A small address sign out of pvc

[Alan Malmstrom]

I got a chance to work with some pvc plastic board. I found that the carving is pretty smooth. No wood grain to deal with. But the sanding is best done by hand. I was able to get to a fairly smooth surface. I did use the sanding wheel which works good for the initial fuzz. The rotary tool buffer doesn't do much.

While the material is white I was compelled to paint it with white spray paint meant for plastic surfaces just to fill the surface texture a little more so that it is easier to clean and the dirt doesn't imbed itself.

After covering with white I used a rubber roller to paint the numbers and border. I found I had to dry the paint a bit to make it more sticky for better coverage. I finished it off with some Rust-Oleum Painters Touch semi-gloss Clear. It came out with a spray paint texture that is a little more pronounced than I wanted but I'm happy with it.

I finishing up the vinyl siding to the front of the house and this sign will help to spruce it up a bit. I have some Styrospray 1000 that I recently purchased an am looking forward to seeing what kind of finish I will get with that on foam.

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[henry1]

that is nice well done buddy

[eelamb]

Nice work Alan, have not tried the pvc board yet, but is on my list. Thanks for showing your work.

[chief2007]

That turned out better than expected - something to put on the list of materials to try.

[fwharris]

Alan,

Nice job! The pvc is another breed in carving material, it carves like butter and will show great detail. I found the same thing with sanding, with using the dremel attachments you have to go slow or you will sand your detail away.

[ladjr]

I didn't even know you could get sheets of PVC. Nice Job

[seathis]

Was wondering the same thing. Where do you get sheet pvc?

[Alan Malmstrom]

The pvc board is used for outdoor exterior carpentry. You can find it at most big box stores. I saw it as Azak at Home Depot. The stuff I used was from Menards. You might find it by the brick mold materials.

You can also carve on it and then heat it up and bend it if you are careful. Thats what Doug Dhaffner has done: http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?18314-Carve-it-heat-it-bend-it.&p=154736#post154736

[dltccf]

I bought a 1/2 by 12 inch by 8 feet piece of azak at the Home Depot today. When you say it carves like butter, does that mean carve at normal speed? Does the speed make any difference with this material? What have you used to glue the pieces together when making a big sign? Gorilla Glue?

I have a dust collector and plan to try the trick someone mentioned of wiping the inside of the machine down with a dryer sheet to cut down the static cling. Any other things to know before the first carve of the PVC?

dave

[Alan Malmstrom]

When you write to the memory card you could do normal. That makes less passes then better and best or whatever. Yes softer materials like this don't need to be carved on higher settings.

I would use the Devcon Plastic welder glue www.devconhome.com

PCV doesn't sand very easily because it's so soft. Some people have talked about useing a heat gun or flame to melt it a little. A brillo pad might work good for sanding.

[dltccf]

Thanks Alan , I did a carving at normal and it came out nicely. I will check out rhat glue. Any suggestions on the type of paint?

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[Alan Malmstrom]

When I did that sign I just used primer and latex house paint. It smoothed out the surface some. If it gets smooth using the synthetic steal wool brillo pad stuff then you might be able to use plastics spray paint Rust-O-Leum for spray painting plastic.

[rcdages]

Looks good, the rubber roller looks like it worked out well.