Been a while, some recent work

[michael_schwartz]

I have been occupied with a number of large projects, so I haven't had much time to spend on forums. Thought I would share a few examples of signage I have worked on.

1. Over the past year and a half, I have been testing Corian® as a material. I have several installations that are over 1 year old now. My impression is that it holds up very well. Like any material there are some limiting factors, and It is not ideal in all situations. However my experience has been that it is a very practical option in some situations, especially from a business standpoint.

For this project the existing structure was still in good condition so I was hired to update it with new signage. The installation took place when the temperature was -15. Still holding up fine, year later.

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2. This project was a collaboration with another cabinetmaker/contractor, and a vinyl sign shop, and I was a sub-contractor on the sign. The design was based around artwork provided by the clients graphic designer, and digitally printed graphics on a wood sign were a requirement. The sign is routed on both sides.

I handled the design/routing of the sign blank which was supplied by the customer. My client took care of the finishing/installation and worked with the vinyl shop. The Vinyl was cut to fit, from vectors exported from Aspire. I had my concerns about whether it would end up matching due to the tight tolerances required, but it ended up working just fine. This was an interesting technique, esepcially given how popular digitally printed graphics are becoming on signage.

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Michael Schwartz.

[gene]

is that where you fine the usual bunch of jack-sses, at the mule bar:eek:
Nice signs!

[myxpykalix]

I never thought i'd say this to a guy, but......Nice Ass mike:eek:

It almost looks more 2D then 3D. The detail on the painting is great. A lot of people don't realize that asses are usually more hairy then horses but have a much smoother gait then a horse, make riding much smoother.
Great job Mike!

[kevin]

Mike its nice to see your work I really like the first one
The first sign really let your style shine through have you done any built ins or kitchen in that style ?

[michael_schwartz]

Jack, Gene, and Kevin. I appreciate all the comments.

Credit to the graphic on the mule sign goes to the clients graphic designer who is obviously is very talented. I merely did the layout for the sign and created the vectors for machining, and routed the blank.

I wish I could write about some of the details involved with how the vinyl was applied however that part of the project was handled by the client. I have to say the Vinyl shop was skilled since they were spot on. They were able to cut the Vinyl to fit the existing outline that was routed from vectors that I exported from Aspire, and everything had to be spot on with no clearance.

I had my reservations and provided the vectors with no guarantee and made it clear, that this was entirely up to the vinyl shop, however it turned out to be quite feasible. However I wouldn't trust anybody with a plotter to do this.

[michael_schwartz]

Some more details on the Corian signs.

I have v-carved smaller corian signs but I prefer to rout larger signs to a shallower depth (around .125" or less) using an end mill as carving deep, or introducing sharp corners could weaken the material. My experience is that Corian routs/machines very easily. I treat it the same as a hard wood, only with shallower passes. When cut it tends to turn to dust, so you don't have to worry about chips re-welding like they do on plastics.

Painting Corian involves no special prep, other than a quick wipe down with your solvent of choice. It seems to take paint very well. Sometimes I will wet sand the routed letter pockets by hand to remove tool marks. I typically paint using a rattle can, scrape off any excess, and then I remove the rest using worn out sanding discs saved from other projects, since new ones are just going to clog up. I learned this trick after wasting a bunch of new sanding discs.

Lighter colors of corian look good when polished to roughly 180-220 grit or less depending on the results you want. Sometimes I buff with a green scotch bright pad after sanding to 220, to take them to the next level. Darker colors, especially red for example will tend to look chalky unless buffed/polished to a gloss finish. I have done this by wet sanding, and then using a series of polishing compounds.

I prefer to install corian over a sturdy substrate to insure that it is supported very well. I have been doing this by drilling oversized screw holes in the Corian and using a counter sync bit that is about 2 sizes larger. During installation it is important to back off on the screws when snug, so that they are just a little bit loose. I do this because the substrate will likely expand/contract significantly more than the Corian, and you want it to to float in a way.

The lower 3 blanks that were apart of the sign shown above were only attached near the ends. Since they would be unsupported, I built up the thickness of the corian by laminating an additional strip near the edges using color matched corian adhesive.

[gc3]

nice signs !!