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Looking for ACM/Polymetal

jfiscus

Rap Master
We are looking for a few sheets of 1/4" (6 mm) Brushed Silver Polymetal and all of our usual suppliers are out.
Does anyone know of any (US) suppliers that might have some in stock?
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I don't think you'll find it... I've had to opt to getting plain aluminum and painting it with Matthews brushed aluminum. It will last much longer
 

ChaseO

Premium Subscriber
I have 3mm for days. 1/4 brushed is a rare critter. To my knowledge, none of my usual vendors stock it. I have the Alucobond plant one county over, but that isn't very beneficial like it used to be.
 

Cheezer

New Member
We have successfully laminated the 3mm brushed to black PVC to make it thicker. We router cut letters out of it like that all the time. We used a 3M spray adhesive on both surfaces. This was for interior use, might not trust that out in the weather.
 

Rualsignmaker

New Member
I can't help you but adding to the frustration. We cannot find oversized 10ft or 8ft 1/8" black ACM. White oversized has to come from New Jersey. We're in Ohio. This supply chain stuff is sure making it hard to not get a gasp out of our customers after we quote them.

Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk
 

Cheezer

New Member
 

Rualsignmaker

New Member
I
I appreciate the link. I need oversized though. 4 or 5 foot by 10. Those are hard to find
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Yes, I'm mixing up brushed aluminum and metallic.. but I like it called sparkly silver more... Sounds more professional
Yeah sparkly is definitely a professional description.
Why does everyone in the sign trade always seem to use Matthews? What's the advantage over other paints like Imron. You can get a lot of urethane paints in lower Sheens.
 

signbrad

New Member
What's the advantage over other paints like Imron. You can get a lot of urethane paints in lower Sheens.
The online color formula system is the main reason we use Matthews. We can, within minutes, get formulas to match any vinyl color plus thousands of other colors, including the colors of most paint manufacturers (including One Shot), as well as Pantone colors, even matching such odd things as colors of plastic engraving stock and Dryvit colors. We simply look up the color at the Matthews formula site and download the formulas. Then we make the paint using our mixing station. We can make as little as an ounce or as much as several gallons. In the unlikely event that the online formula retrieval system can't match a color, we can send a sample to Matthews for their lab to match, a free service (we have matched metal roofing colors and Formica laminate colors this way).

We also keep on our mixing station several of the Matthews primers and clears. And there is a converter for making a fast dry basecoat/clearcoat—useful for allowing us to mask and spray multiple colors to a single piece in one day. Also, an accelerator additive allows applying vinyl to painted surfaces without an extended cure time. A flex additive allows spraying of vinyl, and there is a fast dry primer made just for HDU.

There are other paint makers that have mixing stations available—Sikkens, DuPont, etc.—all quality paints, but they are geared mainly toward the autobody industry.
I know of no other paint company that has catered to the sign industry so extensively and aggressively as Matthews.

Brad in Kansas City
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
The online color formula system is the main reason we use Matthews. We can, within minutes, get formulas to match any vinyl color plus thousands of other colors, including the colors of most paint manufacturers (including One Shot), as well as Pantone colors, even matching such odd things as colors of plastic engraving stock and Dryvit colors. We simply look up the color at the Matthews formula site and download the formulas. Then we make the paint using our mixing station. We can make as little as an ounce or as much as several gallons. In the unlikely event that the online formula retrieval system can't match a color, we can send a sample to Matthews for their lab to match, a free service (we have matched metal roofing colors and Formica laminate colors this way).

We also keep on our mixing station several of the Matthews primers and clears. And there is a converter for making a fast dry basecoat/clearcoat—useful for allowing us to mask and spray multiple colors to a single piece in one day. Also, an accelerator additive allows applying vinyl to painted surfaces without an extended cure time. A flex additive allows spraying of vinyl, and there is a fast dry primer made just for HDU.

There are other paint makers that have mixing stations available—Sikkens, DuPont, etc.—all quality paints, but they are geared mainly toward the autobody industry.
I know of no other paint company that has catered to the sign industry so extensively and aggressively as Matthews.

Brad in Kansas City
That's exactly what I was thinking. I told our paint supplier (automotive) that there's a decent secondary market in the sign industry that gets ignored. I figured Matthews formulated colors geared towards the industry just like Imron does with commercial trucks and PPG AUE is geared towards equipment. The cameras are getting better though which may open the doors for other products. The axalta rep was at our shop the other day and said they have a new camera that can determine the depth and size of mettalics in a scan. Those are always tricky to match without a code.
 
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