Official Sign Magic Workshop dates and news...

It is only six days now until I jump on a plane to go to Toronto to begin onsite preparations for the first on-the-road Sign Magic Workshop to be held at MultiCam, Canada in Ontario. I'm excited! I am sure things are getting busy there as they get ready too! The challenge for me will be to create the same magic as we do here, but without the supporting cast of my staff, the studio and all the eye candy we have around.

The next workshop that was to have been in Kiev, Ukraine in the first week of September has been cancelled and plans are currently being formulated to have it some months down the road in Moscow instead. I look forward to that.

The workshop after that is planned for here in Yarrow, British Columbia. The router is busy already and the hands-on samples for the students are almost ready. We've been doing a little routing each day in the evenings to get them done. With the big job currently in progress it is important I do as much as possible ahead of time. It feels good to be so far ahead of schedule already.

Plans are progressing for the Orlando, Florida edition of the Sign magic Workshop to be held the first week of November.

And lots of people have been asking about our spring Sign Magic Workshop here in Yarrow. We've now set the dates for that event - March 9-11, 2012.

The official schedule for the Sign Magic Workshops is now as follows...

Sign Magic Workshop - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

August 18 - 20, 2011

MultiCam Canada Technology Center

15-701 Millway Avenue, Concord, Ontario

(905) 738-7954

daniel@multicam.ca

Sign Magic Workshop - Yarrow, British Columbia

September 30 - October 2, 2011

Yarrow (Chilliwack), British Columbia, Canada

(604) 823-2216

dan@imaginationcorporation.com

www.imaginationcorporation.com/sign-workshops

Sign Magic Workshop - Orlando, Florida, USA

November 3-5, 2011

MultiCam Florida Technology Center

Orlando, Florida, USA

Amy Johnson  (972) 929-4070  EXT 2013

amy@multicam.com

Sign Magic Workshop - Yarrow, British Columbia

March 9-11, 2012

Yarrow (Chilliwack), British Columbia, Canada

(604) 823-2216

dan@imaginationcorporation.com

www.imaginationcorporation.com/sign-workshops

Don't do this at home!

I get quite a few emails each week from readers of this blog. Many of them are stuck on a fairly complex piece and seeking help. I know how these folks feel for I was once in their shoes. The difficulty in my case was that I was seeking to go from knowing nothing to going to light speed. And I wanted to do it in an instant. But EnRoute (and other complex programs too) is not like that. I suspect that many other folks are the same. The key to mastering the program is to learn the basics first. Once the user is comfortable with the basics it is time to add a few tricks to the bag - but one at a time. Eventually we get a handle on the program and can do more much more complex projects.

Today's project is fairly complex or at least it was for me. It was tricky to keep track of all the different elements and how it would go together. I won't be doing a detailed step by step on this project but will show how it all goes together in the hope of inspiring some other cool projects out there.

I designed the logo some time ago, with a good working knowledge of EnRoute I designed it with the eventual building it the sign firmly in mind. Even so the sign caused a few sleepless nights, thinking it through carefully. I will need at least four copies of the sign, some of them double sided. And they were to be built in three (or more) sizes too - just for good measure.

The logo was already vectorized, but the file was designed to print nicely. I had to simplify things a little to make it suitable for creating a routing file. That was the first step.

I thought about how it would be routed in layers and then pulled out each group of vectors. These were merged, combined and new ones created using the jigsaw puzzle tool until I had the vectors for each layer created. The screen shot below captures the second layer I was working with.

In the next screen shot the second layer I would route was laid over the first so I could visualize how the sign would go together. These two layers will be done as simple cutouts, necessitating a fair amount of handwork to finish the sign.

The single sided signs will be routed in four layers. Below are the vectors required for each of the four layers.

Because I required different versions of the sign I duplicated the files and modified them to suit. The top one is a simple version of the sign without the square box underneath. The second is normal, while the bottom row is the same sign flipped in reverse (except the lettering)

Now that the vectors are done it is a simple matter is sizing them and then creating reliefs for the two layers that need it. Then it is off to the MultiCam to make the signs a reality. We'll go through a whack of Precision Board on these babies! It should be fun!

-dan

One more project off the list

Each day another piece of the giant jigsaw puzzle that is the Fox and Hounds Pub and Restaurant  falls into place. Today the feature wall between the two bathrooms got the brick treatment. In the picture below I have photoshopped in the Gilded Guppy sign that will hang there.

As we cleaned up tonight I stepped back and looked out towards the entry. It made me smile! It is working beyond my wildest dreams! The latest brick wall is on the left. My back is to the new bar area. The two big beams are the next to get the concrete wood grain treatment. But what struck me was the wonderful ambiance that will greet our guests. The brickwork winds its way from panel to panel with the large oversized timbers tying it all together. The timber woodwork in the ceiling and ceramic floors with the fancy borders will frame the work we do. And the crowning touch will be the many pieces of colorful eye candy which we are creating on the router. 

The challenge each day is to schedule and do all the things that need doing, juggling space with the many other team members and trades who are also sharing the tight space. We have to be extremely flexible which makes it a little difficult to predict which area will be the next to be worked on. As more and more areas are completed it will only get tighter as we proceed. But spirits are high and it is a lot of fun to work on this project.

