Anyone here do signs? few questions!

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So I've been contacted about building a sign for a client for his homebuilding business. It would be roughly 20x60, he wants steel letters raised off the sign with rods, to give it that nice 3d effect, and is open to whatever design elements I come up with. I know how I want it to look, basically...but I'm searching the web for the best deal on quality steel lettering... anyone have a go-to site I should check out? also, when laying these out, I'm thinking I'd clamp a piece of 4 inch angle to the plate to give myself a straight line for the letters to sit on as I tack them down..that make sense or is there a better way? any help is appreciated. thanks.Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:For laying out the letters trace them out on a paper pattern. Cut and grind points on 4 or how ever many studs that are in a letter. The studs with the point should just stick out the back of the letter an eighth inch or so. Set cardboard under the pattern then push the letter down to get the indents for the holes. When your done tape the pattern to the sign and drill the holes. Set your studs up with a nut to go on the face of the sign. Push them in and tighten the back nuts. Keep in mind when laying out letters those with s round top or bottom such as U, O, J and S are taller.
Reply:Cool stuff! I don't have direct access to a CNC or anything..but I did work at a few places with such things...maybe I could talk someone there into doing me up some letters while they're slow....it is that time of year.Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:Yeah CNC would be the way to go. You can get any size and font design you want cut fairly reasonably and get them in the material you want. You can also do things like cut a 2nd set just slightly undersized and weld them to the originals to give you that "shadowed" look..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Yes cnc plasma is the way to go for letters. In fact individual letters are normally the scrap for a cutting job. There must be thousands of individual letters on the drop table under my cnc, they will all be scrapped.Like these letters, they are normally the scrap but I dug them out for this customer because hes a buddy and I do allot of work for him.12v battery, jumper cables, and a 6013.I only have a facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/VPT/244788508917829
Reply:Here's a sign I drew yesterday, took about 30 minutes on Plasmacam Design Edge CAD software. This is the way I show a sign to a customer for approval before actual cutting and fabrication. The hummingbird design on the left side was cut and pasted from another drawing, the text is a standard True Type font.....the "bridges" on the font (so inside pieces do not drop out) is done automatically by the Design Edge. The sign itself is 12" high x 16" wide, and will just be painted black. The sign itself will take about a minute to cut from 12 gauge steel, the post and support arm, hanging chains, brackets, etc. add value and will be the most time consuming. Jim ColtLast edited by jimcolt; 11-17-2014 at 09:43 AM.
Reply:Here is a sign I made recently for a side business I am trying to start.  I had a local sign company cut the letters out of acrylic from a logo I designed in Adobe illustrator.  Maybe look into having someone cut the letters to your specs on a plasma cutter?Checkout my youtube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/turbocobra
Reply:Originally Posted by SwiftySo I've been contacted about building a sign for a client for his homebuilding business. It would be roughly 20x60, he wants steel letters raised off the sign with rods, to give it that nice 3d effect, and is open to whatever design elements I come up with. I know how I want it to look, basically...but I'm searching the web for the best deal on quality steel lettering... anyone have a go-to site I should check out? also, when laying these out, I'm thinking I'd clamp a piece of 4 inch angle to the plate to give myself a straight line for the letters to sit on as I tack them down..that make sense or is there a better way? any help is appreciated. thanks.
Reply:Very cool, guys! Metalman, I meant stainless. And 20 x 60 inches. Which actually seems pretty small now that I think about it. hmmmm..... He wants that nice stainless letters raised off of a rusted steel background look. heh. lots of that around here.  I'm off to kinko's. going to get them to print me off a paper version of the sign so I can play with some different ideas before I do anything. Gotta get moving on this project. The last few things I've spent a lot of time quoting and figuring out ended up not getting the go-ahead with customers, so I'm a little frustrated right now. Hopefully this will be the one that gets me going again. Thanks for all the input.Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:Originally Posted by SwiftySo I've been contacted about building a sign for a client for his homebuilding business. It would be roughly 20x60, he wants steel letters raised off the sign with rods, to give it that nice 3d effect, and is open to whatever design elements I come up with. I know how I want it to look, basically...but I'm searching the web for the best deal on quality steel lettering... anyone have a go-to site I should check out? also, when laying these out, I'm thinking I'd clamp a piece of 4 inch angle to the plate to give myself a straight line for the letters to sit on as I tack them down..that make sense or is there a better way? any help is appreciated. thanks.
