Use and Care Manual

Tel: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail] •
5
Working with Highwood/Everwood Material
www.highwood-usa.com
Bending
To produce curved products, highwood
®
proles can be bent using a jig or form. To bend, heat the prole to 195
to 215ºF (100ºC) in a convection oven, hot box, or hot liquid bath. Heat only long enough to make the prole
pliable (time varies with prole thickness: typical 7 to 15 minutes). Overheating will cause the foam to expand
and the prole will become misshapen. By contrast, if the prole is not hot enough, it may wrinkle when bending.
Trials are required to dene the amount of time and specic temperature for your equipment and each prole.
Remove from the oven and shape in the jig; allow to cool. The ends of the prole will ‘mushroom’ so be certain to
allow approximately 2" (50mm) to be trimmed on each end.
FINISHING
Unlike real wood, highwood
®
materials is supplied with a nished surface. Therefore, care should always be taken
to protect the surface during manufacturing and shipping of nished goods. However, if the surface is scratched
or marred, it can be repaired.
Sanding
Machine or hand sanding can be used to remove scratches or
tool marks (after machining). Disc or orbital sanders should not
be used, as they generate heat and can soften the material. Belt
sanders, pad (palm) sanders, drum sanders all work well, as does
hand sanding. highwood
®
material can be wet or dry sanded. To
remove ne scratches, use #0000 steel wool in the direction of
the grain and then apply a soft wax such as bee’s wax or carnauba
wax before bufng with a soft cloth.
Painting
Highwood material can be painted just like real-wood and holds paint very well. Any high-quality exterior paint
can be used — suggested brands include:
• Rust Oleum Oil-Based Enamels
• HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams Weathershield Exterior Paint
• Valspar Duramax Exterior Paint
• Behr Ultra Exterior Paint
The paint can be applied by brush or roller, by aerosol spray or by
an air-compressor driven paint sprayer — all will produce excellent
results. In each case be sure to apply thin layers and build up the color
slowly — since the highwood
®
material is a closed cell structure and
does not absorb moisture, the paint will not “soak” into it — instead
you are looking to build up clean and thin layers without causing
running. No sanding or priming is necessary, just ensure that the
material is free of dust and dirt. Exterior acrylic enamels and Alkyd
(oil-based) exterior paints will provide the best performance. If using
an aerosol spray can be sure that it does not include any aromatic
hydrocarbons (E.g. Xylene, Toluene).
For more tips on painting take a look at the video here.
Working with highwood®/Everwood Material