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I got a call yesterday for a sandblasted sign for a church. This will be a 4x4 or a tad smaller, both sides. They want it to hang from a pole on the front of the church. My question is this. Should I use 2" thick board blasted both sides, or use 1"thick board with mdo laminated in between for strength. Truthfully, I would rather they mount it on the ground in front of the church, but they may stay with their original idea. Also, what type hanger would you use for this job. I have hung alot of signs,but mostly mdo, and aluminum. This will be my first hanging sandblasted job. All replies appreciated very much.
------------------ John Deaton III Deaton Signs&Grafix 109 N. Cumberland Ave.,Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-573-9101
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In my humble opinion you could go either way but here are some thoughts I had. As with any overhead hanging sign, safety is #1. You sure don't want that sign crashing down on someone's head. Redwood is a relatively fragile wood. A strong wind can whip that sign enough to break it along the grain. So in my opinion, your method would depend partly on your design.
If your design allows you to run steel brackets down the sides of the sign so the sign is supported along its entire height, I think the 2" redwood would work fine. A steel bracket shaped like an "H" would be even better so you could run screws into the redwood along the top and sides. I would only do this if the redwood is a full 2" thick.
I've never been a fan of attaching MDO to redwood, but if you have curvey shapes along the sides and top, then I would sandwich the MDO between two 1" redwood blanks. Then I take 2 long hefty eye bolts, lay them on the MDO the proper distance apart and the threads protruding beyond the top edge an equal distance, trace the eye bolts then cut the MDO so the eye bolts will set inside the MDO. Attach one side of the redwood, lay in the eye bolts, then attach the other panel. Your eye bolts will be inside the panel with no where to go.
Hope this helps.
------------------ Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 ICQ: 21604027 sherwood@up.net
[This message has been edited by Dave Sherby (edited February 06, 2001).]
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John, If I were to use HDU, I would use 2 piece glue up with an with a Large U shaped strap iron(painted) inserted in the center of the sandwich. I would run around the entire perimeter about 6 inches from the edges. This can be carve embedded into one side in the glueup. I have been told by the company that you can drill a long eyebolt down into the sign top and then just set the tread end into glue. Eybolts welded to the ends of the bigger inner frame would probably look nice. The inner frame made like this will also help prevent the dreaded warping problems. Dark paint will especially induce warping on the sun side on the hanging sign during the earlier stages of the paint curing. A trick for that, is to change the direction of the sign after you first begin seeing it happen. It will go back the other way if you don't wait to long. This usually happens during the first week or month in warmer temps. Jack
------------------ Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801
Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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