2018 marks Lunsford Sign Works 27th year in business. To celebrate they decided to do a complete rebranding, including a new sign for their business. They set out to create a landmark sign that would really convey their passion for the craft and at the same time be a larger than life, traffic-stopping work of art. To do that took four years of planning, countless man hours and a sign that would be put together with Precision Board HDU, aluminum, steel and glass. Owner Joel Lunsford walks us through what it took to bring the Think-A-Ma-Jig to life.
“After 25 plus years, we wanted to shift our focus to what we really enjoy making: three-dimensional architectural signage, found object sculpture, custom lighting, dimensional illustration and decorative iron work,” says Lunsford. “We finally came up with the concept entitled ‘Think-A-Ma-Jig’. A magical device inspired by three of my heroes: Rube Goldberg, Dr. Seuss, (after all, some clients think that we can just pull out their creative designs from our cat’s tall striped hat) and world renowned dimensional illustrator, the late Eugene Hoffman,” he added.
It took Joel and his team about two years to get the design mostly finalized and ready for fabrication. Production took place over the course of another two years during their slow periods and was finalized last fall. It took more than 1,000 man hours to create the sign as they obsessed over every shop drawing detail. It stands 22 feet tall and weighs about three tons (not including the four tons of concrete at its base).
“We used every tool in the box to fabricate it including our CNC router, plasma and water-jet cutters, welders of different types and all of our heavy-lift equipment,” Joel adds.
Joel says, “the Think-A-Ma-Jig sign was fabricated from Coastal Enterprises Precision Board in multiple layers, aluminum plate, blown glass and steel. We used Matthews metallic paint finishes for all of the lettering and in direct sunlight the lettering acts like a golden beacon which is seen for miles!” He added, “Modern Masters Metal Effects rust coating was used on many of the Precision Board parts to make them indistinguishable from real steel and cut down on some of the weight. Because of the sign’s enormous girth, it was built in sections and assembled outside.”
Lunsford used PBLT-18 Precision Board HDU in two layers of the same density. They used a Multicam CNC to machine and create the carved prismatic lettering and some of the machine-looking components. The layers were all glued together using PB Fast Set.
Joel adds, “we like to use Precision Board because it’s easy to machine and durable. Most importantly we like Coastal Enterprises as a company. They have done a lot to promote our industry and care about their customers.”
Lunsford’s Think-A-Ma-Jig sign won an award in 2017 in the USSC Sign Contest for “Freestanding Sign, External Illumination or Non-illuminated”.
Lunsford Sign Works is an award-winning design and custom sign fabrication company located in the central Rocky Mountains. Their primary service area extends throughout the resort regions of Colorado, but their products can be seen both nationally and internationally.
While they are a full service commercial sign company, they specialize in hand-crafted, three-dimensional, architectural signage. Lunsford combines the latest in computer technology with old-world craftsmanship to create both electric and non-electric signs. You can visit their website or give them a call at 970-725-3925. They are located in Hot Sulphur Springs, CO.
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