A little more 'ordinary'

We are well known for signs that are anything but ordinary. Its a reputation we have worked very hard to establish. But we also do signs that are more traditional as well. We still do our best to take these more 'normal' signs over the top however. Our MultiCam router helps us out with this task in a big way. Our latest project is a sign for a medical doctor. The clinic was housed in a historic old farmhouse - now in the center of town. The sign needed to reflect that heritage plus be respectful of the doctor's profession. We came up with a design that was somewhat ornate, and met all the requirements. It would be perched on a river stone base, symbolic of the natural approach to medicine this doctor practiced.

I created the file in EnRoute, using my sandblasted woodgrain bitmap to create the texture. The lettering is beveled, the logo domed for maximum impact. They will be gilded of course. The colors of the sign will mirror the historic building. The sign will be routed in multiple payers and then laminated over a welded steel frame. I'll document the process here of course. The face of the sign is to be routed from 1.5" 30 lb Precision Board for maximum effect and durability. The file is running as I type. I sneak into the router room from time to time to watch the magic. It's a sight I never get tired of... my design coming to life - ally automatically of course.

Stay tuned as this sign comes together...

-dan

Secret Message...

The second name plaque for the Sign Magic Workshop was to have a hidden message. It's always fun to hide stuff! Doug loves weathered metal with rivets and that happens to be one of my specialties. He also claims to be a member of the 'Blind Magicians of the Orient'. I decided the piece would be a salvaged part of a ship named 'DOUG' of course. It is slightly tweaked and some rivets are missing. For those who can figure it out the raised rivets would read 'MAGIC' - in braille of course. As always I first did a quick sketch in my book. There wasn't much to it, but there was enough for me to know the idea would work. I could imagine the rest.

Next was a vector file, then a 3D file created in EnRoute. Once I had created the flat reliefs I imported a bitmap from my collection. EnRoute reads the shades of white, grey and black and assigns them height values depending on their value. White is highest, grays in between and black stays low. This file creates a wave when it is done.

The next bitmap file I imported is called 'splotches 2'. I know from experience that when I apply a small numeric value to it 0.1" it comes out like pitted metal when I route it.

The rivet were simple domed reliefs. The lettering was a flat relief. The file didn't take long to create for it was pretty simple.

I would route it as always from 30 lb Precision Board. These samples would be handled lots and also have to travel in a suitcase home. Being made from strong material was critical. The dense HDU would also save me labor as I finished the piece too.

I tool pathed the file in two passes. The first rough pass was 3/8" ball nose bit. The final pass was done using a 1/8" ball nose bit. I ran the MultiCam at 300 inches per minute. The file took about n hour to complete. This will be a fun piece to paint and age properly.

-dan

Name that panel!

One of the things I like to do for each Sign Magic Workshop is to create custom name plaques for each attendee. Although it is challenging at times I try my best to create a name plate that is suited to each person.

One of our students this time is finishing her Art Masters degree at university. I know she loves to inject thoughtful fun into each piece she does. For her name plaque an image of brain came to mind. I would wrap her name over it for her panel. It started with a sketch of course to test the idea. I didn't have to do more than a little sketching to know it would work.

Then it was on to creating the vectors I nee

ded to build the files in EnRoute. The brain was a simple domed oval shape. I then added to this relief with the two halves of the brain. A bitmap texture file from my collections called 'WORMS' formed the brain in an instant. The lettering outline was made into a relief, then modified with an oval of the same size as the brain and domed a similar amount. Using the side view of the reliefs I adjusted everything until it looked right. The base for the panel was created separately with a chamfer, then everything was Merged to create one relief. The domed lettering was added to the relief as a last step.

Creating the tool pathing was easy and instant using EnRoute software. I used a 3/8" ball nose bit for the rough pass with a 50 % overlap and 0.1" offset. The final pass was with a tapered 1/8" ball nose bit and a 80% overlap. Both tools were run at 300 inches per minute. The rough pass was accomplished in less than 10 minutes. The final pass came in at a little less than an hour to finish.

While the file was running I was doing my best to get the next file ready in between phone calls and other interruptions. Stay tuned for the next idea...

-dan

Delivery day!

It's always nice to tidy up a project. I got the call from my client that they had completed their work and they were ready for me to come and finish things up, I loaded the truck with everything I could possibly need and hit the road. My task was to sculpt the rock work on the bottom of the building and then do the painting and touch ups. It wasn't a lot of work and the hardest thing to do was to watch the paint dry between coats. In less than two days it was ready to open at last.

