Dan Sawatzky’s Blog

It doesn’t take much hand sculpting to make a sign go from mildly dimensional to off the wall different. In the case of the Skull Rock Scramble sign it looked pretty good with just the random shape, the texture and raised lettering. Adding Webster, the turtle Gruffle changed it in a big way without a doubt and he took only a couple of hours to create.. (This time includes my helper’s time.) But we weren’t nearly done yet. I spent another twenty minutes with our air powered die grinder to extend the gnarly rock texture around the sides, top and bottom of the sign.

I’ve wanted to use the router to do a topographical map for some time. As we get into the build of the Trinidad project I’ve been having some difficulty in describing the elevations of the site to the various people involved. The grades are somewhat complex without a doubt. I had done a color keyed 2D topographical map to explain things and it certainly helped.

The sign routed up beautifully. I welded up a frame and then laminated it inside. While the glue was setting I cut a turtle shape from some Precision Board and then did a quick sculpt of the shell. This was allowed to harden. A half inch step rod poked out of the bottom center as well as 1/4″ rods for each leg

The largest feature of Skallywag Bay Adventure Park is now under construction. It is being prefabricated by RockWerx in their studio. It will then be cut into pieces and transported to the site to be reassembled there.

The next sign doesn’t have any routed parts but features another of the gang of Gruffles. Like the other signs it will hang on a mast. The sign is for a ride called the Yardarm Twist.

The routed portion of the Crow’s Nest sign was only the start. Specs would be perched in the crows nest on the top of the mast and support structure. Peter had great fun doing the sculpt. The sculpted concrete will be the next step and then this sign will get it’s coat of paint as well

Using EnRoute and a MultiCam we can do amazing things without a doubt. I know lots of people who can use other programs to build amazing sculptures virtually and then use the router to make the final piece. I’m just not that good with those advance programs or more correctly I am better at doing it for real with my hands. The fastest way to do those kinds of projects for me is the old fashioned way. I let the router do the hard stuff and then have fun with the rest.

I’ve shown how to make texture on our projects many times on this blog. What it possible is limited only by your imagination. When the texture runs all the way to the edge of your project it’s time to do a little hand work.  In our shop we insist that the edges of our signs look as good as the front face