Foam Cut Out Letters

[Gavin MacMillan]

you can get 19mm thick from the usual suppliers

[Gary Gray]

Thanks for that Gavin, some of the letters might need to be about double that depth I guess its just a case of getting the glue out.

[Robert Lambie]

when you say foam, do you mean the likes of foamex pvc?
if so, as Gavin says, you can get 19mm foamex with a hard smooth finish from the likes of amari, thats where i buy it from. but i would guess RHG would do it too..

i could be wrong, but i think you can only get that one in white "off the shelf".

doubling the text up isnt a problem. as you say, just glue the layers together.
but be aware that foamex that sort of thickness isnt perfect all the way through. when you view a routered letter from the side, 90% is solid plastic but there are some holes peppered through it that can be seen. up on a wall and viewed from several feet away it looks fine, but wanted to mention incase these are for an office or some place and viewed internally at eye level.
same would apply if planning on doubling up the letters.

if you mean styrofoam, this comes in many thicknesses… cheaper and much lighter. Fran Hollywood on the boards manufactures signs 7 sculptures from this stuff and does some excellent work.

[Liam Pattison]

quote Robert Lambie:

when you say foam, do you mean the likes of foamex pvc?
if so, as Gavin says, you can get 19mm foamex with a hard smooth finish from the likes of amari, thats where i buy it from. but i would guess RHG would do it too..

i could be wrong, but i think you can only get that one in white “off the shelf”.

doubling the text up isnt a problem. as you say, just glue the layers together.
but be aware that foamex that sort of thickness isnt perfect all the way through. when you view a routered letter from the side, 90% is solid plastic but there are some holes peppered through it that can be seen. up on a wall and viewed from several feet away it looks fine, but wanted to mention incase these are for an office or some place and viewed internally at eye level.
same would apply if planning on doubling up the letters.

if you mean styrofoam, this comes in many thicknesses… cheaper and much lighter. Fran Hollywood on the boards manufactures signs 7 sculptures from this stuff and does some excellent work.

Hi Rob,

does styrofoam differ from polystyrene at all? Is it a better quality material. Was just wondering if there was any difference or if it’s just another name for the same thing?

Liam

[Robert Lambie]

sorry mate, maybe its my description that is wrong… it is "polystyrene".

there are other foams such as High density urethane foam board which are ideal for routing and sculpting, but it is much more expensive.

common name in the states for it is SignFoam 2

[Liam Pattison]

quote Robert Lambie:

sorry mate, maybe its my description that is wrong… it is “polystyrene”.

there are other foams such as High density urethane foam board which are ideal for routing and sculpting, but it is much more expensive.

common name in the states for it is SignFoam 2

Thanks for that, i just had some letters made out of polystyrene, on the edge you could see evidence that it was made from polystyrene. But the customer showed me some letters he’d had made previously, they were a polystyrene type material but the edges were really good and did not have a polystyrene look to them at all. Must be the high quality stuff you mentioned. I couldn’t seem to track down a supplier.

Liam

[Gary Gray]

Thanks Robert

Its foamex pvc and RHG do supply it in 19mm I just thought there might be something similar but thicker.

Thanks again

[Gareth Hankinson]

Liam, did you manage to find a supplier of this stuff? Im after a quote on exactly the same product.

Cheers

Gareth

[Liam Pattison]

quote Gareth Hankinson:

Liam, did you manage to find a supplier of this stuff? Im after a quote on exactly the same product.

Cheers

Gareth

Hi Gareth, no i couldn’t find it mate, had a bit of a nightmare trying to track it down.

read through this post and see how my end product turned out made from standard polystyrene-

http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … sc&start=0

What is your customers specification on the letters- thickness, and finish and where are they going.

I have had to produce some unusual lettering lately so if you let me know perhaps i can be of some help.

cheers

Liam

[Gareth Hankinson]

Cheers for the reply mate.

All they have asked for is free standing letters at 900mm with the words WeDo im trying to give them prices for various materials but im guessing that they will have to be pretty think to be freestanding at that height. Its for their refurbed offices and they need to be either bright orange or white.

Thanks again for the reply its appreciated

[Liam Pattison]

Hi

If you go down the polystyrene route i would make sure you do it in a matt finish. I had a sample made in gloss and it just showed up every flaw in the polystyrene compared to matt.

I usually go for a matt finish with interior work anyway

You will probably need it card or vinyl faced on both sides if it’s going to be viewed back and front (freestanding)

All i did was google ‘polystyrene letters’ and got as many quotes as i could.

Can’t really recommend a supplier as i wasn’t too happy with the service.

The letters i had made were going up on a wall and the face was the main thing you’d see. The sides of the letters in polystyrene are not 100% tidy.
you can still see it’s polystyrene. I imagine it could show quite a bit with nearly 1m high letters viewed at ground level.

Polystyrene is often used in tv production, like in the background on studios where the camera will not pick up flaws, but i have seen it used in offices and such, it just depends how fussy the customer is about the finish.

Let us know what you get it made out of as i would be interested to hear, especially if you track down that other higher quality material.

Cheers

Liam

[Derek Heron]

any ideas what the foam substrate they use on the flat bed routers that were doing demo’s at sign uk. sure it was pretty thick stuff like an of yellow colour or am i mad

just a thought

derek

[Gareth Hankinson]

Yep Derek you are mad……..

Cheers for the reply Liam. I will get some prices for various materials as it doesn’t have to be polystyrene i was just thinking because of the size of the letters.

I will post pics if i get the work.

Thanks again mate

[Graham . Shand]

Rosco, do a product called Foam Coat, expensive £110.00 for 5 litre, but it can be watered down, after several coats ,dries to a very smooth and hard finish, can be sanded down to a smooth finish, I use this for prop making for theatre shows.