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

Friday, September 15, 2017

IAAPA trade show booth almost ready

We've had our trade show booth for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions EXPO in our show for a number of weeks now. Each time we have a few spare minutes we work on it. Our goal is to have it finished in plenty of time for the show - without having to burn the midnight oil or have to do a rush job getting ready. The show is too big an investment and far too important to do that.

Since my last post here on the blog we've done a lot of work. Many routing files have been prepared and we've routed two or three sheets worth is signs and display pieces for the booth. Lots of steel has been cut and welded into place as well. We added new wings to the booth to stretch it out to twenty feet wide. This will allow us more room to meet with those who drop by and show our work much better than the crowded booth we had last year.



Once the frames were all welded up we fastened on the plywood. Then the hundreds of faux rivets were glued on. Some 25th anniversary medallions were added to the structural steel centre posts.The holes in the centre portion were patched and then a coat of textured primer was applied. We opted for a slightly warmer blended background colour with lots of aging. 


It was out with the green and in with a metallic copper for this year. The bright copper colour was aged down with some faux green patina. The ship in the moon logo was repurposed to go in the centre this year. This mean reworking the mounting base and the building of a stand.




The dimensional lettering was routed from a full sheet of 2" thick 40 lb Precision Board. It then got a coat of FSC-88 surface primer to add a subtle texture to the tops of the letters. We then applied there coats of each colour for extra deepens and durability.



Once the lettering was mounted to the display things really started to come together. Everything was looking pretty good but we had lots more to add to good effect.


As good as the lettering looked painted we knew it would jump ten times more if we added real 23K gold. And we were right. It added so much class to the booth. There is nothing like real gold. The textured, dimensional letters looked fabulous with the gilding.


Some old samples were given a fresh coat of bright coloured paint. This sample was first created about eight or nine years ago when I was learning ENRoute and the ins and outs of running the machine. Sporting it's new colours it looks even better now!


The ogopogo submarine model also got a fresh coat of paint. 


New shelving was cut with the MultiCam plasma cutter and welded up. We still have a few details to finish up. I need to design and route a border for the cork board on the right side. On the left we'll create some texture sample board which will go behind the viking ship. (brown paper marks the spot.) And in the centre panel we'll mount a couple more small samples. Then we'll go over the whole display from top to bottom and give it a good clean and touch up any small dings before we package it up and send it on the way to Florida. The trade show is coming fast!