Slotted marquee letters

[Jill Mobley]

I am using silicone. Cutting the slots after the fact is a very good idea. I have been wondering how difficult that would be. The slots are for sure going to be the point of failure on the mold. The face of mine are slick because that is the top. I have also been wondering about laying a piece of silicone with the texture on the resin while it was damp but not soft. I don't know how the shiny letters will look on the marquee.

I guess it is obvious I am new to silicone/resin.

[Randy Stankey]

Well, you seem to have done a good job, so far.

I think you can just cover the slots in the original letters with tape before you make the mold. It will probably leave a mark that you can use to locate the slots when it's time to cut them.

It's hard to suggest an exact method to cut the slots without knowing whether the material would break or shatter under the stress of a saw. A power saw is probably out of the question. The other option that I can think of is a hot knife. You'd have to do some testing in order to tell whether the material can be cut that way. I think it would work, though.

You should probably be able to pick up a hot knife from Harbor Freight for cheaps. We used (and wore out) many hot knives in the scene shop at Mercyhurst.

In order to cut the slots, you could make a jig of some kind. You put a letter in to hold it steady and slots in the jig guide the cutter to the right location, angle and depth.

If you don't like the letters being glossy you can sand them with fine sandpaper to make the surface cloudy but still translucent. Sandblasting might be an option if the material can stand up to it. Chemical etching is also an option. It'd probably be faster for production. I'm not sure what chemicals/products to use to etch acrylic. We'd have to look into that.

[Jill Mobley]

Randy, I am just now seeing this! Your suggestions are quite helpful.

Jill

[Jim Cassedy]

It's hard to suggest an exact method to cut the slots without knowing whether
the material would break or shatter under the stress of a saw. A power saw is
probably out of the question. The other option that I can think of is a hot knife.

I had friend who used to work with a lot of foam rubber & plastic-stuff building props & stage sets.
He had tool that looked almost exactly like a coping saw (like in the photo below), except that the
blade, which was actually a piece of wire was electrically heated. I don't know what the tool was
called or where to get one, but I remember watching him use it & it cut through the plastic he was
working with like a hot knife thru butter.

The Tool Looked Almost Exactly Like This Coping
Saw, Except The Blade Part Was Electrically Heated.
CopingSaw.jpg
jc