Acrylic.. is that like Plexiglas?
Plexiglas or Plex as it's more commonly known is a trade mark but Acrylic is the same material which is either cast or extruded into sheet form with color added. Sign companies have been using acrylic for indoor and outdoor signs since the product was first made back in the early 50's and it really has not changed very much since then. For making letters we extrude acrylic into sheets with many colors that are not available on the open market. We make our acrylic sheet at the Iowa plant and ship it to many of our other plants around the country where it is cut with lasers into letters and logos. Laser cutting of acrylic sheet leaves a polished look to the cut edge on all our colors except Metallic Gold and Metallic Silver which tends to leave a decorative smoked edge.
Versatile:
Because our Acrylic letters are cut with precision on computer guided laser machines it can be cut into virtually any font style, shape or even logo. Even so there are limitations due to the heat generated by the laser, small letters less than 1" in height are not possible and very large letters may not fit on a standard sheet. Nevertheless, laser cut acrylic letters have the lowest cost for letters less than 3/8" in thickness. Thicker letters, 1/2" to 1" thick are available but stop becoming economical. At that point, for outdoor letters it is better to look at Vacuum formed letters or Injection Molded Letters which have much deeper returns at lower cost than acrylic.
Self Install:
Acrylic letters come with a variety of hardware options that allow for very simple installation. For outdoor use most professional installers will choose the stud mount. By the way, when we say stud we are not referring to the studs in your wall. A stud is a length of threaded rod that screws into the back of the letter and anchors it to the wall. For indoor use, double face tape is often sufficient for drywall applications. At the bottom of this page is a full list of the hardware options available and their usage. We also have videos of letter installation procedures for various mounts which cover most of our letter types. Installation Videos.
For stud, combo or Combo-all type mounts, a drilling pattern is essential for perfect alignment and can be ordered during the checkout process.
For indoor mounting, a full size stencil pattern can be useful for perfect alignment and can be ordered during the checkout process.
Usage:
Whether indoors or outdoors, Acrylic letters are a good choice as long as you do not want letters with a lot of edge thickness. For larger letters over 12" tall you should also consider that the thinner acrylic 1/8" and 3/16" are not very strong and will fail under impact conditions. Also for thinner letters stay away from thin or curly fonts which tend to get easily broken. Also review the page here which lists all the choices for interior letters. For outdoor use review the page here for Outdoor Building Letters
We should also discuss colors - THIS IS BIG
While sheet colors are the standard and cheapest option there are drawbacks. Sheet colors are for the most part very glossy and can have that instantly recognizable "plastic" look. There are also a limited amount of colors available so if you want something else you simply have to have the painted option which adds 30%. The good news is that acrylic takes paint very well and the paint adds UV protection as well. With paint, the edge and face are painted and form a single color which is not always the case with sheet colors. Painting allows for a gloss level that ranges from full gloss to full matte.
Painting does not limit you to the paint pallet on our website. For a $20 per color mixing fee we can paint your letters in millions of shades! Want a Sherwin Williams, Behr, pantone, PPG or other major paint company color? No problem! To go one step further than that we have the ability to mask and paint multiple colors on a single surface or we can use advanced processes to print color directly onto an acrylic surface just like your inkjet printer, AND the result is color and weather fast! So acrylic truly is one of the most versatile products we have..
Color Seperated Paint on Acrylic
Full Color Inkjet Printing on acrylic. Outdoor UV Safe!
Similar products you might be interested in
PRODUCTION LEAD TIMES
Product usually ships in 4-5 working days from the closest plant to you either of Iowa, Virginia, Nevada or Texas.
*This can change based on the plant capacity and prevailing orders, and also on staff problems with Covid-19
Acrylic cut letters are the low cost, all weather workhorse of sign lettering. Acrylic, also known as "Plex" comes in many pigmented colors which because of their super glossy appearance can look too much like plastic. Acrylic letters and numbers are excellent for painting with acrylic polyurethane which eliminates the plastic look and also allows for different paint sheens like semi gloss, satin and matte.
Acrylic letters are suitable for any environment whether it be the arid South Western States, the humid South Eastern States or the Northern States where temperatures can drop to sub zero. For indoor applications they provide a crisp look and can be painted in any of thousands of colors from Pantone to Sherwin Williams to Benjamine Moore color schemes.
