Question about redwood

[dfehringer]

Hello, I'm new to this...in fact this is the first forum I've ever really looked at.
I'm making some signs out of 2 X 12 redwood. Two of the signs are going to be 8 feet long and one is going to be 6 feet long. I'm going to route the letters and images, paint the board black, then plane it leaving the letters and images black and the surface natural redwood. Then I'll finish them with some sealer with UV protection. The signs are going to be hung at a location in the mountains of eastern Idaho. My concern is that with the extreme weather conditions (extreme cold and snow in winter and fairly warm and beating sun in the summer), I might have problems with the wood warping, cupping, or splitting. I've considered a couple of options to try and prevent this. One would be to simply frame the 2X12 with a 2X2 or 2X4 frame...but I'm not sure I'd like the look. The other option was to route a few kerfs in the back and attach a some aluminum angle pieces to re-inforce and hold things together. But I'm not sure if that would work, and I'm not sure how to hide the aluminum since the back of the sign may be visible.

So I guess my question is...Do I need to worry about doing anything special, or will the redwood hold it's shape if it is maintained and refinished every year or two? If I do need to do something, do you have any advice on what would work best and still look attractive?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[BiscuitSlayer]

I am no expert here with redwood, but I thought that redwood did hold its shape pretty well outdoors.

I am anxious to see some replys to your question because it is a good one. Hopefully someone will answer soon. This is a somewhat young forum, so you might need to be a little patient in getting a response.

[Don]

Hey, DFE and welcome to the forum. I've had some experience with redwood and it will be a perfect material for your signs. Even left raw the material would last and look good for many, many years. Finished as you plan it will last even longer. Redwood has natural resistance to rot, decay and weathering. The wood has a very fine grain and is lightweight, this makes for very good dimensional stability. If you have the luxury of picking out your boards from a bundle, look for clear, straight grain - quarter sawn pieces will have the very best stability. You may not be able to get the full 12" you want, if so you can enhance your stability by gluing up at least three pieces, alternating the faces. You will want to use a two part resorcinal glue http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/resorcinol.php or epoxy for the process and proper clamping. You can find some helpful information on gluing for width on these threads, - http://www.woodworkingbuzz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266&highlight=bench and http://www.woodworkingbuzz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223

You are welcome to search all of bogydave's posts http://www.woodworkingbuzz.com/forums/search.php?searchid=8313 on the glueup of the bench, that will give you all you need to know on how to glue up if you need to. The glue that he used will work for outside projects that are protected, but it will not last in rough weather for too many years.

Your plans on routing, painting and planing is exactly how it's been done before. Good luck and let us know how they turn out.

I'm sure others will have some suggestions as well.

All the best, Don