Thread: Alucobond fence?

Know the product but have not played with it the way you instead to use it.
The only thing I see as a possible problem is water getting in behind the surface sheet and substrate. The install manual make sure that edges are water tight.
Do not know if you can fill the cnc part with a sealer?

Russell

Hi

I'm no expert but we use this material for our retail signage needs at work and absolutely love the result. The thickness of the material gives you a perfectly flat surface and our sign company normally mount it on an aluminum RHS frame, and use cnc routing for edge folds etc. We have had no issues with these out in the weather. This material is used extensively on commercial building facades, including all the new Masters stores.

My advice would be to track down a decent sized singwriting company and see of one of the blokes could give you some advice. I've been looking for an excuse to use this stuff at home for years.

Danny

Thanks for your replies.

My main concern was whether or not the material would be stiff enough to do the job in a fairly competent manner.

I was going to use aluminium sheet, but the cost is fairly high, so if Alucobond is an acceptable substitute then I would try it instead.

Attached is a VERY rough drawing of what I intend to do.

Bob ..... just be mindful that Alucobond isn't particularly cheap itself. There are other brands out there that are slightly cheaper if you can find them such as I-Bond (off the top of my head).

It is not cheap, and looking at what you plan to cut into the sheets would also make it very weak and flimsy unless it was well supported from the rear.
Fantastic for what it is designed for, being commercial building fascades but not sure that it would be suited the purpose of a fence.

Cheers
Tony.

I'll be interested to see how this stuff cuts with a high speed router.
I have half a sheet of red Alucobond sitting in the shed, it's destined for splashbacks in a friends kitchen once I work out the best way to cut/shape it.

I'm hoping there are enough offcuts for me to play with on the CNC router.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

Bob ..... just be mindful that Alucobond isn't particularly cheap itself. There are other brands out there that are slightly cheaper if you can find them such as I-Bond (off the top of my head).

Thanks for that Stinky. It may not be all that cheap itself, but it is considerably cheaper than solid aluminium. If I go ahead (and MaDDoG's making me question the sense of that) then I will certainly look around for cheaper alternatives.

Originally Posted by AuS MaDDoG

It is not cheap, and looking at what you plan to cut into the sheets would also make it very weak and flimsy unless it was well supported from the rear.
Fantastic for what it is designed for, being commercial building facades but not sure that it would be suited the purpose of a fence.
Cheers
Tony.

Thanks Tony, that was what I was wondering too. I wasn't sure that panels of the stuff would have the necessary rigidity. All the extra support that it might require would impact negatively on the cost as well.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

I'll be interested to see how this stuff cuts with a high speed router.
I have half a sheet of red Alucobond sitting in the shed, it's destined for splashbacks in a friends kitchen once I work out the best way to cut/shape it.

I'm hoping there are enough offcuts for me to play with on the CNC router.

Hey snowy, send it down to me and I will try it out and let you know how it fares.
There is a [ame="http://youtube.ng/watch?v=fSwbk_HXu9Q&feature=related"]youtube video[/ame] that shows how to cut it, Also see. And many more.

Getting waaay OT here ...

As part of the kitchen build I'm helping with, I was taken to shop that plywood furniture with designs carved in it. A side trip to the artists studio showed that the panels were actually sand blasted through a stencil (your design reminded me of it).
Plywood was brown form ply, so strong and weatherproof.

Not a lot of help if you have a CNC router and not a sand blaster but if you're going to go OT, then go all the way

Studio is here. Their sandblasted glass is amazing!

what do you want to know, we do building facdes & fascias at work with composite sheet. just did a 400m2 building in januray.

yes you can router we use dewalt / festool routers to do edge detailing also a grooving blade on our panel saw.

you would need to miter fold the sheets to give it some stiffness,

alcubond is about $80m2

alpolic (mitisbusi) $55m2

other ones range from $40m2 to aslow as $30m2.

not hard to work with but a lot of effort to do a good job withit,

i have miles off cuts you are welcome to.

Hi Gaza

Ahem, Offcuts? - he asked innocently - What size offcuts?

Do you have many about 3m *500 mm?

Actually, from looking at the Youtube video it looks a though the panels can be self stiffened by routing a V groove along the edges and then folding and gluing the edges into a box. Is this so?

Also, could you give me your thoughts on the possibility of using this stuff as fencing material?

Also, is there much difference in the quality of the cheaper and more expensive composite sheets?

Originally Posted by Bob Willson

Hi Gaza

Ahem, Offcuts? - he asked innocently - What size offcuts?

Do you have many about 3m *500 mm? nothing that big about 300 wide maybe.

Actually, from looking at the Youtube video it looks a though the panels can be self stiffened by routing a V groove along the edges and then folding and gluing the edges into a box. Is this so?

i would just fold it once like a right angle then glue / tape in a alu box section. a full fold box section is very hard to bend the sheet with out a folder

Also, could you give me your thoughts on the possibility of using this stuff as fencing material?

would be not a problem,

Also, is there much difference in the quality of the cheaper and more expensive composite sheets?

differnt colors is about it cheap cheap one is only a few colors middle range price stuff has bigger range of colors and sizes. what color are you thinking off?

the $35m2 stuff is only 2400x1200 sheets

Thanks for all that info Gaza.

I would prefer that the panels be made from the thickest stuff available, so would 6mm or 8mm panels in whatever colour be OK? The size of the panels would each be a finished size of about 2 metres * about 600mm. they would be supported at each end by posts with tags on the sides of the post to bolt the panels to.

Obviously, the cheaper the better. The colour is not problem because we intend to paint the finished pieces anyway. What is the name of the Cheapest one please and do you know anywhere in Brisbane that I could go to look at a sample or buy some for test purposes?

Would the paint be enough to seal the cut edges from moisture or would I need to use a proper sealant?

Thanks again Gaza

Bob

you dont need to seal the edges at all,

4mm is standard off the shelf forget about 6mm or 8mm its a special run / import.

painting might be your issue you will need to use auto 2pac paint after prep thats going to be hard part.

600x2000 will be no problem at all,

ill PM you a "middle range" link that has an office in QLD the cheap cheap guy is based in syd he might freight it

Thanks gaza

It will probably take a while to get this done, but I will let the forum know the outcome when there is one.

Bob