’ve done a couple of edgelit waterfall type pieces (see phoenix image below, with color changing LEDs) but the water portions were custom made on-site.

You could do this as an edgelit also, now that I think about it. You would etch the letters into the main panel (instead of laying them on top) and then the letters glow White, and the water also scintillates a little as it trickles down and catches the light.

[Jason Xuereb]

Thanks mate.

Just waiting for the client to approve the job. If it goes ahead I will keep you and everyone updated.

Cheers
Jason

[Steve Underhill]

I have also been toying with the idea of water feature signs & displays, that will look great once finished.
Another idea that might look good with the stand off letters, get the acrylic router cut at varying depths into channels, hard to describe but I mean so it looks like a sort of frozen waterfall effect, this way the water will run down it at different angles and give a greater effect.
maybe not what you’re looking for I don’t know but would look pretty good with some LEDs edge lighting it.
would a garden sprinkler adapted for correct water flow hidden in the top do the job?

Incidentally Marko I love that phoenix sign, was that CNC machined?

[Marko YYZ]

quote Steve Underhill:

Incidentally Marko I love that phoenix sign, was that CNC machined?

Thanks. All the vector art is CNC routed out, then the shaded areas are sandblasted for texture. It’s one of our customer that came up with the artwork and put it all together, we helped with some of the structural design and supplied the extrusions, LED lighting and controls.

Another thing we do is have an edgelit back layer (similar to what I described for Jason, and then mount 12mm sintra letters to the front surface. The letters can have either a solid colour, or have a laminate face (often brushed silver, chrome or brass). See pictures below.

You could easily run water over these, you’d just have to make certain you waterproof any of your lighting components. Ideally, the LEDs would be potted right into the extrusion with a clear epoxy.

[Jason Xuereb]

Marko,

With the main sheet can I apply the paint with a roller or will spraying be the only way?

Cheers
Jason

[Marko YYZ]

Depends on the type of paint. You have to make sure it’s something that will bond to acrylic, first off, and your choice will determine how you apply. In either case, you’ll probably have to put on multiple coats to ensure opacity (nothing worse than splotchiness from light filtering though in spots).

Make sure it is VERY clean before painting. Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol works ok, just make sure to use a lint and scratch free cloth (microfibre) and let it evaporate fully before coating. Remember that any speck of dust or hair will be trapped beneath the paint and be visible from the other side.

After the paint is on, I would clear coat it from the back also (with the same/compatible) type of material. This will protect it a little during transport and installation.

If this all sounds a bit much, then perhaps vinyl is the way to go if you have a matching colour available. The same rule about dust and bubbles (and even the vinyl adhesive itself) applies – since you’ll be looking through the clear acrylic onto the blue colour. If you lay it on wet (or dry) and you can see squeegie marks, those will usually settle and go away – especially if you leave the material to sit under sunlight or in a warm area for a period of time.

Have you sourced the 3M 467MP tape I mentioned?

[Jason Xuereb]

Hey Marko,

Trying to source the tape now. I’ve ordered my letters.

Will keep you updated on my progress.

Jason

[graham stewart]

Hello Jason
For what its worth ,I would spray it in a panel beaters spray both or ask them to spray it for you ,it could save you a lot of trouble.

Graham

[Jason Xuereb]

Hey Graham,

I didn’t want to keep carting it around. I can spray it in the factory but didn’t want to setup a tent for all the over spray etc. If I can get away rolling it on I will. I have a HPLV Spray gun as well as the air compressor for more high volume stuff.

Cheers
Jason