Synergy Sign & Graphics: A New Angle on Branding

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These days, branding comes in more varieties than you can shake several sticks at. There’s a dizzying array of social media outlets, email marketing techniques, and online advertising tactics that all promise to bring unparalleled exposure to your business. Now, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing new and exciting branding strategies, but they can make it easy to forget about tried and true methods. A professionally constructed exterior sign is a one-time investment that provides constant advertisement. Night and day, 365 days a year, a good sign heralds your brand to the world passing by. No monthly service fees or web development skills required; all you need is the right sign company and the right material.

A New Angle Wellness Spa and Salon in New Philadelphia, Ohio found themselves in need of some fresh branding efforts, so they approached Jim Dawson and his team at Synergy Sign and Graphics to see how they could bring a little spice to their advertising strategy. Check out Synergy’s blog to see some of their other impressive projects, and visit their website to commission a sign of your own!

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In process: After routing, during the beginning stages of painting

For this project, the Synergy team chose to use our PBLT-30 material, one of the higher densities commonly used in signage. The high density of the material gives the finished product a higher strength profile and allows it to hold edges better than lighter weight materials, allowing for greater detail to be carved into the sign.

The crew used Enroute Pro 5 CNC software to create the tooling paths, which were then carved out with their Multicam CNC router. For this sign, the team went with a raised border and lettering to really make it stand out from the background. They also used their router to mill out a grain pattern, giving the entire sign a faux wood effect. All the classic aesthetic of a sandblasted wood sign with none of the downsides! They then used Modern Masters metallic latex paints for all surfaces, finishing off the sign with a cream, black, and gold color scheme that really gives the sign the pop it needs. A local mason installed the cultured stone pillars, and the Synergy team attached their finished sign with a steel frame and bolts. Another job well done by Synergy! Check out their gallery of custom carved signage to see some of their other professionally constructed displays. 

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Custom Soft Tooling Blocks: Saving You Time, Money, & Material

Custom Soft Tooling Blocks

Custom Precision Board Tooling Blocks: The Ultimate Soft Tooling Solution

“Some of the layup tools we made at Skunk Works were absolutely massive, which meant CNC time was a major factor when determining
project deadlines. Coastal’s custom bonded blocks saved us hours on the CNC and ensured we stayed on time and on budget- they are the true gold standard in tooling efficiency.”

– Jon Sharp, former Lockheed Martin composites engineer and air racing legend, on why his team at Lockheed’s Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works) chose Precision Board custom-bonded blocks for large soft tooling jobs.

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Industrial tooling can be a delicate and difficult process. Keeping an important project on schedule and below budget requires assigning precise calculations to notoriously unpredictable variables. Designing the tool, acquiring substrate, developing routing paths, and machining the tool are all essential tasks that need to be performed sequentially, and all this before a single production part can be fabricated. It is the unknown factors in each step of production that end up setting a project back. If the substrate arrives late, if too much time is spent routing the tooling block, if there is a last-second design change in the part, if too much material is wasted by the tooling path; any of these events can turn a well-designed production run into a logistical nightmare. Thankfully, there is one sure-fire way to keep your project on schedule and under budget from conception to completion: Custom Precision Board tooling blocks from Coastal Enterprises.

Custom Soft Tooling Blocks

In addition to manufacturing the largest and thickest sheets in the tooling industry, Coastal Enterprises will custom-bond sheets of our Precision Board in any configuration you require. With only a rough drawing of your finished part, we will fabricate a custom block that will significantly reduce waste, bonding time, and machining time. By creating a block that closely matches the specifications of your end design, we allow you to only machine away the excess material and leave the majority of the block intact.

