I have a customer that wants me to use some Formica® as a sign background. I have never tried this before and was wondering if any of you have tried it. I would prefer to hand paint the sign, how well will the One shot stick to it? IF the customer insists on vinyl, how well will it stick to the Formica? What would you recommend to glue the Formica to MDO or treated plywood? What kind of glue did you use?

We have used Formica and similar laminates indoors for years with fully satisfactory results. We use either medex, pvc, or acrylic as the backer depending on other job requirements. We normally use mactac as the adhesive, but contact cement works just fine.

Vinyl sticks to it and does not "fall off". The vinyl peels off easily and cleanly, so Formica is good for suite id's and directories where the names change from time to time.

In the beginning we cut the substrate to shape, applied the formica, and cut to shape with a pilot bit router. Now we glue the stuff up, throw it on the router table, and do the whole job in one pass.

UV rays as well as constant bombardment of the elements.(namely moisture)

if the sign customer requires a formica pattern(finish) this can be achieved with faux finish techniques on a weatherproof substrate.

My first technical sign related question was advice for vinyl on "malamite"... you see I live next to the original Tim Allen, my father out law, and HE had decided he was gonna make his signs himself outta melamine and I could "help" him apply the vinyl... I came here for advice for Dad and I heard about that one for years! A sign on "Malamute", "Mellamutt" yada yada yada... they were very funny, yet relentless.

The welcome to counter top signs side of the Moon

May they be a gentler kinder bunch to you.

Soon a job came in with different colored strips of Formica as facings on shelves for an upcoming convention display. I remembered the ordeal of getting 1shot to stick to formica and also the problem of it often never drying. Seemed like the time to try that sticky back stuff.

I measured the faces and looked at the typefaces and made a selection and placed the order.

Day after day went by and I started getting nervous about meeting my deadline. I phoned and the goods had been shipped several days previously. Finally, the day before they were due, this long manila envelope arrived containing the vinyl letters. Well, I opened the package and admired the perfection of the clarendon bold and figured out how to apply them. The first went good, second better. As I got to the last one, I found the line of letters six inches longer than the panel. There was no way of tightening the letter or word spacing to accommodate the situation.

I peeled the vinyl off all the panels and washed them down, first with soap, then Bon Ami, followed by a wipe of lacquer thinner. I added enough lacquer thinner to the dark brown enamel to heat it without curdling it, and still leaving enough body to letter. I stayed up most of the night, listening to be bop with the fire crackling and lettering these shelf faces. The fan behind the stove blew warmed air across the panels and in a couple hours they were dry and at nine that morning they were en route to the airport.

to test it i did 1 and layed it flat outside
for 2 months with no problem.

the signs were for an apartment complex and i have
not heard any complaints after 2 years.