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This was my first crack at carving. Sign Foam is of course, very forgiving. I'd hate to see what I'd do with wood-- can't fix it up as easily... This sign features gold and copper gilding, a green to black smalts fade background and Bondo for the border texture (to hide the mistakes).
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Hey Chuck that looks really good. I checked out your website too, lots of nice stuff. I have to confess I don't even know what signfoam is. Where do you buy it? How much does it cost? What do you carve it with? What rock have I been living under?
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Gilead... I'm by no means an expert but Sign Foam ia a high density urethane foam. Think of it as balsa wood in a tough foam form -- light weight, yet thick (mine was about 2.5 inches). I used some common Craftsman chisels to carve mine and an X-Acto for touchup... Finally I used sand paper to smooth down any rough spots and make it look like I knew what I was doing... I'm really not sure what the prices are like now... I'm guessing $400 for a 4x8...?
P.S. I saw your site...I started out as a sign painter for Albertson's! I remember doing those "penguin frozen food" banners too! Out here in California, they've done away with sign painters...What about there?
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No kidding another Albertsons guy!? That's too funny. Yeah they switched to computer generated signs a few years ago, but I stayed on and did that job for a few years since no one else wanted too. Earlier this year I gave it up because it was costing me too much time, but I try to keep the contact alive. They still consider me "their art department" and hire me for all the special promotion stuff. I've even done a few window splashes for them. They'd never have let anyone else do that. Frozen Food Month remains my busiest time of year. Busier than Christmas. Thanks for the info on signfoam, it's a tad outside the price range of my customers so I guess I'll stick to foamcore.
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