I need to make professional looking signs to advertise my small engine repair gig.

I have gathered up a bunch of political signs that I can paint over and put my own message on.

I want to make a template that will allow me to just spray paint my message on. What is the best way to cut out the letters on the corrugated plastic board?

I was thinking of using a jigsaw or a dremel tool. Any other ideas are more than welcome.

I think there is forum member here who is a signmaker.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Box cutter w/ sharp blade and a carpenters square


oh, cut actual letters from the plastic.. hmm well a laser cutter would be best. But a jigsaw would do best.

When you go to paint with the stencil spray the back of the stencil with some adhesive so it sticks to the piece to be marked and then paint. Helps to prevent over spray and etc. Pull off once done

I would use a fine toothed saw such as a coping saw or a hacksaw.

I've cut this stuff myself with a hacksaw and it works well - just don't shove too hard when / if the saw snags. If you do you can shatter the plastic. You need a steady hand to get a nice straight line, but it is possible.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I foresee that the S and R are going to take some time.

You could try the Dremel tool, using the drywall bit...but the way that bit works, cut from the back side of the stencil, not the front. The ragged edges won't be worth the time/effort to clean up.

If you're very steady-handed and do have a bit of experience with the Dremel, any of the cutting wheels will do quite well...just keep the cutter moving so as not to create too much heat, thereby causing either a "clogging" of the cutting surface/edge or a ragged/melted edge on your template.

Another option you have is to take a piece of the board and use various tools and try out each to see what works the best for your application.

Here's a trick I've seen folks use when cutting thin-sheet plywood or formica for countertops...lay down a layer of masking tape right over the cutting line(s) of your project...the tape is suppose to cut down on the fracturing/chipping of the material's surface by the cutting tool...

Again, practice on a few sheets of "scrap" or "practice" pieces of your material, just so you have an idea of what to expect...or to improve your technique.

Good luck!!

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

i cut corroplast with a razor blade.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I like the idea of a Roto Zip or other such tool.

You might consider vinyl letters instead. Spray the letter color, then apply the vinyl letters and spray the field color, peal off the vinyl letters et voila. It's not gonna be easy to cut a stencil from the corrugated board that will give clean edges. Or you can have stencil cut by a shop that does such.

light saber...........