Sign Magic Workhop in New Jersey!

It is not often that opportunity knocks twice. Hurricane Sandy forced the postponement of the previously scheduled Sign Magic Workshop in Hackensack, New Jersey. It has now been rescheduled for mid - January. I hear there are some seats left. Don' t let opportunity pass by twice!

Contact

Jeffrey Goldberg
MultiCam East

410-728-6000 

When

Tuesday January 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM EST
-to-
Thursday January 17, 2012 at 6:00 PM EST

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Where

Multicam East - Hackensack Location 
61 Voorhis Lane
Hackensack, NJ 07601 


Driving Directions 

Dan Sawatzky's Sign Magic Workshop 

Multicam East proudly presents Dan Sawatzky's
3 Day Sign Magic Workshop in Hackensack, NJ

Dan shares not only his routing 'secrets' but also the many other tools and methods he uses to finish his signs and themed environments.
Along with Dan, EJ Nodurft from Enroute Software will provide instruction on 3D and advanced features ofEnRoute 5.

Seating is limited to the first 25 students.

Cost: $1250.00 / student - includes lunch(10% discount for additional employees from the same company)
For thoses who would like to pay by credit card please call
Jeffrey Goldberg @ 410-728-6000

We have arranged a group rate with the Hilton Garden Inn. Rooms are $139/night.
Please email me for the link to make your hotel reservations.

Hilton Garden Inn70 Challenger RoadRidgefield Park, NJ 07660201-641-2024

We would like to thank everyone at Coastal Enterprises for supplying the
greatest material for routing and finishing "Precision Board" 

Register Now! 

Ready to go!

This afternoon I received word the truck would arrive first thing tomorrow morning. It was time to move the sign out onto the parking lot in readiness. It was a simple matter of rolling it out the door on the dolly we had built it on and then using the forklift transfer it onto its legs. tomorrow it will load in a minute or two when the truck gets here.

I couldn't resist one last picture out in the parking lot as it got dark this afternoon. The plain background of the neighbor's shop really showed off the sign to it's best advantage.

As soon as the sign was out the door it was time for a shop cleanup. Other projects await. It is on to the next...

-dan

The sun shines!

Today our LED lighting arrived from Heico Lighting. The LED lights they manufacture are unlike anything I've ever seen before. They use a contactless technology, meaning there are no wires to hook up or solder. It is a simple matter of slipping a wire through the lighting modules. It does this through electromagnetic induction.. The only connection necessary is at the transformer.

To see an video I made (in 2010) of how easy the HEICO LED lights hook up go here.  And here's the piece as it looked finished.

Today our LED lighting arrived from Heico Lighting. The LED lights they manufacture are unlike anything I've ever seen before. They use a contactless technology, meaning there are no wires to hook up or solder. It is a simple matter of slipping a wire through the lighting modules. It does this through electromagnetic induction.. The only connection necessary is at the transformer.

To see an video I made (in 2010) of how easy the HEICO LED lights hook up go here.  And here's the piece as it looked finished.

-dan

Down to the short strokes (of paint)

The Sunshine Homes sign has been dominating our shop space for quite some time. We've walked and worked around it since fabrication began. Rebecca painted the rock work with blends of grey and back and then we added two colors of speckles to make it look like granite. We did that using an undercoat gun which works extremely well. The key is to use low air pressure - about 25 lbs. Today we are doing the last of the painting process, the grout lines and small touch-ups. Sarah and Hailey did that work today. I didn't get a shot of Hailey but grabbed these of Sarah as she squeezed into the top to do the tricky work there.

All that is left now is to install the LED lighting and then move the sign out to the parking lot in readiness for loading on the truck. As soon as the LED's arrive I'll document that process and then the sign will be on the way at last.

-dan

da plane! da plane!

One of our current projects is a sign for a finish carpenter. The design requires an oversized woodworker's plane perched on top of the sign. I had built such a plane as a sample a while back which I considered using but for an outdoor sign it needed simplification a little, mostly to allow water to drain from the inside portion. This time around I'll also put my client's first name on the blade clamp. It is all about the details!

The vectors didn't take long to produce in EnRoute. The plane will be produced as a series of slices. cut from 0.5" and 1.5" 30 lb Precision Board. 

I duplicated the vectors for the number of pieces I would require and grouped them according the thickness of material they would be cut from.

 

For the adjustment knob and the front handle I used the revolve tool. This mesh was then merged to a zero height relief. The two halves would be routed and then glued up afterwards.

The blade clamp would be routed separately complete with my client's first name. I am using the 'bowl technique' that I described in a previous post. A zero hight relief formed the basis for the bowl. In this case I would build the relief on top of that.

The clamp face relief was made to be 0.4" thick by modifying the bowl relief.

Then 'BRENT' was sunken into the relief 0.15 inches using the subtract command.

The last step was to build the tightening screw. I created a flat relief 0.5" tall and then merged this highest with the base relief.

The files will be cut as offset cuts and island fills from two thicknesses of board.

I'll be tool pathing it in the next couple of days. Stay tuned...

-dan 

Splash of color

Since the last post about the Sunshine Homes sign we've made great progress. The last of the welding was finished and the diamond mesh was all tied to the frame. The sign was looking pretty big and took a lot of real estate in the shop by this time. It was a long walk around it to get from one side of the work space to the other.

Troweling on the fiberglass-reinforced-concrete and then carving it meant we were in for a long day.  The thing about sculpting concrete is that once you begin you have to go until you are done. Concrete waits for no one.

Today, while he concrete began to cure we began painting the top routed portions of the sign that were routed from 30 lb Precision Board. The sign sure brightened up in a hurry.

We'll be working on the top portion of the sign ver the next few days, adding more base coats and then final blended coats of paint to make the sun really pop. Lastly, we'll add the paint to the rock work.

-dan

Fifty ways to build a relief - Part nine

Routing these two fish panels didn't take very long. Exactly how long I don't really know as it happened fast and I was busy at the time with other things. I did my best to sneak back into the tourer room to take pictures but  I only managed a couple of pics before the two files were routed. Generally I allow 20 - 30 minutes per square foot for these kinds of textured files.

The first picture shows the fish after the rough pass was complete.

The second shows the 1/8" bit at work, about 1/3 of the way through the file.  The bowl shape is clearly visible.

Here's a shot of the first fish relief finished but still on the router.

And here's a shot of the two pieces pulled out of their bowls. I like to route just shy of the spoil board meaning I only surface it  couple of times each year.

And here's a shot of the two fish plaques - right off the router. They measure about 12" wide by 10" tall.

Next time we'll be starting on the finishing of these two reliefs.

-dan