Q. What is the material
used ?
A. MDF....This stands
for Medium Density Fibreboard. It is a highly compressed man-made board.
Q. Why do you use MDF
?
A. Because MDF has a
lot of qualities that are ideally suited to this type of product.
It has a natural colour, it has no grain to contend with, it is consistent
and best of all it is strong.
Q. Can you cut these
in grained wood like oak or pine ?
A. Yes we can, but there
are problems when these are cut in grained wood.
The
contact point at the base of some letters & numbers can be quite small
and it's possible that these
could
snap off along the grain at this point ! Because of this, we only
cut Call Signs in MDF.
Q. Do you cut these in
larger sizes ?
A. Yes we do. Please
email us for a quote.
Q. Do they need finishing
with varnish or paint ?
A. No they don't. Most
people are happy with them as they are as shown in our 'Photo Gallery'.
They will however, darken slightly
with age the
same as most wood products do.
Q. If I wanted to apply
a finish, what should I use ?
A. We recommend using
oil based paints or varnishes. If possible, thin the first coat which will
make it easier
to apply.
Subsequent coats don't need thinning. The amount of coats needed
will depend on the finish
you
choose but in general, 2 coats should be enough.
Water
based finishes will raise the fibres slightly on the cut edges making it
necessary to lightly sand these off
before
applying the second coat. Sanding all those internal
surfaces is no fun so avoid water based finishes
if possible !
Waxing is possibly the easiest finish to apply
and works well with either clear wax or coloured/stained wax.
Q. What about spraying
them ?
A. In our opinion, spraying is an easy finish to apply. Done properly
in short bursts to
avoid runs, a high quality finish can be achieved much quicker than normal
paints and varnishes.
Q. Do you provide
a paint finishing service ?
A. Sorry, we don't.