WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Thursday, May 13, 2010

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