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Plywood Yard Art
- Thread starter Teresam
- Start date
Teresam
New Member- Also, not a professional
Does anyone know if you could simply use outdoor acrylic paints and then give a coat of spar urethane for uv protection...then a light coat of clear coat enamel? Basically my problem is im very precise with color matching. For instance, I made a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and I was unsuccessful with custom mixing his skin color perfectly. I did eventually however, after a long time find the perfect color, but in acrylic paint.
I guess what im asking is because of the wider range of color selection I get with acrylic paint rather than enamel..could I just use acrylic paint, cover the sign with a coating of spar urethane for UV protection and then an enamel coating for a nice hard barrier to protect the paint/urethane?
I've read enamel can be applied over spar urethane but want to make sure.
I guess what im asking is because of the wider range of color selection I get with acrylic paint rather than enamel..could I just use acrylic paint, cover the sign with a coating of spar urethane for UV protection and then an enamel coating for a nice hard barrier to protect the paint/urethane?
I've read enamel can be applied over spar urethane but want to make sure.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Best bet is to go to sherwin williams or another paint supplier and see what each product recommends. Aside from that, it's trial and error. They say you cant spray urethane over alkyd but I have never had an issue putting urethane clear over anything, including rust oleum. You might grab a gallon kit from an automotive supplier and see how it goes. Frog juice is something that gets mentioned here as a clear laminate but I have never used it. I am sure that you could use that over top of about anything. I wouldn't go layering on the clears, pick one and run with it. Home Depot isnt the best place for that stuff. I sprayed pre-cat lacquer from SW over cherry veneer and trim and it looked good. 1 coat, dry, light sand and then 2 more coats. Cabinet guys use that.
The Hobbyist
New Member
By thin wafer, I mean a strip of 3/4 plywood. A plywood sign does not need a 4x4 on the back to keep it from warping. Two strips of 3/4" plywood attached to the rear and "glued and screwed" perpendicular to the surface, perhaps 1.5"x22"x3/4" each would keep the face of the sign straight.
Joe
The Hobbyist
New Member
I am wondering why you would use WOOD at all? It is an organic material that is susceptible to molds and moisture and such. Since it is going to be entombed in paint to seal it and protect it from the elements, no one is going to know that it is WOOD anyway. Why not use HDU foam (aka "SIGN FOAM") and hand paint a beautiful sign onto a material that is MADE to be outdoors, without any worries about dry rot, or mold, or termites, or warping, or ... SIGN FOAM is available in a variety of densities, and thicknesses. 15 lb. foam is sufficient for outdoor projects, but you can get 20 lb. foam, all the way up to 90 lb. foam. The designation is pounds per cubic foot of foam. It can be drilled, routed, cut, sanded, primed, painted, and more.
SIGN FOAM is a closed cell foam that is perfect for outdoor projects like the Christmas Nutcracker Soldiers, Bells, and similar decorations. It is easy to work with, and you can cut it and form it easily, to make dimensional items, by gluing layers together. It is lighter than wood, and if it is damaged, you can patch the foam and repaint it easily, to repair the damage. You use latex paints that are not petroleum based, so the foam does not dissolve from the fumes of the paint. There is a whole line of outdoor enamel paints in a wide variety of colors from ONE SHOT, and RONAN (I think that is the name) and some other brands.
Do what you can to make this much more about FUN, and less about WORK!
Joe
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SIGN FOAM is a closed cell foam that is perfect for outdoor projects like the Christmas Nutcracker Soldiers, Bells, and similar decorations. It is easy to work with, and you can cut it and form it easily, to make dimensional items, by gluing layers together. It is lighter than wood, and if it is damaged, you can patch the foam and repaint it easily, to repair the damage. You use latex paints that are not petroleum based, so the foam does not dissolve from the fumes of the paint. There is a whole line of outdoor enamel paints in a wide variety of colors from ONE SHOT, and RONAN (I think that is the name) and some other brands.
Do what you can to make this much more about FUN, and less about WORK!
Joe
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1. Gino is correct. This is a forum for professionals. Not hobbyists.
2. A lumber yard, a real lumber yard, should be able to help you find a better product.
3. Realistically, sealing up the wood edges and multiple coats of primer and good exterior grade paint are going to be the things that make the plywood last. Doing a one coat hand painting isn't going to cut it. You want multiple coats, applied correctly. This typically means allowing the paint to dry 2x longer than the can recommends.
