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wood preparation for vinyl
generally we produce banners at sports matches ie: very simple vinyl onto PVC banners, however a client at a rugby club is looking for permanant year round sign at pitchside.
I know this aint that tough a job but thought I would canvess some opinions as to the best material to use.
I was thinking 9mm or 12mm plywood as its being fixed to a wall. I have seen in the past that forex or foamx etc tends to break easy when a ball etc hits it hard over a season, whereas wood is very durable?
I was planning to cut the wood to size but my problem (or lack of expertise!!) is in the wood preparation, do I sand it first, then prime it, then undercoat it, then finally paint it ?(wth what matt or gloss paint??) then of course the easy part which Im used to ie applying the vinly (Oracal 751).
any advice at all chaps and chappess’s
many thanks in advance
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9 Replies
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Hi.
I do this all the time.
Cut your wood to whatever shape or size.
I use 1/2″ A/C exterior grade plywood.
That means it’s sanded 1 side at the factory hence the A.
Sand the cut edges and dust off or blow off with an air gun.
Prime with a coat of exterior latex primer, then sand and blow off when dry.
I take 1-Shot Lettering enamel, stir well, then dump a puddle of it right in the middle of the sign.
Then I roll it out with a foam roller. The last part of the coverage is done using just the lightest pressure and not letting the roller “roll” so that you pop any bubbles.
Leave dry a minimum of overnight (12 hours)
The 1-Shot levels out beautifully and comes in nice colors.
Then apply vynull.
Never apply vynull over a latex paint, because there can be a reaction with the adhesive which causes failure.
Many people use Benjamin Moore Oil-Based House Paints.
Just be sure to use an exterior oil-base paint with a gloss finish.
Good Luck,
Love…Jill -
jill,
many many thanks for this, u sound like a master !
Do any UK guys know of uk suppliers for the types of paint/latex that Jill is taking about ?
I would really appreciate the heads up as to what substances are best and can be bought locally ie: is your average B&Q black gloss not going to do the job ! also primers etc
again thanks
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Any local DIYstore will have exterior latex primer and oil-based exterior gloss enamel house paint. Be sure to ask for a stir stick! (They are free here) They will also have the plywood, sandpaper, and foam rollers too. And mineral spirits for clean-up.
For the 1-Shot Lettering enamel, you’ll have to go to Hanovers? Handovers? (throw me a bone folks) But there IS a UK sign supply house that sells paints AND brushes.
Love…Jill -
yep, jills advice is good there mate… 😉
we dont do much in wood these days but for large site boards etc
i would use .5-.75 inch extrerior plywood.
1st undercoat both sides, let it dry and give 1 side a nice easy sand with the grain of course 😉
you wont need a heavy grit sandpaper as the ply should already have a finish on it. make sure you paint around the edges too to seal the wood.
once undercoated and sanded, give it a gloss. the one side your lettering is fine. depending on the colour your painting it may need a second coat of gloss. the better the gloss the better the vinyl grips it.
i would waite a minimum of 24 hours for the paint to dry before lettering it. gloss takes longer to dry here because of of beautiful weather 😮
if the gloss is not completely dry all the way through, you may leave an imprint or a dulling of the paint were the backing tape was.i use dulux paints for the gloss etc.. hope this helps some… 😀
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Good advice Rob.
I usually just paint the second side (the unseen side) with whatever paint I have laying about, usually pissmuckledeedunn green or fox pecker pink or some odd discard.
You can buy off-mixes of exterior paints at our DIY stores dirt cheap…excellent for sign backs.
If there are voids in the edges of the plywood I fill them with exterior wood putty, sand them, prime, & paint.
Love…Jill -
robert/jill
again very helpful thank you.
robert, is there a UK undercoat you would recommend ? also I hear crown & dulux are the best paints (I only say that cos the crown depot is pretty nearby?) so would rather use that?
thanks
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crown is fine mate.. most good paint suppliers are good enough for this type of thing.
as long as you get a good gloss coat on the finish the vinyl will be fine.
the best advice i can give you is to ask the crown depot near you. tell them what you want to do and they will recomend the paint type.
you just need a undercoat and a gloss for wood. again, like jill has said, a roller is the best way/quickest too…if you have a table to sit the board onto to paint thats best.. that way, even if your not the best at painting it cant run as its lying flat up… 😉
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Crown Stronghold Exterior primer/undercoat is best along with Crown Stronghold Exterior gloss and DON’T use ply its bloody useless :lol1: you want Medite EXTERIOR MDF much easier and nicer to work with than crappy old ply, I get my sheet wood materials here
http://www.edens.co.uk/ one coat of primer/undercoat and then 2 coats of gloss as Jill says sand between coats and use a small foam roller rather than a brush, buy your foam rollers from Wickes as they are about £4 for 10 and I usually chuck them when I’m finished, if you do them flat then you can get them done in 3 days i.e. paint the rear in the morning and it will be dry enough to turn at the end of the day then do the face, do this for all the coats of paint and you’ll end up with a real nice finish. -
steve, thanks for that too. all this info is greatly appreciated. 🙂
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