New Changeable Letter Sign

[kelly r]

We are building a 4’x8’ changeable letter sign for a friend using ridged tracks and the ridged 7” plastic letters and her existing sign frame from an old coroplast Changeable letter sign. The metal frame is good. We want to use white Alupanel for strength maybe backed up with plywood. Is this a good idea and how should we install the tracks?

 

[JBurton]

Tracks you should rivet pretty often, ideally you use polycarbonate and a solvent adhesive like channelbond so none of the letters slip between the track and face.

 

[kelly r]

Tracks you should rivet pretty often, ideally you use polycarbonate and a solvent adhesive like channelbond so none of the letters slip between the track and face.

So is there a metal to plastic glue or what would you use to apply the track to aluminum? I used Weldon when doing plastic to plastic.

 

[JBurton]

I've only every used rivets on non plastic faces like this, two part epoxy's like Lord's or ASI would likely work, but they are ugly and messy, and since the retainer is clear, that wouldn't be very appealing, plus you'd likely gum up the track, making the changeable copy a pain to work with.
I've also used nylon snap rivets to avoid running an air compressor on site, still waiting to see how long term they are... we fastened those to acm for a cheap-ish solution.