4. If you're willing to take a risk, I'd go to Home Depot and buy a piece of 3/4" Verdana PVC. You can paint right on the surface, no primer. You don't have to worry about water proofing. Just have to give it 2-3x longer dry time as PVC doesn't absorb any of the water from paint (assuming latex) so all the drying goes one direction.
5. Do not bother with clear coats. They'll yellow and fail well before a good exterior grade paint.
2. A lumber yard, a real lumber yard, should be able to help you find a better product.
3. Realistically, sealing up the wood edges and multiple coats of primer and good exterior grade paint are going to be the things that make the plywood last. Doing a one coat hand painting isn't going to cut it. You want multiple coats, applied correctly. This typically means allowing the paint to dry 2x longer than the can recommends.
4. If you're willing to take a risk, I'd go to Home Depot and buy a piece of 3/4" Verdana PVC. You can paint right on the surface, no primer. You don't have to worry about water proofing. Just have to give it 2-3x longer dry time as PVC doesn't absorb any of the water from paint (assuming latex) so all the drying goes one direction.
5. Do not bother with clear coats. They'll yellow and fail well before a good exterior grade paint.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Wouldn't plywood layers just warp together? If you want a stiffener, I'd use something besides wood and if not available, at least use solid wood.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
My wife built Cornhole tables with 2x4s and exterior plywood. Painted with latex and then put some sort of big box clear varnish on them. Still have them, 15 years later, repainted once and they've sat outside a good chunk of their life. So it is possible without any signmakers special recipe.
Funny, she and her friend tried to surprise me with them. She called me at work and asked me why our saw was just burning the wood and eating blades. I said, I don't have a mitre saw. It's the red one. She was using my metal chop saw with abrasive blades and just burning them up.
Funny, she and her friend tried to surprise me with them. She called me at work and asked me why our saw was just burning the wood and eating blades. I said, I don't have a mitre saw. It's the red one. She was using my metal chop saw with abrasive blades and just burning them up.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
What I miss today? Some cute mom here asking a few questions and yall try to run her off? Looks like she has interest and more talent than half the people on here, at least she's trying. If I had a list of people to run off, this lady wouldn't be anywhere near the top.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
She's using acrylics. It's artsy fartsy shlt, not house painting and it needs a clear.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Cute girl? I just said my wife, I meant my friend.
The Hobbyist
New Member
RIGHT! Unless you are planning to have your yard art found by archeologists in the 25th CENTURY, just make them look good NOW, and quit worrying about making them last 300 years. The decorations you showed us, Christmas Carolers, Pilgrims, ... I assume pumpkins and goblins, and Easter Bunnies, Leprechauns ? Uncle Sam? , ... These things are only going to BE out in your yard on a seasonal basis. A few days, or a few weeks per year. It isn't as if they need to withstand Hurricane Katrina! If they weather a bit well ... that adds to their charm!
Stop listening to the "Experts" as they pound their chests and belt out tribal screams of territorial fright, and tell you about their worldly knowledge on all matters. I thought that the whole point of this new venture was to have FUN!
Sheesh! Now these egomaniacs have got you seeking expensive marine plywood, and the latest and greatest future world coatings ... and UV protection ... and ... and ... Are you going to buy $250.00 albino chinchilla fur paint brushes too?!
Pay a visit to Utah. See all of the beautiful, creative and "amateur" yard art made by the Mormon women out there, using arts and crafts stuff they buy in THRIFT STORES! Their paint brushes are Q-TIPS!
Set up a free account on PINTEREST.COM. It is an absolute EYE CANDY store for arts and crafts, and products that MIGHT become sellable online, or at arts and crafts fairs, flea markets, swap meets, or even via vendor booths, if you find you like to make them in large quantities.
Keep the projects SIMPLE, and get your kids involved in the projects. Tell them to put down the iPads and grab a bottle of glue or a paint brush!
Joe
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The Hobbyist
New Member
No. Plywood bends in one direction, but I have yet to see someone bend a sheet of plywood SIDEWAYS.
Joe
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The Hobbyist
New Member
She is a professional MOTHER and I seriously doubt that any of us could even approach her level of expertise in that field.
Joe
Boudica
Back to "educational purposes"
Some of us could.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
you must not be very familiar with wet plywood. I didn't say to use marine plywood either, simple exterior grade is fine. The wood is all the same, 1 adhesive is water resistant (exterior) and the other in not (interior)