I did one last test drive to make sure everything was right.

-dan

Final shop work.

We painted the base coats first with acrylic paints. We worked from the lower layers first, then carefully cut the next color to it. By always cutting into a corner or to an edge it made things easier and faster than painting something flat.

Once the base coats were good and dry we layered on the glazes and wiped things down good before they dried. We mixed a custom color we called grime to age things down nicely. The pump in the foreground had been aged... the one behind is still in base colors only.

Once the painting was done and dry it was time to load the trailer - a simple task as I had welded threaded nuts in key locations. Temporary eye bolts were screwed in to lift the pieces and also facilitate tying the pieces securely for transport. Once on site the eye bolts were removed and we were ready to go. I simply hoisted the pieces on our eye beam lift and backed the flat deck trailer underneath.

The 100 mile trip was exciting as always. Passing cars honked and waved. Whenever I stopped a crowd instantly gathered, curious about my unusual load. My client was waiting with a machine to unload and within minutes the pieces were in place. I would return to finish things off after they had built the small building which would attach to the pump structure.

Stay tuned for the finishing touches...

-dan

Bringing the pieces together...

The gas pumps were fabricated in much the same fashion as the car, first a simple welded structural frame, then an armature of 'pencil rod', followed by expanded lath and a couple coats of epoxy sculpting medium for form the final shell.

The pieces we routed on our MultiCam from the 30 lb Precision Board were molded into the sculptures after the first coat of epoxy was in place. Routing these detailed pieces ensured conformity and speed. The transitions between the different mediums would be seamless when we were done.

Once all the pieces were in place it was time for paint. But not before one last test drive to make sure it felt right...

-dan

Using the best tool for the job

There are very few projects in our shop where our MultiCam does all the work for us. In most cases I pick and choose, using the router to do the parts that make perfect sense, leaving the rest to do other ways. The job I finished this past week is a great example.

Our job was to design a front entrance/ticket booth and signs for a new bumper car attraction. The rest of the project which we had done more than five years ago was themed to the 1920's and 30's. After talking with my client we decided an old fashioned gas station would be the perfect solution. I designed the project with my MultiCam and our modern materials in mind. As with every project the budget squeezed us a little, the solution was to have the client do some of the project himself rather than us making it turn key. He would build the building while we built the car, pumps and signs. I would do the colorful faux rock work around the bottom of the building when it was complete.

The project would be a combination of welded steel, sculpting epoxy, and routed Precision Board. The building would be conventionally wood framed with sculpted concrete rock work around the bottom. All of it would be painted with acrylic paints. In essence, it would involve every trick in the book. While our MutliCam wouldn't play a huge role in the project, it would do the critical bits, saving us lots of hours in the process and adding greatly to the finished result.

The project was started on two fronts... I designed the signs, pump toppers and gauges in EnRoute to route on the MultiCam. Making them with 30 lb Precision Board would ensure they could handle the wear they would be subjected to. While our MultiCam whittled those parts I started in on the welded steel frame for the features.

Stay tuned for more progress...

-dan

Revisiting an old job

This week I had a chance to do some work on a project that was started before we bought our MultiCam. Everything was done by hand in those days and our material selection was very different than we have now. I got to see how our project had fared out in the weather for about six years in a harsh coastal environment. For the most part the adventure golf had weathered well, even though the maintenance had not been quite as vigorous as I recommended. The project was largely built of sculpted concrete over a welded steel framework. Most of the features had been built in our (new) shop and transported to the site. That was a first for us as previous to that we had built everything on site.

One of the first projects we did after getting our MultiCam was the highway sign for the project... almost five years ago. To ensure it fit in with the rest of the theme and the resort area I had used a wide variety of techniques and materials on the project. The sign had a welded steel frame, faux rock work (using manufactured stone), sculpted concrete, and routed Precision Board. It was all painted with acrylic paints. The neon and reader board were supplied by other vendors.

It was the first time we had combined so many different techniques and materials. I was eager to see how they all had worked together and how they had held up in the harsh salt water environment. The concrete had some minimal leaching on the seams, common for this situation. The acrylic paints had held up extremely well on all the substrates. I was especially pleased to see the routed and layered Precision Board was still in perfect shape.

My observations reinforced my decision of five years ago to purchase a MultiCam router and take this new venture to the max. Using a router has allowed me to take on large projects with a much smaller workforce to help me. It also made our projects much more transportable, allowing us to do much, much more in our shop rather than on the road. Working in a controlled environment meant we could control costs much better and also sleep in our own beds each night rather than in a hotel room.

