Blogs
Installing the light house
The main sign at the Cultus Lake Adventure Park is anything but ordinary. The sign lettering is routed from Precision Board and assembled with a sturdy frame as are many of our projects. But the lettering is only a teeny part of the sign.
Assembling a HDU sign to hide the framework
On the sign I last posted I forgot to take pictures of the assembly process, but luckily there was a second identical sign. Since I designed the signs to slip into the framework of the lighthouse sign they needed four legs to protrude out of the back. The signs are routed in three layers with the center one inch thick layer having slots in to to accommodate the framework.
Woodwork Detail
We love to design and create things here from scratch – we also get to work with great Artists, Architects, Interior Designers and creative people who bring us their designs and challenge us to make them. Sometimes we do large jobs and sometimes we do small ones. Here is an example of a small woodworking detail that just came off our MultiCAM 3000 CNC. Mark received the file and cut this piece out of 1/4″ MDF – it will go out to the paint shop then to the client to be used as a custom element in their new interior design.
Sign lettering
The sign lettering was routed in three pieces… the face, routed from 2″ thick 30 lb Precision Board, the middle (which houses the structure) routed from 1″ thick material, and the back which is routed from 3/4″ thick material. The sign face was routed in two passes, the first as a rough pass with a 3/8″ ball nose bit. The final pass was using a 1/8″ ball nose
Solar Housing: 100% Sun Power
Every two years the U.S. Department of Energy challenges twenty collegiate teams to design, build and operate the most attractive, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. This event is called the , and was most recently held at the in Irvine, CA. Our friend Jonathan...
Designing sign hanging hardware
When I welded up the frame for the lighthouse mountain and sign I welded in four inch and a half square tubes that stood out from the finished sign face. These were to fasten the lettering to when we routed it from Precision Board. The lettering vectors looked like this. I combined them to form the outline of the sign.
The Monument Sign of Tomorrow
Signs of The Times recently published a great article featuring one of our longtime friends, Doug Haffner, owner of Haffner's Fantastic Creations, and the sign he made for Rhino Tools. What really impressed us about this sign is how it very obviously differs from the...
Installing Bucky
The Bucky’s Bumper Boat sign was finished the day before yesterday and with the room needed in the shop it was time for the install. We carefully loaded it in the trailer and hauled it up to the work site. Our client had all the big equipment we needed to the tricky install. All we had to do was unload it and hook it to the zoom boom. The skilled operator shifted the machine into four wheel drive and low range to begin the install.
Building the primary sign routing file
I started design for this project about four months ago. The sign was to be a teeny part of a very large project – an entire theme park. My client approved the design of the sign holder (the waterfall, wood base, small mountain and the lighthouse but wanted a rethink of the actual logo.