The following is an unsolicited testimonial written by Dan Sawatzky with Imagination Corporation in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. In his post, Dan talks about the long-term value of Precision Board HDU versus the upfront costs and why he loves to work with Coastal Enterprises’ high-density urethane.
Dan Sawatzky in his own words…
I often hear people comment about the price of Precision Board, thinking it to be an expensive medium. I beg to differ. When I compare it to materials I used previously it is actually a great bargain. Back in the 1980’s I loved to make dimensional signs from clear edge grain redwood. Finding quality product was no easy task. I did manage to find a supplier in the next town and when I added the time it took to drive there, carefully go through his pile of lumber to pick out the best edge grain lumber and then drive back to my shop it got much more expensive. I would then have to glue up the boards and run those through my planer to get the blanks I needed. I would do a layout by hand, and cut my frisket the same way. Then came the sandblasting – a task that I never did enjoy. All this was before we began laying on the paint. More often than not it wouldn’t be long until I got a call back that the varnish was failing or the sign had split. Wood is like that.
These days we absolutely love working with Precision Board. We use nothing less than 30 lb density. While not exactly cheap it is a bargain when you think about it. The price per board foot is less than I paid for redwood thirty years ago and that’s before I added in the labor to get it and laminate it into usable sheets! The material comes in 4’x8’ sheets in any thickness we need. There is no need to worry about direction of grains and we can laminate it up where we need more thickness. We can realistically mimic any woodgrain imaginable or any other dimensional pattern we can think of. The paint lasts so much longer too! And instead of working by hand we use our MultiCam to speed up the process immensely.
We are going through a ton of Precision Board on our current project and our formerly tall pile of board is quickly disappearing. Its high time to get serious about another large order of Precision Board very soon!
Sawatzky’s Imagination Corporation is a small family company that specializes in the design and creation of dimensional signs and environments. They tackle projects of any size from small signs to entire theme parks. Their work has garnered numerous national and international awards.
Dan Sawatzky is best described as a creative force and visual storyteller extraordinaire. His art career spans almost fifty years of magic. Dan’s passion is to design and create imaginative places that take people from the normal world to a setting of delight and wonder.
Coastal Enterprises manufactures Precision Board HDU, a versatile, cost-effective and eco-friendly urethane sign material that is particularly effective for making professional-looking indoor and outdoor dimensional signs. It is a closed-cell rigid substrate that does not rot, warp or crack. You can request free samples, get a quote or sign up for periodic newsletters packed with helpful information.