What

[joe]

I just stopped by for a quick view and noticed nothing going on.

Stop lurking and start posting. Were all in this boat together. Please pick up one of the oars and start stroking.

This one of the best times for the sign industry. For CNC guys, who have a leg up, there's plenty of work. We've even put on another part time sign artist.

Lets see some activity.

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com)

[rb99]

Lately I cannot keep up to all the posts!

There was a change to the search function...

RIB

[joewino]

ACTIVITY....There ya go, Joe.

[mikeacg]

I have to chime in! I want Joe to be happy! I'll post some pictures too!

Mike

[dakers]

Hope this helps someone out there.Here is one from peachtree foamcraft we just installed monday. their logo letters are hdu.
green plate is alumacorr with vinyl , alumacorr changeable copy with gemini polycarbonate track. had lots of zoning restrictions. only 50 sq ft sign area allowed. cost of monument approx. $4,800. selling cost with install $9,800. would have sold for more 5 years ago. the ground was frozen which was fortunate so we could drive right to the holes. put three 3'' pipes in the pvc sleeves they put in sign. size 102''x144'' weight 480 pounds. holes filled half full with water from water table, used hydraulic cement. install after i dug holes was three guys and crane 4 hours.
6059

[dakers]

here is sign at install site. we rested the three ten ft steel posts in the holes and lifted the sign over the posts and lowered the sign down. with sign about 3ft above grade we poured the cement then lowered the sign on to the blocks that we had just leveled. they picked the colors. we had designed faux stone post and base but that added about $4,000. and was rejected. sign should have a vandal cover on the changeable copy area but the cost was too high for a good vandal cover for them. the temperature was 28 degrees. to lift a sign like this we put two plywood pads on bottom and top about 7ft apart that were wider than the foam and had notches for the lifting straps to fit into so they would not slide out.
the design file was done in corel draw and emailed to foamcraft. it does not seem to cost much more to go with thicker archtectural elements so that it does have enough dimension to be sturdy. the graphic design is average but with the 50 sq ft max i had to balance things to make everything read from where it needed to read from. i designed everything in front of a light blue grid marking off each sq ft. of the 50 allowable for the actual sign area. it came out at 49.5 sq ft. that is actually why the top is slanted above the name. so i can show the zoning inspector the grid over the design to show him it was legal. they did not want to go for a variance. they are going to put more dirt, mulch around the bottom and i told them to keep the weed wackers away from sign. I usually paint these structures with acrylic latex with mildewcide and fungicide and to help close up the small pockets that collect dirt, etc. The ones we have not done that have had black streaks and mildew issues.
another issue is that 102'' is the highest they can go in one piece due to shipping and economics. i had to keep it high enough off the ground for snow drifting. is it 19'' to the bottom of the copy board. I have done these in two pieces before and that has worked out on taller signs.
6060

[dakers]

i always forget things.. this photo shows part of the building. i came up with designs that matched the building better which i prefer to do but they were rejected
6061

[rb99]

Can we see the "rejected" designs please?

Some of my best work gets rejected over stuff that is not nearly as nice...

Thanks,

RIB

[navigator7]

Nice Dick! Do you have your own boom truck or do you hire out?
Is the sign lighted at night?

Where I live, Mother Nature dictates sign size.
We had a 90 MPH blow a couple of years back. I wasn't even thinking about the sign biz back then but the storm sure made an impression on me. For the next six months there were sign guys from Don's area replacing all the blow downs. (About a four to five hour drive)

I cry when I think of all the downed, quality wood that could have been free for the taking. I counted 81 trees in a five mile drive to work. Walnut, ponderosa, willow, birch and some humunguss spruce.

Richard,
Does it hurt your feelings when your ideas are rejected?

