The Elegant Possibilites of HDU

Scott Brady, owner of SharpSigns in Forsyth, MO sent us a great picture of a sign he crafted out of Precision Board Plus for a bakery. They started by sandblasting PBLT-18 and adding smalt to the background. The letters were routed out of Precision Board Plus and gold leafed. To finish, the bagels and bread were hand-carved out of PBLT-18 and airbrushed. The design was collaboration between SharpSigns and Foppe Design.

SharpSigns website: http://www.sharpsigns.com.


New CNC Technology – Partnering Craftsmanship and Manufacturing

Instructors Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos, at the Pratt Institute School of Undergraduate Architecture, are teaching students about new CNC technology. Specifically, they are addressing the difference between craftsmanship and manufacturing, with the goal of partnering them together. The former being the “workmanship of risk,” and the latter the “workmanship of certainty.”

The goal of the course is to shed new light in the field of architecture by examining the materials, tools and procedures of craft in relation to contemporary means of fabrication such as CNC production.

For the pictures in this post, students created their own tool paths instead of using generic models. RhinoCAM was used to create digitally-fabricated prototypes, which were then machined using Precision Board Plus PBLT-15.

Check out Ronnie and Gil’s website, Studio Mode for more information!

Additional pictures can be viewed here.

 

 

Hand Carving HDU – Quality & Elegance

Curt Stenz from Curt Stenz Graphics, in Marathon, WI sent us a picture of a recent hand-carved sign he made for a customer.

Hand carving is considered by some sign makers to be the epitome of craftsmanship in the industry. The hours of patience and the amount of skill involved in finishing a hand-carved sign is tremendous. We were very impressed at the quality and elegance with which Curt finished this sign.

He started out with a 2″ 4′ x 8′ sheet of PBLT-15. Using a latex paint for the background and 1-shot enamel for the lettering and pictorial, he ended up with this beautiful sign! If you would like to get in touch with Curt, he can be reached at: stenzgraphics@gmail.com.

Have some questions about hand-carving HDU? Call us at: (800) 845-0745! We offer free technical support 8:00AM – 5:00PM Monday through Friday, PST.

Thank you Curt for sending this in!

Rockets and Eggs – 1000 Feet in the air

We received a call from Luke DeLisio, an Aeronautical Engineering student at Purdue University, inquiring about the possibility of a Precision Board Plus donation for a very interesting project they were undertaking.

Their mission: To design, assemble and successfully launch a rocket – with an egg inside. Mission success rides on the rocket achieving an altitude of exactly 1,000 ft. AGL, dropping to the ground in minimal time, and deploying a parachute with an intact egg. The project has been codenamed Sputnik Seven.

PBHT-60 was used as a mold for the rocket fuselage.

They started out with a design using RockSIM Software, selecting motor configurations to account for speed and height goals.

 

They then selected which materials they were going to use. The rocket was built entirely from scratch, consisting of a carbon fiber tube, carbon fiber nose cone, and carbon/honeycomb fins. It was assembled using a 2-part epoxy due to its strength and ease of application.

Here are several students applying a liquid mold release to Precision Board Plus PBHT-60 for the rocket fuselage mold.

 

Preparing the fuel bladder:

 

The fuselage was constructed by sandwiching 2 layers of prepreg fiberglass between a PBHT-60 mold and an inflatable bladder filled with air. All components were then placed in an autoclave for curing.

Launch time….will the egg survive?!??

The return to earth:

The egg was successfully recovered intact. Mission Success!

Thank you to Luke and all the students who participated in this project for sharing it with us!

One more piece of the puzzle put into place

Yesterday was a big day. The heavy dimensional sign was to be lifted into place on the gable end of the Fox and Hounds Pub. It was heavy and awkward to handle but I had the help of the contractor on the project. He had a lift set up when I arrived. We carefully measured the sign, the crew fastened the backing into place on the wall and the sign was lifted into place. It went quickly for this crew knew what they were doing.
The dimensional sign added a splash of color to the building, even on the dreary, rainy day we were suffering. The outside is looking much more complete at last.
The hours sign still remains to be installed in the circle opening in the brick wall. An address board will also be installed over the doorway. With our new router installed this work is the next on the agenda.
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.