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

Friday, February 10, 2017

Flutterbye - part one

It is always an exciting day when we can start a new project. Today was such a day. We began the second feature/sign/operator's booth for a new ride at Playland at the Pacific National Exhibition.

The concept was done previous to our receiving the technical information for the ride, especially in regard to the orientation of the booth and the sizes required. We'll be adjusting things a little from the concept as we go but it will be substantially like the drawing.


I started by creating the cut files for the half inch plate steel. The MultiCam plasma cutter made short work of the cuts. The plate is much thicker than normal because the feature will be moved a number of times through it's life. Over the next ten years the entire park will be transformed and the rides rearranged as necessary. Initially the tree will be placed on tarmac without being bolted down. Because the upper portion is cantilevered a fair amount we needed to compensate with a broad base. The heavy steel will help as well.


The hollowed out inner portion of the tree will serve as an operator's booth. The dimensions were mandated by the ride manufacturer and are quite large. To ensure the bottom portion of the concrete survives all of the moves we built a three trusses which span the three closed sides. More braces fro out to the portions of the roots which will extend from the center. Heavy steel uprights and cross members were welded into place. A fourth truss forms the large trunk of the tree which extends out.

We made great progress on our first day of fabrication. This is going to be a fun project!