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This is a pic of my first sandblasted job. Sign is 44" by 42". 1" signfoam, with half inch mdo sandwiched in between, glued together with west systems epoxy, with steel straps fastened to mdo running through the sign. Edges were sealed with bondo and fiberglass and sanded smooooooth. The bracketts are installed completely through the wall with long bolts and anchored inside the porch. THis was a fun job!
------------------ John Deaton III Deaton Design 109 N. Cumberland Ave.,Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-573-9101
I love the sign shape and design. One comment though, it seems that your main copy lettering is close in contrast to the sandblsted background. I might have gone a little more contrast between the two.
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Nice work John. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on doing your first sandblasted. Did you do the blasting? What did you go through to start doing this and what would you suggest for others to do , just starting in it?
------------------ Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Since 1978 www.wrightsigns.bigstep.com All change isn't progress, and all progress isn't forward.
Posts: 2787 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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Yeah, what David said. Love the product ... would like to hear process. Nice job
Like the "pop" on those windows too (the other post)
------------------ Designing... it's like an itch in the brain... an itch you can't scratch, that if you can figure out how to scratch it, it just itchs more
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Okay guys. When I first was approached about doing the sign, I started asking certain questions on the board, and got some good answers from posters, and a lot of help from Dave Sherby. If it had been a free standing sign, the process would have been much easier, but I got broke in really good this way. The sign was going to be installed about 20 feet off the ground on the eve of a church porch. Two sided also. I knew from talking to Dave and others I was going to have to build this sign to be structurally strong and install it in a way that it wouldn't come tumbling down in the wind. I used 1" thick Signfoam for this sign. I used the plotter to draw out the shape for me and applied that to the foam to cut. I then used that half of the sign for a template to cut the other one. The sign foam cuts like butter, so I only ran my jigsaw at slow spped. After that, I cut a piece of 1/2 inch mdo, which would be sandwiched in between the two pieces of foam. This too was cut in the same shape as the two pieces of foam. I then took two pieces of steel strap,which would support the sign, and laid them on the mdo to pencil around them for cutting. This was about 1 and 1/2 inches wide, 1/8 inch thick, and cut to stick out of the sign at top and bottom about 2 and 1/2 inches. I routed out the channels in the mdo, and secured the straps with screws. Now I had all my pieces. Just had to put them together. I used West Systems Epoxy for the gluing, first applying a coat to the mdo after scarring it up real good. I applied the foam one side at a time, and gluing up both surfaces for good adhesion. After all the pieces were put together, I applied weight to the sign to force out some of the glue, but not much, and make for a good adhesion. After the glue had dried, and that stuff is hard!, I started applying the sandblast stencil, which I cut on the plotter. I hand cut all the pieces for the border. That way, there wasn't a huge waste of material. I took the sign to a monument company, which a friend of mine had been using to do his blasting. The guy was good, and had blasted alot of foam before. I got to watch also, which I enjoyed. After blasting, I took the sign back to the shop for painting and edge sealing which I did with bondo and fiberglass. I had preprimed before blasting, to make sure the stencil stuck good, so then I reprimed the blasted areas, and painted the background and the letters and raised areas. I used all latex paints for this job, sometimes using a fitch for the background, and I was really pleased with the look. The installation was tricky, and I hired a carpenter to help me out. We went up inside the porch and installed 2x6 boards two deep to install the bracketts to, which were made for me by a friend who is a welder. We ran the bolts through the bracketts and all the way through the 2x6's and added washers and nuts tightened down fast. We were confident with the install. It was solid. This being my first job, I took my time, and the customer was in no hurry. I called them every couple of days to let them know how things were coming, and they were really patient. It was work, but I really enjoyed it, and look forward to doing more hopefully. I have experimented doing some blasting, and hope to start doing my own. All in all, a fun job, and very informative and educational for me. As far as suggestions on doing this type of work, educate yourself as much as possible on the process, familiarize yourself with the materials used, and ask questions, especially here. That's what I did, and I couldn't have done it without the help. Thanks to all! And Dan, the picture doesn't really show the colors the way they are. It was taken from a distance, and then resized in photoshop. Up close, the color of the letters, which is cream, looked good on the background. The b/g is darker than what the pic shows. Thanks for your comments and critique also. ALways appreciated and welcome. And oh yeah, the font used on the sign is Esoteric Western by Chuck Davis/Letterheadfonts.
------------------ John Deaton III Deaton Design 109 N. Cumberland Ave.,Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-573-9101
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