LED or Neon: Which Do You Choose?

Our friend John Dungan at T. Ham Sign Company, whom you may remember from our story a few weeks ago about 19 Precision Board Signs For The Price Of 9 Wood Signs, sent in pictures of a Precision Board Plus backlit LED sign they recently made. Because they use up to 75% less energy than neon signs, LED signs are becoming more popular today.

Consulting with John, the owner of Sesser Autobody in Sesser, IL wanted an interior sign for his shop that would stand out, have an automotive theme, and look impressive. This led to a design incorporating Precision Board Plus, diamond pattern metal, and LED lighting.

To start, John cut a sheet of 1″ PBLT-15 on his CNC router for the background, and bonded it to the diamond pattern metal using PB Bond-240. A channel routed into the back panel provided a resting sport for the red LED’s for a halo effect. He then routed the Sesser Autobody letters into a sheet of 1/2″ Precision Board Plus and bonded that to the other side of the diamond pattern metal (see how to bond Precision Board to a dissimilar substrate here). The sign was primed using FSC-88WB, and painted with 1 Shot Paints.

According to John, this was a quick, fun sign to make and was very well received by the owner of Sesser Autobody. Additionally, it proved to be a great opportunity to show how LED’s can be incorporated into a sign instead of neon while still providing an eye-catching, visually pleasing look. Be sure to check out more excellent work by T. Ham Sign Company at: http://www.thamsign.com.