Goofy question for sign-making

[Doug Shepard]

My parents 50th anniversary is coming up. One of the things I thought I'd do was route them a custom name/house-number sign for their winter AZ retirement home. I'm OK on the actual sign making part, but have a goofy idea for after routing the lettering. I'm wondering if there's some kind of glow-in-the-dark compound or something I could mix in with a compound that I could fill the lettering channels with?? I'd like something that would flouresce when hit by car headlights or landscape lighting. I realize I could probably just get some flourescent paint and coat the lettering channels. But I was wondering if I could find something to actually fill the channel and bring the lettering back flush with the surface. Maybe this isn't feasible from the standpoint of finding something that wouldn't shrink and crack in the channels or expand/contract with the wood. Like I said - it's a goofy idea. Just wondering if anyone here had any thoughts.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Doug, I think you hit the nail on the head with the wood movement. I would think that anything that is flush with the surface of the sign, would cause problems with wood movement.

However, I would think it would be really neat if you made them a sign with cut out letters and then fasten reflective material (sign material?) behind the sign. Then the letters would be cut out and behind them, the material would floresc? I would think it would make the letters very visible during the day as well.

Good luck!

[Wolf Kiessling]

One thing that might work could be what I use to fill cracks, voids, etc on turnings. I use inlace mixed with epoxy to fill whatever needs filling and then sand it flush. In your case I would suggest using brass filings, they should be available from your local key maker, mixed with epoxy and that should give you a nice reflective touch. Of course, you want to use the clear epoxy not the yellowish looking stuff. For what its worth......

[Wes Newman]

Doug, I once tried to do the same thing that your doing. I found a couple of places that carry reflective paint, but the price was outragous $50 a quart or something like that. The next option was to get some of those glass beads that are used for traffic striping. Those can be had relatively cheaply if you have a striping company near by. Most would probally just give you a hand full, but I didn't have time to mess with that and just went with super high gloss paint for the letters.

[Doug Shepard]

...However, I would think it would be really neat if you made them a sign with cut out letters and then fasten reflective material (sign material?) behind the sign. Then the letters would be cut out and behind them, the material would floresc? I would think it would make the letters very visible during the day as well.
Good luck!

I hadn't thought about routing all the way through, but that's not a bad idea. I have to keep this one on tap as a possibility.

... I use inlace mixed with epoxy to fill whatever needs filling and then sand it flush. ...

I actually wondered about mixing something with Inlace, but wasn't sure if it was something that would work for exterior use.

... The next option was to get some of those glass beads that are used for traffic striping.

I did some surfing and found a seller on eBay as well as some manufacturers sites. This option has me intrigued. Do you happen to know if that's something I could mix with epoxy then fill and sand flush? I'll do some more online research, but just wondered if you already knew the answer.

Thanks guys.

[Wes Newman]

I did some surfing and found a seller on eBay as well as some manufacturers sites. This option has me intrigued. Do you happen to know if that's something I could mix with epoxy then fill and sand flush? I'll do some more online research, but just wondered if you already knew the answer.

Thanks guys.

I don't think that would work to well, the way the glass beads work is to refract the light coming in and then reflect the background color back, with all of the epoxy in the way, I don't know how much light would be properly let in and reflected back, but you never know I've been know to be wrong on occasion.

[Doug Shepard]

I don't think that would work to well, the way the glass beads work is to refract the light coming in and then reflect the background color back, with all of the epoxy in the way, I don't know how much light would be properly let in and reflected back, but you never know I've been know to be wrong on occasion.

Well most of what I've seen websurfing the bead thing seems to agree. It looks like the normal way of applying it is to sprinkle the beads onto the wet paint. But then there are some manufacturers sites that are selling reflective paint with glass beads suspended in the paint. Unless they magically float to the top and shed the paint after application, this would lead me to think embedding them in epoxy (maybe tinted white) might work after all. But I'm starting to sense that there's more than one type of glass bead. Knowing which type (if any) would work for the mixed epoxy idea isn't going to be easy to figure out without more research - maybe more than I want to pursue.

I'm starting to wonder about another approach. I was originally thinking of routing the lettering with a core-box bit. Now I'm wondering about this: Route with a flat bottom bit, then apply reflective tape (the glass bead type) on the bottom of the channel. After that, fill the channel flush with clear epoxy and sand smooth up through micro fine grit to remove all the scratches. ????

[Ronald DeWeese Sr.]

Doug

I make street signs and paint streets for a living for the city.
Glass beads have to be spread evenly and to the same thickness or the reflectivity will have streaks of lite and dark. If the letters are small (2-3")
this may not be a problem. Of course only the beads that end on top of the paint reflect. I think covering them with epoxy or any clear sealer would block the reflections. I think Jeff is right on with the idea about placing the reflective material behind the cut out letters. This material is vinyl with pressure sensitive backing made to mount to aluminum plate. The white come in two different reflective values, engineer grade and high intensity, the second is for overhead signs. If you need a sample you can e-mail me.

Ron

[Doug Shepard]

.... I think Jeff is right on with the idea about placing the reflective material behind the cut out letters....

Thanks. That's certainly starting to sound like the easier method too,even if the loss of reflectivity weren't an issue. I think that's the approach I go with. I'm still waiting on a reply back from my folks homeowners association. The retirement resort they stay in has some pretty lengthy rules/regs and I need to make sure first that anything I do won't be tossed in their shed due to out-of-compliance issues.

Ron - just curious - I work with a guy at GM in Pontiac, MI named Ron DeWeese. Any relation??

[Ronald DeWeese Sr.]

OK. When you get the required info let me know. I am originally from Ohio and I have quite a long family tree. He may be in that same tree way down the road somewhere.
Ron

[Bob Smalser]

I've done plenty of routered and carved signs, using oil paints for letter/carving coloring.

But the best work by far is chip carved letters done in gold leaf. This can also be done to a routered sign, and looks really classy. I just acquired a set of chip carving knives to get into this myself, moving a step upwards from the router.




The gold leaf comes in sheets and is traditionally applied with a rabbit glue size (thinned glue)....but I suspect these days a thin cyano glue like Hotstuff might be better. The leaves are light as air and are handled with a brush:

http://www.gerhartstudios.com/technique.htm

Go to Ebay's crafts section and search for gold leaf.