David Ford
06-17-2010, 7:09 PM
I am considering making a sign using black on white King ColorCore material and have a few questions for Creeker's experienced with this product.
For some backstory, I recently made a sign using a 4'x8' sheet of clear cabinet-grade birch plywood, 5 coats of weather proofing applied before lasering then 3 coats of automotive clearcoat (a body shop sprayed it) over the lasered text. The text has faded to the point of being illegible within a month hence my search for a replacement material.
After looking at the King Plastics website the product I am considering is the 1/4" thickness with a 0.025" cap (10% of nominal thickness).
http://www.kingplastic.com/Products/Colorcore.aspx
My questions:
a/ Would this be your first choice of material for this application?
b/ I have a 25w Camtech L20 (tests at 33w). Will I be able to achieve a good clear result on ColorCore with this machine? My supplier would have to order this in so a small test sample from stock in advance isn't available.
c/ Is ColorCore truly long-lasting in respect to UV damage in a high-UV exposure situation? My sign will be facing SW with daytime temps ~90F under cloudless skies. My concerns are fade/yellowing, delamination, and warping.
d/ I am assuming I should mount the ColorCore sheet onto a base of 1/2" plywood then frame it (dadoed 2"x4" frame) for structural integrity. If so, should I use an adhesive or not? Black panhead screws through the non-etched portions?
Thanks in advance for any input, hopefully I get to the point of being useful enough to chime in with an answer or two someday.
Cheers,
Dave
For some backstory, I recently made a sign using a 4'x8' sheet of clear cabinet-grade birch plywood, 5 coats of weather proofing applied before lasering then 3 coats of automotive clearcoat (a body shop sprayed it) over the lasered text. The text has faded to the point of being illegible within a month hence my search for a replacement material.
After looking at the King Plastics website the product I am considering is the 1/4" thickness with a 0.025" cap (10% of nominal thickness).
http://www.kingplastic.com/Products/Colorcore.aspx
My questions:
a/ Would this be your first choice of material for this application?
b/ I have a 25w Camtech L20 (tests at 33w). Will I be able to achieve a good clear result on ColorCore with this machine? My supplier would have to order this in so a small test sample from stock in advance isn't available.
c/ Is ColorCore truly long-lasting in respect to UV damage in a high-UV exposure situation? My sign will be facing SW with daytime temps ~90F under cloudless skies. My concerns are fade/yellowing, delamination, and warping.
d/ I am assuming I should mount the ColorCore sheet onto a base of 1/2" plywood then frame it (dadoed 2"x4" frame) for structural integrity. If so, should I use an adhesive or not? Black panhead screws through the non-etched portions?
Thanks in advance for any input, hopefully I get to the point of being useful enough to chime in with an answer or two someday.
Cheers,
Dave