WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was only seven years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research I quickly found out that with the relative simplicity of EnRoute, CNC routers were capable of just about anything imaginable. This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as we continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful software... -dan

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Finishing the edges with texture

I've shown how to make texture on our projects many times on this blog. What it possible is limited only by your imagination. When the texture runs all the way to the edge of your project it's time to do a little hand work.  In our shop we insist that the edges of our signs look as good as the front face. In our current project almost all of the signs can be viewed from all angles. Sculptural elements that are part of the sign take things over the top so all parts and sides of the signs need to be property finished with texture.

The Crow's Nest sign sports a heavy and deep cartoon woodgrain. This woodgrain is flipped on the back meaning the two sides line up nicely. I spent about twenty minutes with our air powered die grinder carving the heavy grain through the sides, bottom and top. Because the grain lines were so broad on this piece it was a lot less work than if it was fined grained. Even the 30 lb board works easily, especially with powerful air powered tools. Those few minutes with the die grinder really make a big difference.




-dan