Aluminum panels

[Wayne McMichael]

If you want to find stuff that lasts, talk to the sign folks. I've done a good bit of it. I've painted on aluminum, DiBond (Aluminum), steel, fiberglass, masonite, plexi, pvc, MDO, MDF, Expanded PVC Foam (Sign Foam), glass, concrete, coroplast, and the worst, wood. Sometimes priming is the biggest concern and I would say that aluminum is the hardest to prime properly. I never felt good about painting on bare aluminum. If you are going to paint on aluminum, make sure it's coated. That baked enamel finish is extremely durable. The masonite they make these days is no good. Anyway, no one suggested painting on bare aluminum, but I just wanted to warn against it. There are lots of aluminum products these days. Anything with the word "Museum" in it will cost 4 times what it's worth. DiBond for instance has little advantage over Coated aluminum, .050 or .060, but cost 3-4 times as much. Alucabond is similar. There is one similar product made locally called Reynabond I believe. Comes in 4'x8' sheets. It's the same thing as DiBond, coated on 1 or 2 sides, and it's $48 per sheet. That's less than half the price of DiBond. Now I would begin to know how to apply linen but if I used it, I would surely find out. Anyhow just passing it along.

[Jean Kelly]

Wayne,

Why is wood the worst to paint on? I've just collected numerous sanded wood panels (3/4" finish grade) that have been reinforced on the back side to prevent warping. I plan to gesso them and paint away. I've never done this before, and wanted to try something different. What problems am I looking at?

Jean

[Wayne McMichael]

Honestly, I was speaking of outdoor applications where the elements make the wood breathe, expand contract, crack. And preparing it to make it smooth was always a pain - and I have had resins come up through the paint. I think you're OK.

Wood has such a range of quality that even the time of year it's harvested affects its life and stablity. Musical instrument manufacturers, the good ones, are VERY concerned about the type, texture, tone and particularly the age of wood. They buy pieces of wood by auction sometimes and will walk around and lightly knock on the wood to hear its sonic properties. All these things make it a more soulful medium, but also less stable. But indoor applications are less susceptible to these problems. I wouldn't worry, unless you are going to leave it outside

[Carl Toboika]

Sharon,

Very sadly for us, Michael Ozog has closed down operations in order to have time to paint. I'm hopeful it is not a sad event for him.

[David Bottoni]

Wayne, you are correct in that aluminum panels have their greatest benefit for commercial art, and scuffing and priming are the most important issue to contend with. I have also read that William Whitaker has used Dibond or Alucabond (one of the aluminum laminate products) for some of his paintings. As a sign professional, I could offer some information on aluminum panels if you should require it. As an artist, I can't say that I have ever tried painting (with artist's oils) on aluminum, however, my experience with other mediums on aluminum is that it may be the best hard surface available if it is prepared correctly. One issue on durability, however, is that Dibond and Alucabond (these are the company names) are really just thin laminates of aluminum sandwiching PVC or styrene. One thing that I am not certain of, for archival purposes, would be the aluminum delaminating from the middle board. I have seen aluminum delaminate after many years in exterior applications due to poor adhesives and the enivronmental factor, however, I am not sure if there are any issues if the work is kept inside. I could contact my supplier to find out if anyone is interested.

David