[dakers]

Chuck, used to have boom trucks and bucket trucks.
We have a wholesaler a few miles away who just does installs. $60.00 per hour crane and one guy. $90 hr two guys and crane. Wife does not want me to have one anymore. says workers comp issues, insurance. I do have a loose radocy 35 ft. that i had in the 70's that i am sentimental about rusting out in the back lot. I keep thinking i will refurbish it but would really rather have a 1957 chevy. (wishful thinking)
sign is not lighted but there are alot of street lights near by. i think they are going to run electric to it.

here is what they say about wind load below but if we have winds like this i am sure things will be hitting the sign:

Our wholesale monument signs are have been independently tested and certified to withstand winds upwards of 180 MPH." Mike Fetter, Peachtree City Foamcraft's National Sales Manager.

Rejection:
I used to care but i am used to it now.
this is a pretty generic sign really. They had a comittee and all communication was through emails.
i have not met any of them. Preferred to meet but everyone too busy. Peachtree said i should have sold it for more but it was a big struggle to get this much as it was beyond their budget. They did like monument style signs.
usually delete files i do not need but will look.

[joe]

Good going boys. There's lots of good tallent out there so keep posting.

[scottbot]

You're right Joe.
I've been lurking and not contributing.

After taking my picture and diddling with it to get it to meet the 50kb file size restriction I kind of felt like 'what's the point?' it's so small now that it's hardly worth showing.

Anyhow, here it is.
It's about 2 feet wide and 1 foot tall.
Made from 18 pound HDU. It's my first 3D sign.
It's for my Niece and her Husband.


6062

[mikeacg]

Beautiful sign, Scott! And it is big enough to see! You did a great job on both counts - Thanks for sharing! Love that little smiley face!!

Mike

[GlenP]

HEy guys, I have some pics but can never get them down to the 50 kb to fit. Tried last night and gave up. Have some to install but my post holes are back ordered! Have a good day all. Nice sign Scott, very creative. I love cutting HDU...it cuts like butter.

[mikeacg]

Glen,

What kind of photo software do you have available? Maybe one of us can help you figure out how to make them work. I use Photoshop which I'm guessing that's out of most people's price range but I have customers who use other software so I might be able to make some suggestions.

Mike

[navigator7]

Do you have a Mac, Glen?

[toych]

Hey Glen,

I use Picasa to export photos. Easy to use and free!

6063

[dakers]

here is a job for four street posts we completed waiting for pick up.
these are recycled 6x6 (5.5''x5.5'') brown 8ft tall.plastic lumber, routed copy with resin pour. posts from bedford technologies. selling price approx $1,200 for four posts.
used white one shot in resin pour, could help to mix in some grout probably to help hide the resin from UV degradation but this is not horizontal surface. could have made them fancier, etc. the customer is going to put a wood base with a copper decoration on top of the posts. the recycled posts have so many voids they do not look good when you make the tops fancy with bevels, recesses, etc. unless the customer does not mind the voids for design sake.
For me legiblity is job one unless customer just wants a sign that gives "atmosphere" which i also like but try to strke a balance if possible.

6064

[GlenP]

Hey guys, I have CorelDraw. I have tried to resize the photo and I can't get it down to the 50 kb without being so small its not worth the effort. I am going to try Darren's Picsa and we will see. Thanks guys.

[dakers]

Scott, very original design. nice colors. thinkin out of the box.

[powerlsc]

Dick,
Your posts on the monument sign are timely. I am preparing to bid on a job for the front of a new fire station and have never done a monument before. I figured to wing it and learn as I go after searching the archives for info. Your detailed installation tips have helped in my planning.
Listing prices is a big plus for those of us who are new.
Thanks Joe for inspiring a rebirth of the sign forum! It's a big black hole out here without support.

