Quick question re: plastic yard-sale signs

[sbaxter]

Just wondering if anyone has found a way to strip away the printing on styrene yard-sale-type signs without doing serious damage to the plastic. Sanding them is a pain, although the next one I do I will try using a finishing sander rather than doing it by hand. I expect that keeping the sander moving will avoid having too much heat build up. That will probably work for the thicker signs, but I’d like to be able to use the thin ones as well.

Qapla’

SSB

[Stu Pidasso]

When I use them, I just use the back side.

[sbaxter]

So do I … until I need to laminate them.

Qapla’

SSB

[Lt. Z0mBe]

I use them all the time. The printing is vinyl, so there’s not much chemically you can do. I just use a little sanding block and sand one way, pulling away from the center and towards the edge of the piece so I don’t crinkle up the sheet. Most times, it’s not even necessary, though, unless there’s a specific spot on the printed side that’s needing cement or I have somehow managed to have the printed side ending up needing paint.

As for the sandpaper, I always cut my sandpaper into approximately two-inch by one-inch strips so that I can wrap and hold them around my finger tip or a sanding wedge I’ve made out of rubber from McMaster Carr. I write the grit on the back, unless its printing is visible. I bought a deck (eBay) of notecard-sized pieces in assorted grits probably 10-years ago and am just now running low on 400-grit and 600-grit. I have little rubber wedges that I have cut from black rubber stock. They look like they were slices out of a 1-inch thick cake, having a triangular cross section when viewed from the “cake top” or bottom side. That gives me a flat edge or a pointy end to hold the sandpaper around as I sand. I got the idea years ago watching someone use wedges made for very fine sanding in and around moldings for furniture and trim carpentry. It was on Macross World’s forums and the user lamented the fact that they weren’t quite small enough for model work, so I figured I could just make my own from rubber. Now, I can’t sand without them. I also made a few others whose shapes resemble sticks of butter, bricks and prisms.

Sorry for the rambling post but I hope it helps.

Kenny

[zaphod]

I like the Lt. Zombie approach of working outward from the center. Signs are a great source for sheet styrene.

[Andrew Gorman]

I just ignore any printing. It usually doesn't telegraph through to the next layer, and if that becomes a problem a coat of scratch filling primer will take care of that. I pull styrene sheet out of dumpsters all the time- any vacuformed packaging is probably styrene if it isn't clear PETE, so many thicknesses are out there.