Custom Soft Tooling Blocks

Take a look at the step tool above. Just think of how long it would take to rout a solid block of substrate down to this shape! So much precious time is wasted on the CNC router, time that could be spent fabricating finished parts. Not to mention the wasted material. Buying an entire block and machining down to spec means you are paying more for material that you intend to dispose of! Simply put, there is no good reason to hamstring your project by sticking with an obsolete production model. Why not have Coastal do the busy work for you? We will deliver a custom-made tooling block to your door, ready to be machined immediately upon arrival. And with our super quick turn around time, you’re already closer to the production stage than ever before.

Coastal Enterprises does industrial soft tooling the smart way, and it’s high time you gave it a try. Get a quote on your custom bonded block today, and modernize your composite fabrication with Precision Board! Click here to request a free sample, and see for yourself why the material makes all the difference!

Looking Back and Moving Forward: 2015 in Review

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Cal Poly SLO Supermileage Car

As we reach the culmination of another whirlwind year here at Coastal Enterprises, it’s important not to let the holidays pass us by without taking some time for reflection. In the fast-moving world of composites, it’s too easy to move right on to the next task without meditating on the events that brought us to where we are today. Quantifying our successes, our failures, and our formative experiences from the past months is an essential part of the learning process, and allows us to better focus our efforts for the next year. It’s been a big year for the composites industry in general, and we have seen advancements in 2015 that will truly shape the face of the modern world. From the successful launch and recovery of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, to the continuing development of Boeing’s highly advanced 777X twin-engine jet, the foundations are being laid for incredible leaps and bounds in technology in the coming years. We are proud to be part of a community that is actively working toward the betterment of human kind as a whole.

Chico State University Concrete Canoe Team

The most important factor in our own growing business are the customers that believe in us, who trust our products and service enough to continue standing by us as we move forward. No matter how good our material is, we wouldn’t get anywhere without people willing to take the plunge and try it for themselves. So as the year finally comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you. As hard as we work to improve and perfect Precision Board, it is our customers that make it all possible. Thank you for trusting us to provide the best customer service in the business, and the ideal HDU substrate for your industrial and signage needs. We are so thankful for each and every one of you, and we are ready to start this New Year the same way we did last year: with personal, comprehensive service; dedicated to helping you get the most out of Precision Board. We wish you a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyous New Year. See you in 2016!

Cal Poly SLO ASME Team

2015 was a huge year for creation, invention, and innovation. Check out some of the incredible projects accomplished by our customers this past year!

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Impressive Signs and Graphics

Sawatzky’s Imagination Corporation

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Cornell Formula SAE Team Adds Aero Kit to 2014 Race Car

Anytime a project involves adding a motorcycle race engine to a four-wheel chassis, its bound to be pretty awesome. Cornell’s 2014 FSAE car, ARG14, weighs in at only 420 lbs. and boasts a turbocharged 2007 Honda CBR-600RR engine and complete carbon fiber monocoque frame. ARG14 got a chance to bare its teeth this past month when hundreds of teams from all over the world got together with their formula-style race cars for Formula SAE Michigan, held at the Michigan International Speedway, to find out which school brought the fastest car and who would walk away with bragging rights till next year. It’s a tough competition, with some teams utilizing professional drivers and Formula 1 wind tunnels during the car’s construction – these teams are serious about winning. Cornell 2014 FSAE Team Leader Jesse Green describes the changes they made prior to the 2014 race: “This year we made several major changes to help us achieve our goal of winning the competition. The first was the addition of an aerodynamic system, to increase the drivability of the car and and maintain competitiveness, as many other FSAE teams have also been adopting aerodynamics.” Screen Shot 2014-06-03 at 3.38.26 PM In order to implement this major change, the first thing students did was perform a vehicle stability analysis with a two wheel model. With this, students were able to determine the minimum aerodynamic forces needed to stabilize the car, and a baseline for the desired aerodynamic balance. Additional testing helped students establish target lift and drag values, enabling them to accurately calculate desired aerodynamic performance and come up with a model to provide the most beneficial amount of downforce. According to Jesse Green, “We used the Precision Board Plus donated by Coastal Enterprises to make master molds for the carbon fiber parts that make up the aero kit. We had experience with Precision Board from when we made the molds for our carbon fiber monocoque frame in 2011, and it worked perfectly to produce our aero kit with minimal time or effort.” By generating 300lb. of downforce at 60mph, the team could attend Formula SAE Michigan confident that their car would perform well at the race.

