New Cutting and Fabricating project in Jim's Shop

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Normally I don't have the time to take on major jobs in my shop (Hypertherm and my wife keep me busy), however I agreed to design and build a good sized backlit sign for a local Auto Body business in my area......(just so happens that I need a few auto body jobs on my vehicles, and these guys are the best!).   Here are a few pics of this project, which is a 4' high x 12' long steel two sided sign with cut out lettering and LED backlighting. The front and rear panels are 3/16" steel which will be allowed to rust naturally on the outside, but are painted white inside (for light reflectivity). The sign will weigh about 650 pounds when done.....so I will use my excavator to pick it up off my fab table and get it out of my shop!  I'll post pictures as I get more done, and a final picture or two after installation!  The first pic is the existing wooden sign (rotting after after 35 plus years), the new sign will drop right on the existing brackets.Difficulties? Cutting a 12' long sign on a 4 x 4 cutting table (12' x 4' sheets of 3/16" are heavy!). With mu son helping we were able to reposition and index for two cuts (8 feet) then spin the material around (and the cut file) for the last 4'.   



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Last edited by jimcolt; 05-25-2017 at 09:25 AM.
Reply:Nice approach to supporting letter interiors Jim.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:When backlit and you have "stenciled" letters....I don't like the look. Hopefully these supports will not show as much!
Reply:Perhaps a naive question - but I presume you cut the interior of the letters out by hand with a torch, once you welded on the back supports?
Reply:I cut the lettering out with bridging to hold the inside pieces in place, then welded on the inside supports and cut the bridging out with a hand plasma. You can see the lettering as cut in the first two pics. If you look carefully you will see a mistake in my CAD drawing on one of the panels, fixed before I did the second!  Jim

Originally Posted by robster34

Perhaps a naive question - but I presume you cut the interior of the letters out by hand with a torch, once you welded on the back supports?
Reply:That's going to be a nice birdhouse.  Good job!My name's not Jim....
Reply:Sign looks like wood when it's all doneI still never understood how people index parts so well. Great workTorchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Birds, hornets nest, etc. It will need cleaning on occasion! One side of the sign will hinge down (about 300 lbs worth!) for cleaning or any maintenance of the LED's.

Originally Posted by Boostinjdm

That's going to be a nice birdhouse.  Good job!
Reply:Just wanted to make sure you saw it coming.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Its starting to get real heavy....





Reply:Awesome work Jim!Millermatic 211 w/Spoolmate 150Hypertherm PMX45XPWishlist:HTP Invertig 221
Reply:A little more progress.....simply have not had much shop time in recent weeks, the pesky day job is keeping me busy! Now to sand the faces, fabricate the electrical box and covers for sides and top, put it outside and get the rust / patina started.  If anyone is interested in LED's that can live in wet / hot / cold climates like here in NH....go to Sign Lighting World. Great products, good prices and incredible tech support for choosing the right LED's for your project.  These may even be too bright, however a dimmer module can take care of that...which we will determine at installation.  Jim Colt   Hypertherm



Last edited by jimcolt; 06-04-2017 at 09:38 AM.
Reply:Looks Good Jim. I'm not crazy about the rust idea, but the customer is the boss.________________________________Everlast PA140STEverlast PowerPlasma 50And no you can't Borrow them


Reply:The sign is ok...But I'm diggin the Kubota tractor... is that a B7200?Miller 211Hypertherm PM 451961 Lincoln Idealarc 250HTP 221  True Wisdom only comes from Pain.
Reply:Nope,  it is an L4310 .    Great tractor, I also have an RTV900 utility vehicle.

Originally Posted by John T

The sign is ok...But I'm diggin the Kubota tractor... is that a B7200?
Reply:

Originally Posted by jimcolt

Nope,  it is an L4310 .    Great tractor.
Reply:Hi Jim, curious why you didn't choose a weathering steel for the project if a rust finish was the goal?
Reply:The inside all needed to be painted with a flat white finish for good even reflectivity, as well as a rust preventative. Only the face will remain unfinished.  Also, I would have had to special order corten steel in a 12' x 4' x 3/16" plate size here in NH, adding substantially to the cost. My experience is that this P&O plate will start out (boosted with rust promoting chemicals) a kind of orange looking rust, then over tome will reach a deep brown. It is exactly what the customer wanted.   Jim

Originally Posted by weldinON

Hi Jim, curious why you didn't choose a weathering steel for the project if a rust finish was the goal?
Reply:Jim, you and your son did a great job on that sign. The customer should be very happy with it.Now if you ever plan on retiring you can make a few bucks doing signs.

www.georgesplasmacuttershop.comPlasma Cutter and Welder Sales and Repairs--Ebay storeTec.Mo. Dealer Consumables for the PT and IPT torch's
Reply:George,   My son moved to Colorado almost 3 years ago. I miss him in the shop, but it is just me there now! I don't do much paid work at all as the day job keeps me busy. This sign was a request from a friend that has taken over the family body shop...and needed to replace the decades old wooden sign with one that hopefully will last just as long!Jim

Originally Posted by mechanic416

Jim, you and your son did a great job on that sign. The customer should be very happy with it.Now if you ever plan on retiring you can make a few bucks doing signs.


Reply:Simple. Clean. Tough. Unlike the POS they had before. Good work.
Reply:That looks great!My "collection":Homemade Stick WelderVictor O/A TorchAC 225Ideal Arc 250HF 90 Amp Flux CoreHF Mig 170Solar 2020 Plasma CutterPower i-Mig 140EHarris O/A torchHF Dual Mig 131140STAlpha Tig 200x
Reply:When you put the power to it it, it puts it in a whole new light. Looks great!
Reply:Great job and thanks for sharing the pic's!!
Reply:There will be more at install time, sign is outside getting its "patina". (cost more than just plane old rust!).   JimAwesome job !!! As for the tractor with loader, it makes work soooooooooooooo much easier and safer too.