[skitzz]

I had a question re: which route i should take? I have an order for about 100 or so signs. Attached is the sample. The customer wants the signs to be 18x24. The sign itself is green and the letters are white with a small 'no parking' logo on the left that is white, black and red. The material for the sign is plastic about 3/16" thick I guess. Not sure what it is referered to as. Is it called PVC?

I currently have screen printing equipment I use for tees and I also have a plotter. If it was only a few I would do the plotter method but i cant imagine weeding over 100 3 color vinyl signs. I currently do not own a digital printer (Versacamm & comparable) What are my options?

So My questions are:

Could this be screen printed with equipment I currently own?

What is the process for screen printing a sign?

Do the sign blanks come in Green pictured above?

Where do I get the sign blanks?

Your help is immensely appreciated!!

 

[COEDS]

I think the signs blanks your talking about are called coreplast and they come in many colors. I don't screen print, but weeding would not take that long to do. .... JB

 

[skitzz]

Hmm...Actually coroplast is a different material. It's soft to the touch and can be squeezed. The ones I am refering to are hard plastic I believe. They are for outdoor use...the kind of signs you see in parking lots that say parking for "such and such only" The picture attached is actually a metal (aluminum?) but the customer prefers a plastic one that can be screwed to the wall.

 

[joeshaul]

I'd say it's probably acrylic. You can get acrylic in different thicknesses and colors. Acrylic takes vinyl well, I'm unsure about screen printing inks though. I know it can be spray painted, as a company I used to work for would sometimes paint custom cut letters. I'd suggest contacting a sales rep at Johnson Plastics and get their input.

 

[gerry]

Corrugated Plastic - Coroplast..Has flutes much like cardboard and must be screened parallel to the squeegie. Depends on your screen burning setup, for a small run like that..would it be fast to burn etc for a three colour job or cut and weed a three colour job..? they neeed to air dry probably if you screen.
I would go with the vinyl the way im set up.

 

[skitzz]

ok, guess its looking like vinyl then. thanks for the input guys! Johnsons plastics here I come...

 

[skitzz]

oh one more question.. DO they acrylic ones come in that color green or will I have to cover the entire sign in green vinyl?

 

[cmyk]

maybe your customer will accept any other kind of green - just ask him;

imo, it will take a while to weed the white text...i would screen print the white letters and the white circle, let it dry overnight, and do the red symbol and the black P using vinyl (which is very easy to weed and it's not tome consumeing); a 2 day job at maximum, i believe

 

[gerry]

..Sorry, not sure what you mean by acrylic ,we use a material called Cintra that comes in many colours and is (I believe) a pvc based material. The UVC from the sun just eats it..unless it has a uvc protective coating, ie. a clearcoat or laminate,I suggest going with a green coro-either screen it or vinyl it. Shouldn't be a complicated job.
or use Diabond, laminate with vinyl then apply vinyl cut or screened image.

 

[joeshaul]

..Sorry, not sure what you mean by acrylic ,we use a material called Cintra that comes in many colours and is (I believe) a pvc based material. The UVC from the sun just eats it..unless it has a uvc protective coating, ie. a clearcoat or laminate,I suggest going with a green coro-either screen it or vinyl it. Shouldn't be a complicated job.
or use Diabond, laminate with vinyl then apply vinyl cut or screened image.

Sintra's a bit malleable and more for indoor signage, since he said it was hard, I ruled it out. Acrylic is also known in the industry as plexiglass.

 

[gerry]

aaahh Plexi,.. is a bit expensive? If they want cheap go w/ coro.

 

[skitzz]

Well, the signs used to be some sort of metal. As it is inside a parking lot, i'm not to concerned with the UV exposure. I think cloroplast is too flimsy in my opinion which i why I was asking about Acrylic(plexiglass).

 

[gerry]

Can't see why that wouldn't work, Just laminate greenI guess huh? We use Diabond(?) which is two thin sheets of baked on enamel with a nylon type stuff in between..works great for parking lot signs. Did you cut the/weed or screenprint?
Good luck.
Plexi can be a pain to cut and drill w/o chipping or cracking
Dont know if you know or not

 

[ino]

Maybe you could try foamboard as a blank, or go to a sheet metal worker and get him to cut you the blanks.

 

[skitzz]

I found a place locally that sells the acrylic I need & cuts it for me. Thanks for the suggestions everyone, it helped me look in the right places...