I am quoting a carved sign for an ocean going ship. It will be mounted on a metal frame from the rail of the bridge. Size 16" x approx 70". What substrate is the most durable: Sign Foam (1.5"), allwood western cedar sign blank, mahogany?
Should I topcoat with a UV inhibitor? If so, what brand/type? I will be using One Shot lettering enamel.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Diane Balch Balch Signs Malta, NY
Posted by goddinfla (Member # 1502) on :
I used to do a lot of these for ocean-going tugs. I used mahogany, sign foam would not stand up to the abuse, cedar blanks may delaminate. You should be able to get mahogany large enough to not have to glue pieces. I coated the board after carving with a good quality spar varnish, several coats. Then paint the lettering and apply several more coats of spar varnish. Saw some of them years later, still looked good.
Posted by John Smith (Member # 1308) on :
Yeah, but, Dennis, you didn't tell him how you just SLAMMED and JAMMED the gold into the carved letters before you applied the final clearcoat !!!
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