Making Giant Letters ( for bid night, etc.)
 

Hello all,

I have volunteered to head up the making of those giant (~3-3.5') greek letters.

I am not sure of the materials in which to make them out of.

Originally I thought of using the compressed wood composite board and laminating both sides with normal hardwood. I thought that this would be the most sturdy (no - its' not MDF) over time and relatively cheap.

The other option is using hardwood planks and screwing everything together.

I have the power tools (Yay for university access! :rolleyes::p).

Also, what paint would you reccomend *primer is a given*.

We had the letters made so we could bolt them to a pole, and called them Standards, which we carried to football games & such. I was somewhat surprised to hear that not every school made them.

You want them light enough to carry, but not flimsy enough to break. Also, they should be able to be bolted/screwed together. One suggestion is that, if you're going to put them on a pole, make sure that your letters are up and down

Z
T
A

not ZTA. When the letters are side by side, they can easily be seen as "ATZ". So, you need to create a place to put a hole in each letter. If you're just using them for Bid Day, though, that's not really a problem. MDF board is okay, if it's smooth enough. You don't want the letters snagging on something and ruining your clothing. In other words, the sanding is going to be just as important as cutting out the letters!

Ours were made out of plywood, with the holes disguised into the painting of the design. A second one was the outline of a lion, with our letters painted on each side. I have to admit, I've never did the cutting, but was definitely in on the sanding! Have fun!

These will all be independent, not attched to each other.

So composite board will be good? ~ it is stronger and lighter than MDF.

Should I do the laminate or not? ~ it will be wood-glued and compressed overnight.

I thought it would make the letters look a lot nicer.
Either way - there will be a lot of saw time.
I do have "industrial" sanders at my disposal and permission from the guys that run the lab since it is for "student use". tehe

Instead of going through all the work to make them yourself you should hint around to the Fraternities and maybe some of the gentlemen will help you. I know you a perfectly capable of building them yourself but it never hurts to ask for help. I know my chapter has built them for 3 of the 4 sororities on campus including Zeta Tau Alpha.

If you live in an area with a JoAnn's, a Michael's, or an A.C. Moore you can probably purchase letters that are at least 2' tall.