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

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Final touches to finish.

It's funny how we work on a project for so many hours and yet its the last couple of hours that make the biggest difference.
Yesterday was productive with lots of progress on all fronts on the doctor's sign. I painted the rocks with the blended base coats to color the stones and then using a cheapy, undercoat gun with low air pressure (30 lbs or so) to create a granite looking speckle. Once the paint was dry I then painted in the grout lines between the rocks with a small brush.
While I was waiting for the various coats of paint to dry on the rocks I painted on the gold size which is clear like varnish. I used a slow size this time. It took 12 hours to set up enough to apply the gold.
This morning I came in and spent a leisurely hour carefully applying the 23K gold leaf... and it was instant BLING! The dark greens of the sign make the gold feel really rich. The sign sparkles even in the artificial light of the shop. It should look spectacular out in the sunlight! Delivery day isn't for another 10 days but we will enjoy it here until then. The sign will also be a great demonstration piece for our workshop next weekend.
-dan