Hey, I've seen a few posts and heard some folks about using MDO as a carving substrate. Am I nuts or is this just inviting disaster? I spend a good amount of time coating all the edges of my MDO signs with waterproof glue before painting. I get all paranoid if the paper ovelay gets damaged on the face. So, am I being way too cautious with MDO? Can it actually BE carved and last outdoors? Because it sure is a heck of a lot cheaper than HDU if it can be used like that. Someone please clarify. Thanks, M
Posted by Sheila Ferrell (Member # 3741) on :
lol (that lil' face sez "eek")..an' rightly so,'cuz you kno' what Mark? I kno' SQuAT" about carvin', but I'm like you, I think that sounds insane . . .
But since I personally believe nothing is impossible...I look foward to hearin' from who can & how
[ February 13, 2004, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: Sheila Ferrell ]
Posted by Jon Harl (Member # 4427) on :
I'd have to agree with you Mark. Why take so much time on a product that's intended for temporary signs. As soon as you break the face you expose the wood same as the edge. Not a good product choice for carving.
Posted by mike meyer (Member # 542) on :
I've used exterior grade MDO, carved and gilded on pub signs in Belfast. However, make sure all edges are slightly rounded (NO sharp edges or corners!!!). Paint 3 coats u/c and 2 gloss (BACK AND FRONT!!!) before adding detail colour or gold leaf. Sit back and enjoy the result for years to come! Although MDO is harder to carve so what you save on HDU you put in more labour hours on MDO. I imagine your biggest concern is the 'sponge effect' where water enters the MDO and it grows like a sponge. Use ONLY exterior grade, but this is more expensive than interior grade, and if you haven't coated properly....the sponge is just dying to appear and haunt your profit margin when you are asked to fix an unfxable job. Since I learned of HDU I would be happier charging the customer more money for a 99.9% guaranteed job. But as they say on quiz shows...."the choice is yours." Good luck.
Posted by Brian O'Prey (Member # 4063) on :
PS.... That last post was actually mine. I forgot to log Mike's name off before posting. One sign painter still left in Mazeppa.
Posted by Rodger MacMunn (Member # 4316) on :
Are we not confusing MDO & MDF? Carving MDO would be kinda like trying to poke butter up a wildcats butt with a hot poker - possible, but damned difficult. Got to admit, I tried sandblasting it once. I thought that once I got through the Kraft paper, & into the top layer of fir or spruce it would be interesting - well, lets just say it WAS interesting - not very attractive or saleable, but interesting. It's got so many voids, & all that crisscross grain. TR
Posted by Mike Kelly (Member # 2037) on :
Actually.......I believe youz guyz are talkin' 'bout MDF(nedium density fibreboard) and not MDO(medium density overlay). I've never tried carving MDO plywood, but could just imagine the results. I have carved MDF, and like it alot. The problem is that the stuff here in the States won't hold up to the elements like the stuff overseas. It's a "heavy sponge" kinda thang...........but I could be wrong, again.
Posted by Brian O'Prey (Member # 4063) on :
Yes, you're right....I was thinking of MDF.....sorry. Ah well, those who want to know about MDF now have it!
Posted by Philip Steffen (Member # 2235) on :
I dont think that butter & wildcat things sounds like such a great idea...but I will be trying the MDF next chance I get.
Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rodger MacMunn: kinda like trying to poke butter up a wildcats butt with a hot poker - possible, but damned difficult.
THANK YOU! Now my keyboard is a coffee spewed mess.
Posted by Robert Larkham (Member # 2913) on :
The new Extira carves like butter. If Karen Bush's piece of Extira comes out of her brook in any shape other than a sponge then I'm trying it. 1.25" 4x8 is $71 in my neck of the woods.
Posted by Mike Kelly (Member # 2037) on :
Rob........what is this "Extira" of which you speak? C'mon now, boy, les' have it.
Posted by Jake Lyman (Member # 3280) on :
When i was working while in school for a company with a CNC router we made a few carved signs usind MDO thats right MDO. I am not sure how they lasted but i do know that we sealed the letters before painting them and putting the gold in. I actually did one for a friend and it still looks great, ( it is inside thought ). They were selling them for outside use for a short time though.
JAKE
Posted by Robert Larkham (Member # 2913) on :
Spud, Extira is a new brand of MDF making claimd that it will last outdoors. Medex made these same claims but failed miserabley. Karen Bush has a piece of extera that has been inher brook for a couple of months and someone else around here has a piece in a bucket of water. We are patiently waiting the results. In my neighborhood there are a lot of Medex carved signs. They are a little swollen but not in terrible shape.
Posted by Rodger MacMunn (Member # 4316) on :
Sorry about your keyboard, Joe. Jake, I'm confused about how you'd rout MDO on a CNC. All of the woods they use as the layers in MDO are prone to tearout, & once you're below the first layer, you'll have knot voids to deal with. It should last fine outside,though,as long as it's well primed. I wouldn't even try to put a routered edge on MDO - with that alternating grain you'd get nearly as neat of job with dynamite. TR
Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
Robert Let m know how heavey the Extira is.. I POP a nut just lifting 3/4 I would hate to see what the 1 1/4 weighs.. I love MDF for cnc work it machines nice and smooth and sands like a dream. JUST MAKES ALOT OF DUST. MDF works great out here but we dont have the Moisture you east and southern folks have. We're lucky if we get above 5% Humidity when its raining
[ February 13, 2004, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: William DeBekker ]
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
A side note for Karen... Get that stuff outta the water!!!
Even regular CD interior plywood will not delaminate under water. Leave it in the water long enough to get good and wet, then pull it out and lay it in the sun. When the sunshine starts pulling the water out, then you know if you have an outdoor product or not.
Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
actually the piece(primed) with 4 screws in it is out in a snow bank...it's on the south side of my house so it gets hit with the sun too...i plan on putting it in the brook for a few weeks, then leaving it on my deck to bake in the sun...i'll kept yas posted.
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
I ordered a sample of Extira and go the local suppliers number. The supplier practically laughed at us and told us go to the lumber yard to buy it. They said we couldn't buy it directly from them unless we were in an industrial area, even if we picked it up. I plan to call the Extira people back.
Posted by Ron Costa (Member # 3366) on :
Wow, I've learned all kinds of stuff here. but the most interesting is that I've been using a "tempory" substrate for a coupla decades.. Crap, I might as well start refunding my customers and let them know The cut out and routed MDO letters I did long ago wil probably delaminate any minute now.
Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
Mdf maybe MDO is plywood and who would want to carve that?????I don't think so.
Posted by Murray MacDonald (Member # 3558) on :
MDO? Personally, I hate the stuff, but that may be explained by the fact that I got a half a lift of it that totally delaminated...seven large signs that had to be replaced!.All we can get here is industrial crap that is used for concrete forms. However, in the olden days I have made large cutout letters from it, but the labour involved in sealing it was onerous. Can't see carving it. For all other applications we now use Dibond, Signply or Intecel. Extira sounds interesting, tho'. Should be available in Canada in about twenty years, I imagine.
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lol (that lil' face sez "eek")..an' rightly so,'cuz you kno' what Mark? I kno' SQuAT" about carvin', but I'm like you, I think that sounds insane . . .![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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