Today I made a quick trip to the Fox and Hounds to install the smaller of the two logo signs. It instantly snapped into place and looked perfect in it’s new home. 

Then it was back to the shop to load the larger of the two signs. I used the overhead lift to put the Fox and Hounds sign into the back of the truck.

 Tomorrow morning we’ll raise it into it’s final home. It should be a fun job! Stay tuned for pics…

-dan

This week promises to be a busy one. The highlight of course is the setting up and kicking into operation of our new four axis MultiCam. Shawn Kirsch, head tech from MultiCam, Texas will arrive on Tuesday to do the work.

We will also continue work at the Fox and Hounds Pub. It is our hope to finish the bulk of the painting this week as well as hang some more signs. Today I spent the bulk of the day working on the sign that will hang on the gable over the front door as well as the smaller version that will be mounted inside at the end of the entry.

It was a simple task to scale the designs up and down to fit into each area. EnRoute made that task easy. The smaller sign with a width of about four feet was routed from four layers of 1.5″ thick 30 lb Precision Board. It was glued up and then key areas ground to final shape with my air powered die grinder. The dogs and fox were sculpted with epoxy. It was designed to be viewed at eye level and up close. The paints are all acrylics. I tried Modern Master’s Acrylic Theme paints with good success.

These signs will be the finishing touch to both areas. I can hardly wait to see them in place.

-dan

The electrician is coming to power up the new router tomorrow at last. Wednesday morning, early, I am off to Atlantic City for the presentation of my seminars there. All this means I won’t be doing any routing this week. Hopefully by early next week we will have finished setting up the mew machine and then we’ll get to routing once more. The work is certainly stacking up for the new router!

But in the meantime we are keeping very busy! We continue to work on the painting at the Fox & Hounds pub with only the ceiling to go now. The electrician and contractor are doing their best to stay ahead of us. My friend Donna stopped by on Friday with her hot rod camera to take a few pictures. She captured a few areas I had not yet got good pictures of. One of those areas was of the rusty steel bathroom dividers we created some time ago. Notice the crowns on top of the posts.

Donna aslo got a great shot of the pub fireplace area. Unfortunately there is still one sign missing…  almost done in the studio!

She caught me as I was sculpting the vine around the brick arch entrance to the pub. I finished the sculpt on Friday and Bec did the painting today, finishing off this area. I’ll post more pictures soon.

In the shop there are lots of signs in progress. All are down to the paint stage and I will get more work done in the next couple of days.

Stay tuned for more pictures soon…

-dan

As the final painting is done we jump from project to project finishing various bits as the contractor and electrician signs off on each area. The progress continues to be a bit haphazard but definite progress is made on a daily basis.

Today I painted the lettering on the beam in the kitchen. Before the restaurant opened I jumped up on the counter and did the work while the cooks were busy behind me. By the time the lettering was done I was starting to get more than a little hungry after enjoying the aromas of the wonderful things being cooked behind me.

Across the hall way the owners and their staff were busy arranging the furniture in the new dining room. Although now done it will remain closed to the public until a final occupancy permit is granted – a formality at this point.

Many of the current guests, who have not frequented the pub since renovations were begun are now coming back once more. They are amazed at the imaginative work that has been done. It is heart warming to hear the many favorable comments from the patrons. 

We also finished sculpting the grape vine that winds around the brick archway onto the pub. I’ll be posting pictures of he finished project very soon. Stay tuned…

-dan

As we finish painting the sections of walls, one by one, we get to start hanging the eye candy that has been in progress in the studio since the beginning of the project. It is with great delight I work with the owners to hang each piece perfectly. New furniture is arranged, lighting aimed and adjusted, and sight lines checked. Then we tentatively hang the piece, look it over, adjust as necessary before we step back to admire, often with a chuckle. The story is coming together quickly.

This is getting more fun every day!

-dan