WELCOME!

It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one of these machines - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Along with the CNC router I discovered the wonderful material called Precision Board and the glues, primers and other companion products they offer. Since then we have gone through many tons of the material using it in most signs and projects we tackle. This journal will chronicle our many adventures both past, present and future. I'll talk from the perspective of someone who pushes these products to the creative limit on a daily basis. I'll be adding to the stories two or three times each week. -dan

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Adding texture to the edges

I've shown how to make texture on our projects many times on this blog. What it possible is limited only by your imagination. When the texture runs all the way to the edge of your project it's time to do a little hand work.  In our shop we insist that the edges of our signs look as good as the front face. In our current project almost all of the signs can be viewed from all angles. Sculptural elements that are part of the sign take things over the top so all parts and sides of the signs need to be property finished with texture.

The Crow's Nest sign sports a heavy and deep cartoon woodgrain. This woodgrain is flipped on the back meaning the two sides line up nicely. I spent about twenty minutes with our air powered die grinder carving the heavy grain through the sides, bottom and top. Because the grain lines were so broad on this piece it was a lot less work than if it was fined grained. Even the 30 lb board works easily, especially with powerful air powered tools. Those few minutes with the die grinder really make a big difference.




-dan