engraved signs

[dakers]

attached photo shows something we just tried that works well.
this is 3mil pvc top painted with SEM vinyl spray paint (comes in can)

the sign is about 3x3ft which is larger than you can buy engraving stock from rowmark. we priced this out to have done by a company that does engraving and they wanted $1,000.

the customer had to have the sign made the way you see it per specs.
so we thought we would try the pvc and do it in one piece ourselves.

we had 15 hours machine time which suprised me but there is no load on the spindle. could not substitute the font.

but i think this may be something we can add to our product line as needed.

thought i would share this with others.

[pappybaynes]

Dick, did you coat the PVC prior to painting it???
Thanks, Dick B

[signtist]

Is that from a spray can? Great Idea!

[dakers]

we did not precoat the pvc. the local auto paint store sells these spray cans of SEM paint . it has been around along time. was used to recoat vinyl tops of cars when they used to put vinyl on the roof. also for inside the car.
works great on alot of things. could have had a pint of something else mixed but they had the SEM just sitting there and it worked great.

probably krylon fusion or many others would work well. this was $12. per can and used 4 cans to do the one 3x3 and one 12x60'' one side.

quoting on more to do but wish we could use a faster font but they said no.

[tuck]

The 15 hours machine time is what has me wondering why your customer didn't just go with white vinyl copy on readily available 3mm red pvc? For signage like that, who cares if it's routed or engraved?

I don't know what your hourly rate is for machine time and it ain't none of my business, but dang, at $60.00 per = $900.00 for 15 hours!

I'm glad you got the job and I love the way you solved the problem. I'm gonna be posting a pic or two over the next week or so with what I'm doing with pvc and readily available spray paints from my local home store. Canned spray paint has come a long way over the years and is an excellent option for certain applications.

But dang! I'm guessing your customer has more money than sense or the signage has to be made in accordance with some obscure safety rules or something? I don't do vinyl but work with several shops that do. Any one of them could have knocked this job out in less than an hour, no kidding.

[dakers]

Mark,
i felt the same way you do. why engraved. why not a single line font if engraved, why these exact sizes, why no thicker than 3mil, why not vinyl.

To paraphrase the answer we received was "that is the way the head company in the joint venture wants us to do it.

I said maybe they do not know what engraved is. they probably meant plotter cut.

They said, "No, engraved means engraved"

Yes, it was sold for $1,000. and we are going to be doing alot more of them from the the looks of it. they have to have one on each installation.

The one thing "engraved" in my mind is that i almost did not bid on it because i could not get the Rowmark engraving stock that large and would have been 3 pieces to make one sign with the backer board. then we thought of trying this method to keep it oine piece with no backer.

Who would have thought......