-dan

Sculpting and more sculpting

The hunt master's horn was the next piece to be created for the Master's Bugle sign. The basic shape was designed in EnRoute in two halves. It was roughed out on the MultiCam using a 3/8" ball nose bit with a 50% overlap. I didn't need a smooth shape because I was going to cover it with Abracadabra sculpting epoxy

The first step was to press on a rough coat of sculpting epoxy. It acts as a primer coat.

Then it was time to sculpt the horn and 'metal' embellishments. The thing about sculpting epoxy is that the more you work it the more it softens up. The cure is to let things sit for a while, then come back and straighten things up.

The clearances are tight so I fastened it in place while it was still soft., adjusting things as needed. The hunt master's horn was well worn, somewhat dented. It would have been used while on horseback and most likely survived a tumble or two.  

At the job site things continue to proceed. Inside we are painting. Outside, the first side of 'brickwork' was troweled into place and carved today.

 -dan

Raising the bar and mirrors too

These past week it seems was the time for making mistakes, corrections and adjustments of all kinds of things. For a few days there, if something could go wrong it did. Sometimes it was me, other times things just changed and the work we had done simply needed to be altered or adjusted. It is the way things are done on occcasion - all in the interest of making the project better. Each time I would sit down with the client and contractor to decide how best to make it happen in such a way that the project would not be compromised, nor add to the price. Each time the customer would simply smile at me and state they knew I could do it - for that is why they hired me. According to them 'I was good and I knew how to do these kind of things.'

It's something I seem to face a lot. The better I get, the higher the expectations. Every project must be better than the last. The bar gets continually raised.

One of the adjustments needed was because the mirrors were simply too low in the bathrooms. It was OK for me but I am only average height. We had made the mirror frames a certain size to sneak the crowns under the overhead lights on the wall. We decided the solution was to leave the center mirrors as is, but make the two side ones three inches taller. The difficulty was two of the four frames were already done - complete with paint and the other two were routed and well into production. My client expressed her confidence I could fix things up - without a trace - for she had see me pull off similar magic previously. The challenge was on. I used every trick I could muster, staggering the cuts, and blending things as seamlessly as possible. I know my clients read this blog and I know nothing will get by unnoticed, so I'll even post a picture of the patch in progress, giving away where the cuts were made.

Monday morning the project will get the next inspection and we'll see if it passes.

I'm not worried though and in fact am far past this little job. I am on to the NEXT challenge... busy raising the bar once more.

-dan

Workshop mania

Workshops are a lot of fun for me to do. But they also require many hours of preparation and planning time as well. The Toronto edition of the Sign Magic Workshop hosted by MultiCam - Canada is now only ten days away. I believe there are still a couple of seats left if anyone is interested. Preparations have been underway for weeks. The materials and supplies have been ordered. Their MultiCam CNC machine is busy churning out the sample pieces needed for the students to practice their painting techniques.  Yesterday I went to the art supply store and stocked up on my brush and paint supply. The pace of preparation will pick up there considerably in the next few days I'm sure.

This morning we recieved word that our Workshop in Kiev, Ukraine has been postponed for a few months and moved to Moscow. That is an exciting developmment to say the least. With our large project still very much underway here I am just a little relieved with the new plans.

But meanwhile the preparations for the two workshops to be held here in our shop in September/October are in full gear. I started routing the needed sample pieces yesterday for the Sign Magic Workshop. The router will run steady the next few days to do them all. I'm happy to report that the Sculpting Magic Workshop is having some pretty talented and skilled people sign up. It is going to be a great workshop! I will do my best to pull out all the stops to make sure the program exceeds everyone's expectations. 

And the Sign Magic Workshop planned for Orlando in November is very much on my mind. We are now making our travel arrangements with some extra time booked on the trip as well for a little fun and relaxation.  

Although exciting, it sometimes feels like I am being pulled in a bunch of directions at once. Being fully prepared well in advance gives me peace of mind and makes it all much more enjoyable. It is going to be a busy and fun fall season!

If anyone is interested in information on the workshops please drop me an email. We still have room for a few more.

-dan

Making it look hand carved.

 The next phase of the bugle beer sign is to sculpt the scroll. While much of the work on our signs is done on a computerized machine I don't want them to appear that way. I just want the machine to do the bulk of the grunt work for me.

The air powered die grinder with a large cone bit makes an awesome carving tool.  Once again I am using the most efficient way I can to create our signs. It only took about ten minutes to add a texture to the face of the scroll and to round the ends to shape in a gentle curve. The tool marks are left in place, making the sign look as if it were hand carved with old fashioned chisels.

Then the scroll received a quick coat of primer similar to the one I described in my last post. Once this had been under the fan a couple of hours I applied a base coat of white to the bulk of the sign. The scroll received a blending of three shades of cream/tan. All paint was acrylic house paint.

Then using the sharp raised edges to assist me the base colors were added to the sign. The blue is a metallic acrylic from Modern Masters.

The raised border and 'BEER' lettering also got a coat of the blue metallic paint. 

The last stage of the background painting was to add a glaze to the borders to make everything jump nicely. I used our the custom glaze we call plumb crazy - a mix of clear base with black, chocolate and metallic cherry red.

Now I'll let this cure up good before I add the gold. The bugle will be sculpted and added as a last step.

Stay tuned...

-dan