Hi,
I wanted to find out what kinds of wood would be best for larger CNC routed signs, like 18" x 24" and larger.
I have used plywood, exterior, furnature grade and baltic but it tends to tear out on thinner sections.
Pine and other solid woods work great on smaller signs but it's hard to get larger sizes and they tend to warp even in the smaller sizes.
I saw a post for HDU board, High Density Urethane, but I don't think I would like to deal with the dust, let alone the cost.
Any ideas would be appreciated
Thanks, Dean

Ignore cost of material... Pass that along to the customer... If they don't want to pay for the proper material then that's too bad for them.

Getting solid wood panels in large sizes is very difficult I see Oak and Pine and Sometimes Poplar sold as panels for "table tops"

But the most reliable way is to get a planer and jointer and some large bar clamps and glue up your own panels from smaller boards. (Buying rough lumber can save quite a bit of money over buying dimensioned lumber too)

I can't recommend a particular type of wood since I'm not a sign maker but I do glue up a lot of panels.

You could buy pink foam at Home Depot and coat it with this. http://www.fxsupply.com/vanillacryl/vanillacryl.html

Like Nathan says, glue up panels from smaller boards. With a good blade on a table saw, you can get by without a jointer and planer. Is it going outside? If so, Mahogany is a good exterior wood to use, and machines well. Not real cheap, though.

Menards sells 24x48 sheets of Oak veneer. $14 . I have made a couple of signs out of this. It's cheap and looks good. Dust can be a problem.

Hey anoel,
I like your tips. I work at a furniure company and they use some type of oven for the panels they make, they say it works kind of like a microwave. I have never ask this question there, so maybe you are someone here can answer it. Does that oven help get a stronger bond or just a faster one?

Ignore cost of material... Pass that along to the customer... If they don't want to pay for the proper material then that's too bad for them.

Getting solid wood panels in large sizes is very difficult I see Oak and Pine and Sometimes Poplar sold as panels for "table tops"

But the most reliable way is to get a planer and jointer and some large bar clamps and glue up your own panels from smaller boards. (Buying rough lumber can save quite a bit of money over buying dimensioned lumber too)

I can't recommend a particular type of wood since I'm not a sign maker but I do glue up a lot of panels.

There is an engineered wood product called parallam that would probably make very nice signs and is available in large sizes. Here are a couple of links showing it. It should be available through any decent size lumber supplier.


http://www.outofcontrol-woodturning.com/Parallam.html

http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/HomeAgain/Video-0116-02-0.html

There is an engineered wood product called parallam that would probably make very nice signs and is available in large sizes. Here are a couple of links showing it. It should be available through any decent size lumber supplier.


http://www.outofcontrol-woodturning.com/Parallam.html

http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/HomeAgain/Video-0116-02-0.html

Thats pretty wild looking wood. Its pretty cool.

spanish cedar works well I get it for about 3.25 a board foot it machines well is relatively light and looks like mahogony. Hdu is another choice just set up dust collection, a good shop vac will do the trick.

I saw Norm on "The New Yankee Workshop" this past weekend and the entire show was devoted to sign making. He even did an off site visit to a sign maker using a 4' x 8' router. It seems that sign makers like Western Clear Cedar and if you need a large sign, you just glue together as many boards as you need with with marine epoxy. As he explained it, the marine expoxy was used for outdoor signs.

is this an interior or exterior sign? CNCROB is right about the preglued panels they will resist warping well because they have been dried completely. If you are using this outside then nothing beats cedar(redwood) for the price and its rot resistance, white oak works well to but it's pricey. I'm not sure if these can be bought glued up though. If you do glue your own, cut your strips fairly narrow (say 2 inches) and pay close attention to the end grain orientation. When looking at the end of the boards arrange them so that the "cup" is alternating up/down/up/down and so forth. The boards will warp a small amount (you can't prevent this) but at least this way it will minimize it. Because the strips are narrow and you glued them up properly you the board will remain "flat"

Another wood for outside use is Cypress. Looks a little like yellow pine but has the rot resistance of the Redwood or better. One thing to remember when gluing panels for outside use. You need a glue that is totally waterproof and if the sign is going to be in the direct sunlight you may need one that is heat and uv resistant also.

Mike