Blogs
Building the Summit routing file
The next sign to be built for the Cultus Lake Adventure Park is the Summit Trading post. Since we elevated the ground by eight feet and the trading post in on top of the hill (and inside the mountain) SUMMIT was the perfect name. It will feature a small copy of the mountain peak.
Mural Painting Examined
Mural painting is an art form few can claim to have mastered. Sign & Digital Graphics recently printed an article featuring Larry Polzin, owner of Stargazer Creations in Arvada, CO, showcasing his mural painting talents - which are definitely something to admire....
Who Says HDU Can’t Be Used For Illuminated Signage?
Sometimes, when we talk to sign shops that specialize in electrical/illuminated signage, they aren't sure HDU is a viable material for the nature of their business. While not seen as often as the typical non-lighted dimensional-style sign, illuminated HDU signs do...
3D HDU Sign Letters
We recently created a sign for a client. We liked the design so much so we decided to make two and keep one for ourselves. It is a very simple sign but it will look good in the shop. We designed our sign in Enroute Pro. We’ll be cutting it out of 2″ 15lb Precision Board HDU on our MultiCAM 3000 Router. The design is a wood grain over a dimensional letter and we threw in some big rivets for fun. The first thing we was to cut the letters face down and to pocket out room in the back for LED’s (in case we want to add them later). We also added holes for the wall mount studs. We then flipped the letters and re registered them on the table to begin cutting the 3D face
Site progress
Last week, with the arrival of unseasonably warm weather, we spent the bulk of our time up at the worksite. We are making great progress on the welding and meshing of the many armatures for the sculpted concrete. The front half of the park are largely complete.
HDU Letters – KENZO Window Display
This was a quick turnaround job – 1 day start to finish – the client needed large foam letters and would be hanging them with fishing wire in a window display. The dimensions of the letters are 15″ high by 8″ deep. So we cut the letters in two layers from 4″ 10lb Precision Board HDU. Its lightweight and real easy to work with
Custom Carved Town Sign – Borough of Rockleigh, NJ
Our office is located in a tiny borough tucked away in the Northeast corner of NJ. Its a beautiful little area of NJ – We were honored to be chosen to redesign and create the new signs for this this historic district of Rockleigh. After a few concept drawings we came up with the final design which was in line with the existing borough signage and had the elegant historic feel they were looking for. Once approved we sat down and came up with a unique way to construct the sign. Our goal was to build a dimensional sign that would last but also have elements that are not used in typical town signage. As always we’ll be making the sign from 30lb Precision Board – This is our favorite material and will last forever! We start by cutting the signs face up and routing pockets to place our dimensional letters later. This will make for a very interesting sign. Once we’ve cut the face we flip the sign and route out a channel on the back for the steel frame that will hold the sign up. These signs are double sided so when they are completed we’ll screw and glue the panels together.
Han Solo Continued…
The Control Panels are all cut. We’ll do some handy work on these later with LEDs and Acrylic faces. Now its time to complete the sculpting of Hans clothing. I’m using Magic Sculpt. This material is great – its a two part sculpting compound that is really easy to work with and hardens to steel! If you look closely I’m using my Iphone case as a reference for the detail.
The Han Solo in Carbonite Project
There is never enough time in the day to get things done. So when it comes to side projects to dress up the studio it’s almost impossible to find any time at all. Our Current project is to replicate the Han Solo in Carbonite prop from “The Empire Strikes Back”. This might take a long time but it will be a great piece to hang on the wall. So the first thing I need to do is build the box. I’ve scaled up my drawing in Enroute and have created the “control panel” holes.