posted
In reference to another post that got me wondering ...
What is your method of making hole paterns for stud mounted acrylic graphics?
Our typical method is ... make design file, gang-up letters to be cut, have acrylic laser cut, set drill press to make holes in but not through graphics,
Then I go back and make a pen plot from the design file, take that and the drilled letters to the light table and line up each letter to mark the holes on the paper.
Then glue in the studs.
Any other (better) ways?
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Mark, Hmm, another post huh? If it were me, I would do a couple of things. If the letters are 3/16" or 1/4" you can't really drill into them directly. Depending on the distance you want from the sign you can: A) Buy the pre-made 1/2" stud mounts from Gemini and adhere them with Methylene Chloride. or, B) With M/C, attach small squares (5/8") of 1/4" plexi to the back of the letters where you want to place the studs. Drill them to the proper depth, you can go just over 5/16" which is plenty. I actually "flatten" the tip of the drill bit considerably so the point doesn't take up part of the depth. It will still drill well, and "melt its way" into the plexi.
Now, your pattern is predrawn, take lipstick and dab each hole in the back of the letter (you are actually marking the plexi "around" the hole, NOT in it, this will show as a circle on the pattern). Place the letter over the pattern and press down firmly. Presto! If you smear it bad, grab another color from your wife's kit and re-dab. I wipe the lipstick off the hole with a Naptha rag and use the #16 Thickened Plastic Cement (Weldon) or similar adhesive (Epoxy) to place the studs.
Depending on the size of the letters, I will sometimes "drill and tap" the holes. Drill the holes undersized a bit, to a hair over the shank thickness of your stud. Take one stud and file a groove into the end, across several threads. That will become your "thread tapper". The glue will compensate for any differences.
[ September 26, 2004, 11:28 AM: Message edited by: Gene Golden ]
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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When I was running a CNC router I would draw the holes on the letters in my program just shy of .188 dia and plunge about half way through. If there are multiples of one letter I like to have the holes in the exact place for all of them so you dont have mark each one cuz they'll all be the same. I can bring them into my rout program now and nest them up. Then I would rout them all upside down with the holes. I would use a 5 minute epoxy on the studs and screw them in.
You can now go back to your drawing program and pen plot all yer letters with the holes and ya got yerself a perfect pattern.
I dont know if this method would work for a laser cutter. Can it cut part way through material? If there's a way to even mark where you had drawn your holes it'd still make it faster and a more accurate pattern.
Hope this helps.
Stevo
-------------------- Stevo Design Illustration Logos Sign Design Clip Art www.stevo-design.com Posts: 1680 | From: Edmonton Ab Canada EH! | Registered: May 2001
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Now, for cut-out Wood or Sintra letters. I make the pattern, cut the letters and then: Turn the letters onto their faces. Lay the pattern over them upside down also. Take a Phillips Head Screwdriver and tap it into the backs wherever you want a stud. This single step provides a guide for the drill to follow in the backs of the letters and a perfect pattern where "x" marks the spot.
I have one of those cheapo portable metal "drill stands" with the adjustable shafts that attaches to your hand drill, and I keep it on one of my drills at all times. Set the depth by drilling into the back of a scrap piece of the material YOU ARE CURRENTLY USING. I emphasize that because you don't want to inadvertantly set the "drill press" for a 3/4" board and then procede to drill 1/2" letters (not that I would know from experience or anything).
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I wouldn't usually bother with studs for 3/16 -1/4" materials ... just glue em' directly ... unless there are stand-offs or something wierd. If they need studs they need thicker material.
Gene, I like the lipstick idea, right now I basically do everything the way you describe the way you do wood. I always draw cross-lines over hole markings ... well beyond hole.
Being able to set depth on the drill press is great. For larger graphics that wont fit on the press I'll rip down a 2x4 and drill a hole through it so the drill bit only extends a certain length out the other side
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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quote:Originally posted by Stevo Chartrand: When I was running a CNC router I would draw the holes on the letters in my program just shy of .188 dia and plunge about half way through. If there are multiples of one letter I like to have the holes in the exact place for all of them so you dont have mark each one cuz they'll all be the same. I can bring them into my rout program now and nest them up. Then I would rout them all upside down with the holes. I would use a 5 minute epoxy on the studs and screw them in.
You can now go back to your drawing program and pen plot all yer letters with the holes and ya got yerself a perfect pattern.
I dont know if this method would work for a laser cutter. Can it cut part way through material? If there's a way to even mark where you had drawn your holes it'd still make it faster and a more accurate pattern.
Hope this helps.
Stevo
This is the way I was taught when I ran a router. Works like a charm-though you have to me a little more carefull on the thicker letters, they can distort and effect the face
-------------------- Rick Chavez Hemet, CA Posts: 1538 | From: Hemet,CA U.S.A. | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
We'll layout the letters on pattern paper as we want them and then trace them, the letters will have holes in them already (or stud pads from Gemini or shop made pads, whatever).
Then, using ground down studs we keep here in the shop (maybe they're 3/4" or so long and one end is pointed, we keep a dozen or so for each size stud), put one of these in each stud hole on the letter and set the letter in its place on the pattern (should mention we'll lay the pattern on a blanket, cardboard or something soft).
Once the letter is in its exact place, simply press down and the little studs leave a hole on the pattern, the holes are then well marked with a Sharpie.
Where there are two or more of the same character, each character is marked where it goes on the pattern.
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