New Challenger: Phase One: Use all the math you learned in school, that you never thought you’d actually ever use.

Phase One: Use all the math you learned in school, that you never thought you’d actually ever use.

I have a concept! Now what do I do? Well… I guess I can put the engineering degree to use and start drawing my piece to scale.
I started with the basic dimensions a 24in x 24in base, as stated in the contest rules with a total height of 72 inches.

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Easy enough, right? Well I began using all the math knowledge I never thought I’d use, I started to do rough sketches.
I brought my dimensions I calculated in Abobe Illustrator, and then everything seemed to fall into place.
I did my rough outlines that I will later bring into Enroute to start the modeling process so I can carve my design.
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Onto the modeling carving… yay! Fingers crossed!
-Aubrey

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

What’s behind door #1?

A while back, I started brainstorming what our entry way should look like. It was pretty drab and boring, so it was in need of a major upgrade. The first thing that popped into my head was some neat looking gear themed window sills. We followed that up with some gear / steampunk themed custom shelves.

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This past week, we started carving a crazy door skin that screamed LOOK AT ME! in a very steampunk sort of way.

The door was carved from 30lb Precision Board plus from Coastal Enterprises. Our Multicam 3000 series router handled all of the machining duties flawlessly. EnRoute Pro 6 was tasked with creating the model for the door. We used some amazing bitmap wood textures from Dan Sawatzky’s Wood collection to create the wood planks in the recessed areas.

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After a quick test fit, we started the texture coat using Coastal Enterprises TSF45 coating. Its super thick and lets us do lots of fun things with it.

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We also cast 2 sizes of hot rivets using a silicone mold and Smooth On casting resins. The molds were created using real hot rivets. The resin copies were glued into the door and textured using the TSF45 and some HDU dust.

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The base coats were applied by hand. Here you see the skin based in a coat of dark brown.

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The next step involved various colors of black and dark red glaze. Once the glaze was dry, we applied the metallic paints from Modern Masters and Novacolor. One last coat of black glaze was added and wiped off once the metallics were dry.

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Here you see the finished product. All we have to do is finish the back side of the door and add some glass to finish it out.

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Stay tuned for progress on the rest of the entry way.

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

A room fit for a Princess.

Today we continued work on a one of a kind carved sign for my daughter. Today we sculpted the vines and a flower. Tomorrow we’ll add some paint and some cool enchanted bug elements.

The sign was carved on our Multicam Cnc router using 30lb Precision Board from Coastal Enterprises.
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Also pictured is her tray ceiling that we installed 2 weeks after she was born….. She arrived a little early…
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More updates to follow.

-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

The Sign Invitational Retrospective ( Part 1 of 5 )

If you would have told me in September 2015 that this crazy idea Dan Sawatzky and myself hashed out in Denver would turn into this amazing event, I would not have believed you.

This past week, the Synergy crew spent the week in Orlando setting up, organizing, and tearing down what was one of the most exciting things we have ever been involved in. Over the next few days, Aubrey Gealsha ( recent hire and illustrator extraordinaire ) and myself will be writing a series of articles here on the blog showcasing what went down in Orlando at The Sign Invitational 2016.

For Now, I leave you with the results of the competition and pics of those entries.

Multicam USA

Coastal Enterprises

Enroute

Signcraft Magazine

1st Place – Peter Poanessa, Keene Signworx
2nd Place – Roger Cox, House of Signs
3rd Place – Jim Dawson, Synergy Sign & Graphics
4th Place – Phil Vanderkraats, Signs By Van
5th Place – Peter Sawatzky, Imagination Corporation

Peter Poanessa of Keene Signworx with his winning entry
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Roger Cox and Periandros Damoulis from House of Signs with the 2nd Place finish
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Jason Bair, Aubrey Gealsha, and Myself standing with our 3rd place entry.IMG_0088

Phil Vanderkraats and Donna Shriver from Signs by Van took 4th place
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Peter Sawatzky from Imagination Corporation took 5th place with his Artistic Android
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-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

A New Angle.

Here are some shots of our latest install. We would like to thank Amy for trusting us with creating their masterpiece. Metallic latex paints were used on all surfaces of this one.

The sign was fabricated using our Multicam CNC router to carve 30lb density Precision Board Plus. All programming was handled in Enroute Pro 5.

Stop by and see this one. The pictures do it no justice.

You can find Amy and the crew at :

1114 Bowers Ave NW, New Philadelphia, OH 44663
Phone:(330) 364-5759

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-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.