A busy 2 weeks.

After collecting my award for Best Novelty Sign at the EnRoute summit and meeting some super amazing people, it was time to return home and get ready for our first Sign Alchemy class.

 People started arriving for the class on Wednesday night and we spent some time hanging out at the shop and preparing for the days to come.  Everyone arrived Thursday morning eager to get started learning how we do what we do. Doug Haffner and Myself ( Jim Dawson ) spent time lecturing, demonstrating, and helping our attendees learn as much as possible over the 3 day class time. Each evening, we took the class out to dinner and then came back to the shop for more 1 on 1 instruction and sharing. The funny thing about teaching is that typically the teacher will learn as much as the student by trying things different ways.

I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we all learned a lot and never strayed too far from the spirit of fun that makes us who we are.

Here are some highlights from the class.

30lb Coastal Enterprises Precision Board Plus name plaques were carved for all attendees to customize and learn on.

Smooth-On is our official supplier for Mold Rubbers, Casting Resins, and Epoxy Clay materials. Here you see a mold we made at the class using Smooth-On Platinum cure silicone.

 

We also provided everyone with some awesome sample boxes filled with Smooth-On products and Coastal Enterprises coatings and Precision Board Samples to take home and play with.

Carved concrete demo panel.

 

   

Everyone finished out the 3 day workshop with some amazing pieces to take home. We are already busy planning workshops for next year.

Drop us a line if you are interested in attending one or both of our 2018 workshops we are planning.

Special thanks to the following sponsors who made this year’s workshop and overwhelming success!

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

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.

A Room fit for a Princess Pt.2

Today, we finished up the application on the plaque for my daughters room. Variegated copper and silver were the choices.

After looking at the finished product, there is no doubt that it’s the little things that make something special.

Check it out!

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The little added touch of metal really brought the plaque alive. I hope she likes it!

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

A room fit for a Princess.

Today we continued work on a one of a kind carved sign for my daughter. Today we sculpted the vines and a flower. Tomorrow we’ll add some paint and some cool enchanted bug elements.

The sign was carved on our Multicam Cnc router using 30lb Precision Board from Coastal Enterprises.
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Also pictured is her tray ceiling that we installed 2 weeks after she was born….. She arrived a little early…
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More updates to follow.

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.