[GlenP]

Hope this works. we cut the parts for this sign. The design and finish work was done by our customer who is a very good sign maker. The animal (bull and boar) were outline cut separate and he hand carved them. The sign was cut from HDU and man I love cutting that stuff...cuts like butter. There is a second portion to the sign which is a bbq grill.
6065

[dakers]

lynn, this is how we lifted the 480 lb foam structure to keep from crushing it. the pieces of plywood had notches so the lifting straps would not slide off. two on bottom. two on top. used 4 separate nylon lifting staps with loops on each end. could have used a spreader bar on top but did not have one. there are probably alot of ways to lift them. this worked very well here with the straps we had. on the peachtree site they show how to install but we did not think that method would work for a sign this heavy and large. the install method we used above worked flawlessly.
6066

[mikeacg]

Glen,

The sign looks great! Glad to see you worked out the kinks on posting pictures!

Mike

[dakers]

6067
Lynn,
this drawing shows where i wanted peachtree to install wood inserts into the foam so i could attache the alumacorr to. that was important to request.

[dakers]

6068
here is one that just got finished today by jerry who runs the router. thicker pvc, acrylic latex blue sprayed on top. we used a 3m calendar vinyl as a paint mask because we have alot of that as scrap here.
have to find out what my wife sold it for. has scroll bracket and post.
size approx. 2x3ft

[lucien_casartelli]

Caught me to!
6069

[lucien_casartelli]

Just added a new toy. 5x12 Dual table dual spindle w/ 15 tool changer at each spindle I still have the Bot though!
6070

[lucien_casartelli]

PS. I couldn't have done it without the Bot and this great forum.
Thank you all..
Lou

[hh_woodworking]

glen I use corel and use the bitmap resample and change dpi to 60-72 dpi

[eaglesplsh]

The first time I saw a 5'x10' CNC machine I thought it was huge - Lucien that thing is massive!

Looks like it only has one gantry, are the dual spindles/tables basically making 2 copies of the output file at once? I've always wondered how you'd run 2 Z-axis independently without having them crash into each other.

What's the Z-axis travel on that beast?

[navigator7]

What is that thing, Lucien?
What does it do?
Links?
(No I'm not stupid;-)

[mikeacg]

I remember the first time I saw one of these machines at a show! I was mesmerized and never thought I would ever own one... But here I am! Next step is going to be one with 4 or 5 axes...
Have you ordered a machine yet, Chuck?

[navigator7]

Not yet, Mike.
Our ship's funnel just cleared the horizon!
At least I think it is our ship?
Regardless...our ship isn't dockside quite yet.
Road restrictions due to unseasonably warn weather is keeping the dirt guy away as well. His job is to make a road and clear a building site. Our county roads are closed to heavy vehicles. One of my neighbors manages the county roads and sets the closure times. No point in sneaking in under the cover of darkness.... ;-)
Probably spring.

[mikeacg]

I forgot about the new building! OK, I'll give it a rest for a while! We just need to keep you active and thinking about what you are going to make!

Mike

[scottbot]

Hey guys.
Thanks for the comments.

Michael
The smiley face was drawn by my friend's 12 year old niece and I thought it would be a good fit for the daycare sign.

But how about the rest of you guys?
Lets see some more signs.

Scott

[coach]

One of my suppliers gave me 2 sheets of blue plastic material, not sure what it is but it seems like pvc.
So desparate times call for desparate measures. I made 100 tri-fold brochures with cabinet prices and slipped them behind the sign. About 15 were taken so I can only hope for some calls.
I parked at BJ's (wholesale club), Home depot, walmart and at the mall. Was out for close to 8 hours.
6071

[eaglesplsh]

Love the custom license plate Dave!

[john_l]

I'm right with you. Times are tough brother.


6072

[john_l]

Here's our super size...


6073

[curtiss]

Lucien ....Just added a new toy. 5x12 Dual table dual spindle w/ 15 tool changer at each spindle I still have the Bot

Nice machine but it looks a little wobbley to me...

[butch]

Glen
In Corel Photo,
I first resize the photo to something like 6 in the longest direction.
Then if it is still over 1meg I cut the resolution to between 60 or 72 pixel.
The go to file and use web optimizer and try to save it as jpg.
I can usually take a 10meg photo down to around 35k.