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Go with ACM or 12mm PVC. 12mm PVC is an underrated material in smaller sign shops. For larger companies doing retail interior signs, it's one of the most popular materials to use. If cut some "washers" out of the waste material and glue it to the back, you can get very cheap but effective...

Theoretically, this is a simple question. Figure out how expensive it is to make a sign from start to finish both methods. Include labor costs. Whichever is cheaper should win. Obviously you should do a like for like comparison, as close as possible. To do a proper cost analysis you need to...

2 Flute or O flute bit is what you want. I'd go with a 1/8" or 3/16" bit typically. Bigger issue will be the hold down. .04" aluminum cuts fine in 1 pass with a decent machine. Holding letters down, especially smaller ones, can be tricky. If you don't have a really good vac setup, you're...

A lot of talk about design but people seem to forget signs also have to be practical. They should cover at least three of the: Who, what, where, when, why, and how. If you give me something that is aesthetically pleasing but doesn't tell me the story, it's fairly worthless.

You have two options. 1. Make a video and post it on Youtube or some other video sharing site. 2. Create an instruction pamphlet. If you don't want to do it, you can hire it out. You can post something on Upwork and likely get the job done for something relatively reasonable.

Getting away from vinyl (PVC) will only help the industry as it will make the material laser friendly (or at least potentially laser friendly).

Fabric Images in Chicago

Here's my guess: You selected the letters and did a profile cut going on the outside. The software cut the outside of the interior of the "o" and "a" instead of doing an interior cut. If you group the "o" and "a" in your router software, it likely would not have done this. This is why the...

I could argue that a distressed painted wall is fashionable. I can't argue in favor of a crappy patch job with mismatching paint. Rushing around to make the paint work would be worse of a decision than just installing the damn sign. If the paint is literally falling off the wall from the...

If you bring out your crew and you're all set to do an install. You take down a banner you didn't put up and magically it exposes a wall that needs painting, you're put in a pretty crap position. You can't just "fix" that paint. Chance of the colors not matching and looking like a crappy...

Exterior grade PVC works fine outside. I'd buy a sheet of 1" and a sheet of 1/2". Cut the shape out of 1" and texture it (if desired). Cut the raised border and letters out of 1/2". Paint and then assemble.

I'll point out a few things you need to know about having a sign business where the router is the focal point. 1. You need to know how to finish your work. Typically this means painting but can also mean staining. You'll find smart big retailers will often use standard white or black because...

Basically, make the letters match the template not the template match the letter. I get you can't do it all the time on every material, but I'm always confused why producers of letters don't let the cutting machine mark where the studs will go. It's so much easier that way. One trick method I...

He's from NJ. Because he said NYC metro area, that means North Jersey. I posted the prices for New Jersey. Typically you're looking on the higher end for that area. In Southern Jersey you're on the lower end typically. $17/hr is not a living wage in NJ. A 1 bedroom/studio apartment is...

That's why I asked. I wasn't sure if you were an ex-paint guy that's now a sign guy or a current paint guy. People pulling from knowledge from 15 years ago will often suggest oil based paint because 15 years ago they were very common. As we all know, latex is now the most popular paint to...

Serious question: Are you an active painter? When was the last time you were in the paint world? The reason I ask I had a painter in the other day and I was talking about latex and oil and long story short was: Latex is used for the vast majority of his work and on a few things here and...

Well run shops have a clear manager/leader who spend a good portion of their day just following up on projects and making sure everything is going smoothly. These shops get their work out on time and on budget for the most part. So while software and systems are important, making sure you have...

I never trust a customer to give me specs. Any time I do, I get in trouble. Find out what they want to do and then recommend the best option you can provide. Assuming it's for a non-permanent sign for exterior use, It might be clever to poor a concrete round with a green channel post...

I'll say it again: I still don't get why you don't sell the business. If you put it up for $50-75k (which is probably well under market value), someone would probably buy it within a month or two. Being able to support a full family in a difficult industry in a high cost of living area =...

Ghent?