After seeing how these 'new' methods have held up compared to our old ways I am confident I made the right decision.

-dan

A summer workshop planned.

We've decided to do a summer Sign Magic Workshop. The dates are June 25-27, 2010. It promises to be a small group but this means that it will be better tailored to what each participant wants to learn. The workshop will be the eighth workshop we have held in our studio. Although this workshop is not listed on our website more information is available if you follow the links starting here... www.imaginationcorporation.ca/workshops/index

Over the last three years we have hosted more than 100 artists from literally around the world at our studio. Together we have explored the three dimensional sign world featuring creative CNC routing on our MultiCam router.. I do my best to cram in forty years of sign experience into three short days of teaching. Enroute, of course figures into the experience. I'll demonstrate my way of working inside this wonderful program, hopefully taking out the mystery and showing how even the most complicated piece is merely a series of small steps that aren't really that difficult.

Mostly, what I am eager to pass on is the passion I feel for this craft. I'll take each participant back to where I started, showing them how I built my skills and abilities. I'll show how every ideas starts small and grows, first as a rough sketch, through to a rendering, then on as a 3D file, onto to construction and then on to a finished piece.

We'll get our hands dirty as we practice the techniques in the shop too.The days will be long but will pass incredibly fast as every moment is crammed full of learning all we possibly can fit in.

I'm looking forward to another great weekend sharing my passion with like minded folks!!

-dan

Excitement - Yarrow style.

When you live in a small town it doesn't take much to create news. Our little town of Yarrow qualifies in every regard. One thousand, one hundred people live here. The downtown has twelve businesses and stretches for almost two blocks. We live on one end of those two blocks. There is no place on earth I would rather live for it suits us so perfectly.

The owner of the restaurant had been following the progress of her sign on our website journal and was excited to say the least. She had posted pictures of the sign and its progress in the restaurant and everybody who came in had heard of the project. I decided I would surprise her by simply showing up with the sign - unannounced.

It started as I opened the BIG MAGIC DOORS of our studio. Our neighbor immediately knew something was up as I backed the trailer up to them. When he came to investigate I pressed him into service to help drag the sign onto the flat deck trailer. I didn't bother tying down the sign for it was only traveling a half block from our place to the restaurant. I went by myself too, knowing there would be lots of folks eager to help.

As I pulled up someone must have let the owner know her new sign had arrived. Most of the folks in the restaurant left their tables and went to the windows for a glimpse of the new sign. One of the regulars ran out back to the parking lot and backed it onto the side walk. He threw the old sign in the back and it was instantly gone. A passerby put his package to the side and jumped up on the trailer to help me tip it up off the trailer. Several others including the owner steadied the bottom of the post and stand until it was upright. We jockeyed it into final position. I'd come back later to bolt it into position and give the post a final coat of paint. The owner would build a planter around the base in the next few days. The owner of the restaurant was more than delighted. She gave me a big hug and did her happy dance our on the side walk as the neighboring merchants poked their heads out of their doors to see the excitement unfold.

It was a pretty exciting day in Yarrow and the new sign will be the talk of the town until something else eventful happens...

Until then I will just bask in the glow!

-dan

Painting 1 2 3

Back when I was designing the sign and building the routing file with EnRoute I was thinking about how I would paint it. By planning the way we would route the sign on our MultiCam I could make things much easier and faster to paint by far. It started with primer as always.

Then I painted on the base coat for the oval. It was a medium blue. I purposely painted the surfaces I wanted and a little bit more. Painting in this fashion would make it easier to cut in the next color later. It would also mean I would only have to cut one color - not two. Things looked pretty bright at this stage.

Next was two thin layers of a dark blue glaze, dabbed with towel to remove the brush marks. The shadow areas and around the letters were left a little darker. I applied the glaze in two coats (with time to dry in between) to make things a little more even.

Then it was time to paint the 3D graphic. As always base coats were first, then a blend, followed by the usual glaze to tone things down a little. Then it was time to paint the scroll. The raised edges we has created with the MultiCam made things pretty easy and fast. Cutting was either into a corner or over an edge. I could paint fast and almost with reckless abandon.

Once things had dried a little I applied the first coat of copper paint to the rim piece. It will be hard to believe the sign is made from Precision Board on our MultiCam when we are done.

The sign still has a ways to go with second and third coats of paint and the gold leaf still to come but its looking pretty fine already.

Stay tuned...

-dan