Meet Rob Estes, Hand-Carving Signs with Style from Paducah, KY!

Example of hand-carving a sign

Rob Estes, of Brushstroke Signs in Paducah KY, wants everyone to know that hand-carving is still alive! Rob has been making signs since 1985 and has always been an avid hand carver and hand painter.  He’s been using Precision Board Plus for years for his dimensional signs and does not own a CNC, and he doesn’t plan on buying one anytime soon. “I use Precision Board Plus because it’s the premier HDU on the market. It is easy to carve and I can be extremely creative in my designs”.

Examples of signs done by hand-carving

Rob has always specialized in sandblasted, hand carved designs, and gets the most joy from designing and fabricating these types of signs. For years he’s also been very involved in gold leafing, smaltz, digital printing, hand painting, vehicle wraps, logo design and branding.

“This year it seems like we’re getting more calls for dimensional signs and I feel an optimism that I haven’t felt in a long time.”

Rob, for many of his 30+ years in the sign industry, has been involved in The MidCoast Letterheads and is still very involved in meets that include hand-carving, gold leaf on glass, and hand painting (to name a few). Being part of Letterheads ‘The Keepers of the Craft’, is extremely important to him.

Rob is also involved with “The Walldogs” which is a group that specializes in hand painting large wall murals.

If you’d like to talk to Rob about his work and get a quote, or get involved in Letterheads or Walldogs, give him a call at (270) 442-8665 or e-mail him at rob@brushstrokesigns.com. Be sure to ask about his portfolio because he definitely has enough talent to help you out, no matter what the need is!

Renovations Part 1.

A few months ago, I walked in the shop and stopped in the entryway. I looked around and thought, this is nice, but it’s not really Synergy. After some careful brainstorming, the hammers came out, the paint brushes began to fly, and the Multicam CNC Router began cutting parts. The first step was to texture all of the walls with Coastal Enterprises TSF 45 texture coating. We used 3 gallons putting a nice heavy texture on the walls. After that was dry, we turned our attention to the paint. The first of many coats is now applied and we’ll begin the glazing process soon.

The Multicam 3000 series router has been humming for a few months working on various parts for the entry way.

First we made up some amazing gear window sills, then some pretty cool shelves that will mount on the walls to showcase small portfolio pieces
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Once those were complete, we turned our attention to the fabricated beams that will serve as the wow factor in the room. All in all, there will be 6 beams with pipes and overhead portions that you will walk under when entering our shop.

The beams have just been texture coated and will get their base coats of paint today. If you look closely at the rivet details on the beams, we made silicone molds of real steel hot rivets so we could cast lightweight copies. We minded over 960 rivets for this entry way!!! Thats some serious attention to detail.

Stay Tuned!

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

New Challenger: Phase Two: Turning 2D to 3D, It’s harder then it sounds

I have a concept, I figured out my scale, now to start actually building… ugh… Where to begin?

Jim and I sat down with my concept sketch and started figuring out materials we should use. This can somewhat be overwhelming, but we approached it by dividing the piece in half. We started with the base, The bottom pretty much needs to be the strongest and most durable. This is because your top half is to be shipped inside it.

We came up with a steel frame welded together and attaching Precision Board from Coastal Enterprises for the panels inside the frame. This will give great durability and strength to the base while keeping the weight lower without sacrificing durability by using the Precision Board panels. Making this easier to unpack and assemble at the show.

We took my vectors into Enroute Pro to develop the textures and look and feel of the panels on my piece. Below is Jim instructing me how to tack weld, lets just say I need to practice those welds.IMG_2454_blogIMG_2449_blog

Also here are a few views of our Multicam carving the panels.

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Next up is painting!

-Aubrey

 

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

New Challenger: Phase One: Use all the math you learned in school, that you never thought you’d actually ever use.

Phase One: Use all the math you learned in school, that you never thought you’d actually ever use.

I have a concept! Now what do I do? Well… I guess I can put the engineering degree to use and start drawing my piece to scale.
I started with the basic dimensions a 24in x 24in base, as stated in the contest rules with a total height of 72 inches.

Screen Shot 2017-01-16 at 2.59.14 PM
Easy enough, right? Well I began using all the math knowledge I never thought I’d use, I started to do rough sketches.
I brought my dimensions I calculated in Abobe Illustrator, and then everything seemed to fall into place.
I did my rough outlines that I will later bring into Enroute to start the modeling process so I can carve my design.
Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.24.39 PM
Onto the modeling carving… yay! Fingers crossed!
-Aubrey

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

Speeds and Feeds for Optimal Precision Board HDU Machining

HDU machining

HDU Machining with Precision Board Plus

One of the more frequent inquiries we receive at Coastal Enterprises involves questions about machining Precision Board Plus HDU. For those that are experienced in working with the product, we typically hear things like, “this stuff cuts like butter” ,“my cutters last longer”, “I can set my CNC to a higher feed rate” or our favorite, “I get more chips and less dust”. Of course we remind these customers that these performance factors are the result of Precision Board Plus HDU being a non-abrasive cellular product that has no grain.

But if you’ve never used the product, you may want to know “what type of cutter works best” and “where do I start with my speed and feed settings”? First of all, a wide variety of HSS cutters commonly used for wood and plastics work very well for machining Precision Board Plus HDU, and a wide range of settings will produce great results.

Initial Setup

As a starting point, consider the testing done by cutter manufacturer Onsrud on various densities of Precision Board Plus HDU. Using a carbide double-edge upcut spiral 0.125” cutter with PBLT-18 (18lb. density), best results were achieved with an RPM of 14,000, a feed rate of 200 IPM, at a depth of 1” per pass. Similarly good results were achieved using a carbide double-edge upcut 0.25” cutter spinning at 18,000 RPM, with a feed rate of 75 IPM at a depth of 1.5” per pass. Both settings produced a smooth surface finish.

Keep in mind that while this data was generated with carbide cutters, HSS cutters also perform very well due to the non-abrasive nature of Precision Board Plus HDU. Adam Prentiss of Lormac Plastics has extensive experience machining Precision Board Plus HDU, particularly PBLT-30 and  PBLT-40. He finds dialing in the right speed and feed very easy with both HSS and carbide cutters.

Here are settings used by Onsrud that produced the best results across a range of Precision Board Plus densities. These and other data for machine settings for a variety of materials can be found at www.plasticrouting.com

HDU machining

 

Chip Load

Remember it’s always a good idea to optimize your chip load by setting your feed rate and cutter speed to yield the largest chip that produces the desired surface finish. While Precision Board Plus HDU does not conduct heat and is non-abrasive, this will ensure that heat is carried away from the cutter, prolonging tool life. Onsrud reminds us of this useful formula:

Chip Load = Feed rate/ RPM x # of flutes

To increase chip load: 

  • Increase feed rate
  • Decrease RPM
  • Use a cutter with fewer flutes

To decrease chip load: 

  • Decrease feed rate
  • Increase RPM
  • Use a cutter with more flutes

With a little experimentation you’ll become an expert at HDU machining with Precision Board Plus in no time. Proper cutter selection and machine setup will produce a smooth cut, leaving chips that fall to the ground and do not become airborne. And because we’ve added an anti-static agent to Precision Board Plus, chips will not cling to your work or your equipment.

Did You Know?

Precision Board Plus Precision Board Plus does not out-gas during the autoclave curing process, so it’s ideal for prepreg layup tools and mold patterns (see autoclave ramping procedures). To learn more about the capabilities of Precision Board Plus, view or download our product data sheets.

Need help with a quote? Click here or call us at 800-845-0745