I need a little advice, please.

[tuck]

An old army buddy that lives up in Minnesota wants to commission me to make him a sign for his new hunting cabin. He's a big deer hunter and here's what I've come up with:



The sign will be about 46" in diameter, 2.5D routed HDU, perhaps backed with some polymetal. The deer will be raised, with the background routed down and the scenery painted on. What has me in a quandary is how to do the cross hairs I've added to the design. My thoughts are to cut a round piece of plexiglass to cover the inside circle and do the cross hairs with vinyl. I could silicone and screw the plexi to the HDU and make it air tight, but what concerns me is the possibility of condensation building up between the plexi and the HDU. Also, aren't some types of clear plexi prone to yellow over time when exposed to the sun?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[bleeth]

Mark:

Lexan will not yellow. Others may come up with a totally different approach, but to go with your acrylic concept I would "float" it off the sign on studs (probably 3 for stability) and not try to make it airtight.

Your artwork is pretty doable as more relief work than you seem to have in mind.

This is a big sign. It will be a real attention getter. I hope more people than your friends see it!!

[JohnG]

Dave, I like your concept of adding the "standoffs" for the acrylic. One correction though.....lexan is one of the worst choices for yellowing.

[tuck]

Hey Dave you're right. Stand-offs would have been the way to go. However, upon further discussion with my old buddy Spike and a more thorough understanding of his budget, we've decided to use a digital print for the image of the deer: (clickable images)



I'll use 3/4" PVC now instead of HDU, and I still get to do some carving and he'll have a nice sign for his cabin. Only thing I'm worried about is that some drunk hunter will come along and take a shot at it!

I gotta tell y'all something funny while I'm at it. He had expressed to me that he wanted a white tail buck with a big rack on the sign. I went searching through my files for all of the deer I had and first sent him this:



He replied back and said "I really like the design, Tuck, but I want a white tail buck,...NOT AN ELK!"

Hahaha! Oh well,.......I'm not a hunter and it looked like a deer to me!

[tuck]

Dave, I like your concept of adding the "standoffs" for the acrylic. One correction though.....lexan is one of the worst choices for yellowing.

That's what I thought, but I rarely use plastics and don't really know.

[JohnG]

Yeah, the lexan is a great product, but it does look like **** after a few years in the sun. A high impace SG Acrylic is a good compromise between strength and UV fading.

[bleeth]

There are modern Lexan polycarbs that withstand yellowing so well they come with a 10 year guarentee. GE Polymer is one manufacturer.
The world of plastics is ever-changing! FYI-If you happen to have older Lexan that has yellowed there are restoration kits at your local auto supply store that reportedly work wonders.

[GlenP]

Nice design Mark. I think it would look really cool if the outside border of the sign was black and make it look like a scope. I am no hunter so I am assuming they are black. Even add a extra inline or something to give it a realism of looking through a scope. Just a thought, love the design. You have some great design skills.
Maybe you better put a bullet proof backer on it in case of your drunkin hunter....what a minute are hunters allowed to be drunk!

[tuck]

Nice design Mark. I think it would look really cool if the outside border of the sign was black and make it look like a scope. I am no hunter so I am assuming they are black. Even add a extra inline or something to give it a realism of looking through a scope. Just a thought, love the design. You have some great design skills.
Maybe you better put a bullet proof backer on it in case of your drunkin hunter....what a minute are hunters allowed to be drunk!

You're exactly right, Glen. He wants a fancier scope pattern. No problem. And the outside boarder going to black is a great idea. I like how this is turning out. I didn't set out to have an appearance of peering down a rifle scope, but that's what it's gonna end up as. PERFECT! If I mess around enough, I sometimes get it right!

I'll post pics of the final product before I ship it to my buddy, and thank you sir for your compliments on my sign design skills. I'm not nearly as talented at it as some in here, but I keep trying!

[myxpykalix]

Mark im not a sign maker but here is what i'd do. The picture is pretty self explanitory.
Make your scope parts out of metal, you could pop rivet the detent marks of the scope together.
This probably would take a long time to carve but i think it would be a heck of a nice sign...

by vcarving the deer lower and thereby raising the sides of the circle you could mount your scope parts as described without having to drill into your carving for standoffs