A Hand-Carved Crawdad Creation

When speaking with our latest Facebook contest winner Jon Peterman about his very unique “Crawdad Festival” sign, I found out that the sign was not made for a customer, but as a sign he keeps in his shop for customers to see (his town has an annual “Crawdad Festival”). For this showpiece, Jon was able to make this sign appear to be made from aged wood, when in reality it was Precision Board Plus coupled with some clever finishing techniques.

Jon started by laminating 2 pieces of 1″ PBLT-18 HDU together. Once bonded, a die grinder was used to simulate knots and deep grooves into the board, with a small wire brush for the finer grain lines.

The “Crawdad” letters consist of 1/2″ Precision Board HDU attached to 1/4″ PVC with Magic Sculpt (which can be used as an adhesive or a texture.), and the “Festival” letters were also cut out of 1/2″ Precision Board Plus HDU. All letters were cut out by hand using a scroll saw.

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The “aged wood” look was achieved by paint techniques Jon acquired while attending one of Dan Sawatzky’s Sign Magic Workshops. After priming the sign using FSC-88WB, Jon prepared a glaze using a Sherwin Williams ultra deep base and adding bluish gray paint. While another glaze was created by taking the same base and adding red-brown. The darker portions of the wood were finished by alternately wiping the separate glazes onto the board and wiping them off, leaving it in the deeper grain lines and knots.

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The happy looking crawdad was also made by creative, inspiring techniques. Using a styrofoam ball attached to the Precision Board HDU with Magic Sculpt, Jon shaped it and applied tin foil in several locations to form the crawdad. The antennae were made by taking a piece of tie wire he had in his shop and tying one end to his work table, attaching the other end to a wood screw hook he chucked into his drill, turning it on and watching it twist. The wire was primed using FSC-88WB and painted with Ronan Aquacote paint, marking the finish of this hand-crafted masterpiece.

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Jon Peterman is the owner of JP Graphics, located in Grants Pass, OR. For more information, please visit his website our check out his Coastal Enterprises Directory Listing.

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Enter The Vampire’s Lair!

We have recently heard rumors of a secret Vampire’s lair in Holtsville, NY that possesses a very unique sign.

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The sign was made by Adam Mooney, owner of Vamp Graphics located in Holtsville, NY. While they are a full-service sign company, Vamp Graphics is no ordinary sign shop. They specialize in extremely custom 3-d signs such as these, and as you can see, they do excellent work.

Adam’s “Vampire’s Lair” sign is the winner of our February “Best Designed Sign” Facebook contest, and he  is currently awaiting delivery of his PB Resin prize.

The sign was CNC routed out of PBLT-18 and painted using Modern Masters Sashay Red for the background and Gold for the letters and edges. Depth was added to the sign with an application of a Modern Masters Bronze Glaze, which was applied by painting it on and wiping it off so it sticks only in the lower grooves.

The rope was sculpted out of Magic Sculpt, as were the large blood drips protruding from the bottom of the sign on the stakes. The stakes themselves are crafted out of Precision Board Plus PBLT-18. To see more of the amazing work done at Vamp Graphics, please visit: http://www.vampgraphics.com.

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Another great way to use Precision Board Plus!

Check out this impressive sign, courtesy of Gary Johnson, on the cover of Sign Builder Illustrated. Gary is the owner  of The Great American Sign Company, in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Gary used Precision Board Plus PBLT-30, “due to the tight cell structure, increased durability, and reduced priming time.” You can view his website here for additional pictures and info.

Click here for a free sample of any of our products, or call us at: (800) 845-0745.

More details on the sign can be viewed on page 26 in the November issue of Sign Builder Illustrated.