IMG_1339Precision Board Plus PBHT-40 for the carbon fiber monocoque frame being CNC machined by Sierra Technical Services.

Cornell’s ARG14 ended up placing 44th out of 107 different teams, and are walking away with valuable insight from the new techniques implemented this year that they plan to master for next. According to next year’s Team Leader, Nina Buchakjian, “Cornell Racing has a strong heritage of building extremely powerful racing vehicles with incredible acceleration times. We definitely plan on continuing this for our next prototype, the ARG15. One major change will be in our chassis design, which is still being finalized. The redesign will focus on making the engine more accessible and serviceable. And of course, we aim to win!” See more about the Cornell FSAE team at cornellfsae.com. IMG_2656 IMG_2660 MIS2014_07

Vacu-forming With HDU: North American Aviation

vacuum form mold using HDU

North American Aviation’s list of accomplishments reads like a who’s who of U.S Aviation Superpowers. They have been an intricate part of our country’s dominant air transportation industry since the early 90’s.  Specializing in composite interior and exterior aircraft parts, NAA sports a state of the art in-house Tooling, Design, and CNC division. Be it low temperature or high temperature, fiberglass or carbon fiber, pre-preg or epoxy molds, master models or mockups, they have the experience to produce the most difficult configurations with precision and accuracy.

With the elevation of today’s technology and advancement in superior materials, NAA naturally uses the top of the line tooling board from Coastal Enterprises. I had the opportunity to speak with the director of Tooling and CNC div., Tyler Allen, about their department’s use of Precision Board Plus and how it has become an integral part of their company’s success. The engineering team will begin by designing a part, send the final design file to Tyler’s department, launching his group into action CNC’ing the pattern.

When vacuum forming, if the tool is going to see heat, they like to use Precision Board High Temp Plus, PBHT-60, which will hold its configurations at a casual 300 degrees, they will then drill holes into the board and vacuum form kydex or lexan parts off that tool. When they are using Precision Board Plus on small production runs it is stable enough to machine and make the parts directly. Utilizing it for Master Molds NAA will procure PBHT-30 or PBHT-40, mill it and manufacture a production tool out of the HDU master. Here is a picture of an interior vacu-formed part made from Precision Board Plus by NAA.

Tyler’s first step to finishing Precision Board Plus is to apply an industrial lacquer as a sealant, sand smooth, and then apply mold release wax to ensure an accurate and detailed part. Because the HDU has been lightly coated with the release wax the composite can be easily removed from the mold with minimal disruption of the actual part.

Another way NAA utilizes Tooling Board is by using our Low Temp Precision Board Plus for vacuum and CNC holding fixtures. Instead of building a heavy aluminum composite holding fixture they use a block of PBLT-30 or PBLT-40 cut the pattern and relief into it, select the tooling hole locations and hold the parts to cut. After using our high temp material as a master tool they will then come back and machine relief into it and use that as a CNC holding fixture. The advantage to using HDU as a holding fixture is the fact that it is much lighter than aluminum, it offers practical pliability in case of machine error and it does not affect their router bits when cutting relief. Imagine drilling 8” inches into hardened aluminum, how much fun do you think that bit is having?

Tyler and NAA are witnessing a composite tooling boom with the innovation of new technologies and the development of new aircraft. This increase is especially notable because of the OEM’s block point design changes that are being implemented to refine and upgrade interiors allowing for sleeker ultramodern designs. These advances in technology have produced quite the workload for companies like North American Aviation who are ready and able to handle the increase in composite tooling. For more information or to view their list of capabilities visit North American Aviation’s website at  www.naavinc.com.