Flex faced signs

[Mark Horley]

mike I used to work for a national company and we did a lot of flex face signs…some alot bigger than this… the flex systems are all different…some have black plastic parts…some have green clips with ali strips…some are bolt tensioned…and some are rods & pockets… first you need to know the section….then you need to know the section…if you need new tensioners etc…Find out the overlap from the manufacturers…allow this on the face and simply lay vinyl up as you would on any substrate…the bigger the bench the better…if your limited to the space consider hiring a village hall for the day…years ago this was a good way of making space…if its a wooden floor just lay the flex out and away you go….(but If your in swansea…are you opposite ASDA)
back to the vinyl just panel it on the plotter and lay it up the bigger the sign the more ‘forgiving’…overlap any joins by at least 10/15mm…this allows for tensioning…

hope this has helped….

[Mike Grant]

Thanks mark, in fact the signs are not far from Asdas, I take it you know the area! It is the old Allied Carpets place.

We only have a small workshop so I think we would probably do it inside the shop before they kit it out, they are opening post September sometime.

The people who removed the old skins were kind enough just to slit out the panels and left all the fixing bits in situ with tell tale bits to know what the fold/overlap is. So no problems there.

[paul@esp]

Mike

Mark is quite correct. You MUST find out which system the box is manufactured from. It can make alot of difference and wil be the difference between the face fitting, or not.

It will probably be :

SignComp (black plastic clips)

Insight Speed Flex (aluminium clips)

Kestrel (pockets with springs)

Universal (pockets with tensioning rod)

There are a couple more though.

Applying vinyl to large skins can be done. We have a Swedish laminating table called a Rolls Roller with a glass bed 6000mm X 1600mm and a heavy-duty roller system.

However, for something of this size we would probably recommend a digitally printed face. We have supplied these in the past @ 25m X 5m.

Hope this helps.

[Fat Bob]

Hi Guys just a few points id like to ask please.

Would the vinyl you stick on have to be translucent or do you cut out were the letters aer going?

And i Know you have to have ovelaps due to shrinkage put wont the lines show up when its lit.

And do they make a translucent vinyl for flexiface signs?

Cheers…………FB

[Mark Horley]

yes its best to use translucent vinyl…for a more even light distribution…. but not essential… because mike’s laying red letters on a yellow background (and the size of it) I would build in a white outline of about 10/15mm this won’t be visable by the ‘public eye’ and it allows for any difference’s between the cutting & laying….
Just to add… if the customer wanted an opaque background (with letters to illuminate only) any vinyl would have to be backed with ‘black’ first. I’ve seen this on the back in reverse….vinyl & painted with emulsion and also on top under the finished colour….

Hope this has answered any questions….

[Lorraine Buchan]

Can someone please explaine flex face sign boxes or post a picture for me to see as i’m really not quite sure what your talking about here and i’d like to know

[Phill Fenton]

Here’s one I made earlier:-

They’re the same as ordinary illuminated signs, except instead of using acrylic, you use a flexible plastic material instead. This is held in place on the sign box with tensioning springs and clamps.

The advantage is no joins as the sign can be made in one piece. Also less likely to “Blow out” in a gale, and the face itself is easier to transport (Just roll it up).
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[Mark Horley]

lorraine
The best way to describe it is a fancy banner system tensioned over a special illuminated box system
If you have a universal info pack (Panatrim Daulcase etc) you should find a product in there called ‘flexcase’ this will show you the basic principles of how it works….although there are different makes on the market…

Hope it helps…