Reply:I build a lot of signs.  I cut out everything by hand.  I layout the pieces on the computer or draw them freehand - then transfer to an overhead sheet.  I shoot the design up on the steel plate with an overhead projector, draw the piece again on the steel, then go to cutting.For this sign the cutout is hammered black, the back ground of the wording is copper and the letters are brushed nickle...that is powder coating colors.  The sign was cut from 1/8 steel plate then powder coated.John
Reply:Holy crap-balls. Looked at Gemini. Lots more than I think the guy wants to spend. I guess I'll quote it with them, tell him what that'll look like, and then tell him I can hand cut them for a bit less. :/Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:I worked in a sign shop, they cut out the backs on a router, and I hand formed the curves and square edges on a finger break and different pipe sizes to roll curves. I would form is perfectly around the edges of the backing, making a return. All aluminum.Miller Maxstar 200 SDPiperliner #10 Gold
Reply:Okay, so... Knowing what little bit I know about the customer, I'm assuming that this he's not wanting to spend a ton of money, especially since the sign is only to be 20x60, so I did a little sample experiment today to give him an idea of what's really possible if I make everything by hand with what I've got, which will be the cheapest option.  I went to kinko's the other day and had the logo printed, then traced out the first letter on notebook paper, and then cut that out and traced it onto some 1/4" steel.  Then used some 3/8" rod to attach it to a scrap piece of sheet that fits the description of what he's looking for.  Sprayed the letter with some cold galv spray, and cleaned it up a bit with one of those fancy red sanding pads on a grinder.  Not too bad for a rough sample piece that I did in about 30 minutes.  Sent him an email. waiting to hear his thoughts based on this. Might just get the letters galvanized.  and before everyone comes down on me for this not being completely perfect and polished, again - did this real quick on lunch to get a rough idea of what is possible with what I've got. thanks.     Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:Originally Posted by SwiftyHoly crap-balls. Looked at Gemini. Lots more than I think the guy wants to spend. I guess I'll quote it with them, tell him what that'll look like, and then tell him I can hand cut them for a bit less. :/
Reply:Got it 99% finished, just gotta cap the top of the posts and put base plates on it so the guy can mount it to a pad he's gonna pour in front of their office. Had to share it somewhere. what do you guys think? I ended up hand cutting everything with a plasma, then using a dynafile and dremel to clean up the insides of the letters.  The guy originally wanted sheet metal for the backing but I thought I beam would add a lot to it, considering it's a home building company and he wanted something about his business incorporated...  And I haven't seen anyone else use this idea , so maybe it'll stick out pretty good around here for a while..til I get ripped off a thousand times and we see them everywhere. heh...Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:I can't quite put my finger on it, but things look a little crooked in a couple of spots- but I squared every single letter, and had a piece of angle running along the bottom to keep everything on the same plane.... Might cut a couple of them loose and eyeball them so they look better, damn what math says.Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:Your S and maybe the C are crooked , the strait portions should be 90 degrees to horizontal. Also rounded letters, C , lower case e, O, U, S should be slightly taller than block style letters , F,K, M etc.
Reply:I think you did really well, considering done by hand!  I'm old school with this, not everybody has this talent to do this, most are done simply by pushing a button.
Reply:KGS steel, Loftis Steel, Oneal Steel all will cut customs for you.  Regal plastics will also cut.  I imagine there are more, however those are who I have dealt with.  Good luck.It looks pretty good,  as long as the client accepts it.Last edited by tapwelder; 12-25-2014 at 07:10 PM.
Reply:"T" needs straigthening.
Reply:Thanks, guys.  I'll zip a couple of them off and do some straightening.  Hopefully I'll be able to get it done tomorrow or Saturday.   Tapwelder, what's pricing look like on getting stuff like this done?  This is the first sign I've done, so I priced it probably a lot lower than I should have, but I only have maybe 45 dollars in the build, so I'm not too upset about it.Millermatic 211 Miller Blue Fire 140@swiftwelding on Instagram
Reply:Don't sweat getting ripped off as your material choice has already been done a thousand times, probably a thousand time annually. Bang for the buck, i think the sign looks great. The letters are proportionate to the space provided them. Being the letters are handcut, I think VERY VERY slight misalignment is allowable.