I have a customer wanting some interior wall lettering. They will be a custom pms color.
I have priced foam letters with backpainted acrylic faces, but I'm thinking 1/2" thick pvc might be a better looking choice.
Most of the lettering is large enough to route from pvc, but there are about 15 letters that are only about 1 1/2 inches tall. The strokes on these letters can be as thin as 1/4 inch. I have a local manufacturer with a router, but he says the 1/4 inch strokes are too small for his machine to cut.
I'm just not sure foam letters are the quality I would be happy with.
I guess my question is, can a router not cut 1 1/2" tall letters from 1/2" pvc with some of the strokes being only 1/4"? (maybe my local manufacturer doesn't have a small enough bit?)
Thanks, Tony
Posted by Bryan Quebodeaux (Member # 48) on :
I have cut letters that small and honestly for me it's a PITA. Two options that I know of can be tried. He can apply vinyl to the sheet of PVC before routing. Load the sheet with the vinyl facing down onto his router table and cut them to the mask. The vinyl should hold the pieces together just like application tape holds vinyl letters together. Or he could leave little "bridges" of material so that the letters are not completely cut out. Then you would have to finish cutting by hand. Just my .02 cents.
Posted by bruce ward (Member # 1289) on :
that being case order gemini acrylic and paint it, its interior so you wont have to worry about adhesion problems. order it get it in and paint it, it will be fine. 1/2" pvc is awesome BUT for interior I wouldnt want anyone to get close up on it
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
We could do it on the router but if you are looking for a really sharp, clean letter I would order Gemini laser cut acrylic. I believe they can match a PMS color. I would probably ask for a matte finish as I don't like the shiny plastic look of acrylic. BTW, 1/2" thick by 1 1/2" high will be hard to read in many font types.
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
a 1/4" stroke, 1/2" thick will not be a good look IMO. I'd laser cut 1/4" acrylic for those. I don't like the way the edges look on pvc anyway.
Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :
Thank you all for the help.
These small letters are the main hangup so far on this job. I will check into the laser cut acrylic letters. If they can use a custom pms color on them, it sounds like the better option. These will be in the main office, so I would like them to look clean up close. Haven't done enough of this type lettering to really know what the best option is.
The font for this lettering is arial bold, but at about 1 1/2" tall. The vertical strokes are 1/2" wide, but the horizontals are 1/4" wide.
Looks like Gemini starts at 2" in the 1/2" thick material...may have to price 3/8"
Tony
[ May 26, 2010, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: Tony McDonald ]
