Installing a sandblasted redwood sign on stacked stone

[Billct2]

"One practically needs to have a full woodworking shop in order to properly plane, join and assemble a planked panel that large and not have it warp. You need to use dowels, biscuits or other methods on your joints and it STILL can warp. All it takes is a couple of boards not being as dry as others, a few edges not perfectly planed square, too much heat from the blasting medium, boards turned all the same grain direction, etc." or, since it's a single sided sign, you can have battens on the back.

 

[billsines]

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[Gino]

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[DerbyCitySignGuy]

No where was I trying to convince the world of baggy pants being cool, mullets or any other cultural fads. When one is in the sign industry and they sport opinions or observations of their own type of work, it has nothing to do with 'COOL'. You took it to a new level of being 'COOL'. Not me. I was simply expressing how poorly that sign had been constructed, poor blends of grains, lousy board choices, poor glued up boards, improper assembly and most of all, 3" boards for a sign that size ??

Thinking outside the box is one thing, but that sign was still poorly executed which in my mind equates to f*ckin' ugly. Again, beauty in the eyes of the beholder has a lot to be said and when someone pays dearly for a poorly made sign like that, they will defend it, til the cows come home.

The day will come and I will give in to what I believe some of this garbage is....... 'COOL', but that is the day I probably started going blind.


​

I too, would like to see the final results of the sign and how it was installed. Sandblasted signs was a very huge part of our past. We made more signs in our shop in a year, than all the other shops in the area combined. We did have a wood working area for cutting, planing, jointing, gluing up, sanding, blasting and finishing. We had a good friend with a 12' drum sander who did our larger than normal sign blanks.

You know I was talking to Marlene and not you, right? I even quoted her post. It ain't all about you all the time, Gino.

 

[Marlene]

I don't necessarily disagree with everything you're saying, but the current cultural zeitgeist defines cool, not a bunch of old sign makers. Cultural trends, by their very nature, are an expression of what's cool.

That being said, saggy pants with underwear showing haven't been "cool" for a long time.

That's my point. Those who do trendy look stupid after that trend is gone hence why as sign makers and designers, doing trendy is a bad idea. Think of all the companies that have the word xtreme or grapix in their names. They are total mullets as trendy is never a good idea when it comes to names or designs.

 

[Gino]

You know I was talking to Marlene and not you, right? I even quoted her post. It ain't all about you all the time, Gino.

Who said I was ?? I was answering in general, since you've been the one lecturing me on 'COOL'. I used your recent points and some of hers to help illustrate my point. My post went towards the general conversation. I thought I was included in that.

 

[equippaint]

Get off my lawn you hoodlums! and take that cool cutting board with you!

 

[Gino]

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[billsines]

At any rate, I look forward to the results of this installation.

 

[Marlene]

To the O, sorry to see your thread turned into this and for any part I had in it. What is your plan for hanging the sign? Did you decide yet?

 

[2B]

To the OP, if you want to start new thread listing / showing how you corrected the warping issue.
Please do so


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[Gino]

Well, so sorry for being a part of that. Things happen and when someone blindsides ya, ya just ordinarily come back with a counter. I guess regular everyday language is not considered kosher, so I'll try to use more appropriate words/descriptions next time.

Thank you for pointing this out to me, 2B.

edit: to the OP, my sincerest apologies. ​

 

[unclebun]

Back to how to mount the sign... Black painted steel square tube mounted floor to ceiling, two of them, welded to a floor plate and ceiling plate. Bolts straight through the sign to the steel if industrial look is desired; otherwise hidden studs.

 

[JimmyG]

Large french cleats fastened to a welded steel frame for the wall side of the mount would work, and a wall mount frame could be easily shimmed for level. Alas with french cleats there are not many ways to secure the sign panel against possible movement, other than with fasteners through the sign face. My goal with an installation like this would definitely be a "hidden mount".

So, I would build / weld a steel 1"x1" angle iron square frame about 40"x40" to mount to the wall shimmed to level. This wall frame would have 2 or 3 threaded inserts in both vertical sides. I would build / weld an overlapping (all sides) angle iron frame to be fastened to the back of redwood sign with bolt holes in the vertical sides to match the threaded inserts in the wall frame. Short 1/4" bolts will be sufficient to fasten all together securely. I would use extension sockets to insert the bolts and fasten all behind the sign panel.
Granted this method would leave the sign panel @ 1" off the wall surface, but if the mounting frames are smaller enough not to be seen from side view, it will give the overall install a nice "floating effect" that will most likely be interesting and very effective.

Another method, not so hidden mount, is to build / weld a steel flat bar frame (to be mounted level on wall) with tabs on top and bottom to hold & fasten the redwood sign panel.

 

[Ultimate13]

Large french cleats fastened to a welded steel frame for the wall side of the mount would work, and a wall mount frame could be easily shimmed for level. Alas with french cleats there are not many ways to secure the sign panel against possible movement, other than with fasteners through the sign face. My goal with an installation like this would definitely be a "hidden mount".

So, I would build / weld a steel 1"x1" angle iron square frame about 40"x40" to mount to the wall shimmed to level. This wall frame would have 2 or 3 threaded inserts in both vertical sides. I would build / weld an overlapping (all sides) angle iron frame to be fastened to the back of redwood sign with bolt holes in the vertical sides to match the threaded inserts in the wall frame. Short 1/4" bolts will be sufficient to fasten all together securely. I would use extension sockets to insert the bolts and fasten all behind the sign panel.
Granted this method would leave the sign panel @ 1" off the wall surface, but if the mounting frames are smaller enough not to be seen from side view, it will give the overall install a nice "floating effect" that will most likely be interesting and very effective.

Another method, not so hidden mount, is to build / weld a steel flat bar frame (to be mounted level on wall) with tabs on top and bottom to hold & fasten the redwood sign panel.

Thank you for all the information, I do like the floating method the way you built it and will look to using that in the future.

 

[Ultimate13]

Well the thread did take some turns but we still went ahead with the sign. haha.

So here goes...

We made the blank ourselves using redwood and we did biscuit joint the pieces together. As you'll see in the pictures we also added support rails down the back to try and help avoid the warping problem. For mounting we spoke with the customer our concerns and they agreed to hang it themselves. They did knock off the one stone that stuck out the most. We mounted a french cleat to the back of the sign. We supplied them with a 36" x 36" piece of MDO to mount to the wall, they used either toggles or were going to try to hit the studs using the plans from the previous owner. I did not ask how they finally did that portion of it. After the wood was mounted, they then could mount the wall side of the french cleat level and not have to worry about the stones anymore. We also added threaded inserts and bolts at the bottom to support the sign away from the wall. Also I did not like how the original sign was super glossy and somewhat gooped on, so we finished it in a thinner better finish.

I am pleased with the way it came out and the customer is very happy with it. Let me know what you think about the finished product. If you'd like any more info, I'm happy to share.

Again I appreciate all the info most of you provided, it really helps to learn and see how to do projects now and in the future.

 

[Johnny Best]

Looks really nice, great job!

 

[JimmyG]

Well done indeed....!

 

[studio 440]

looks great nice job on the support rails very nice

 

[billsines]

Nicely done.