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Opinion 3D Printed Channel Letters
- Thread starter Brad147
- Start date
CanuckSigns
Active Member
Not to mention time, 3D printing is excruciatingly slow, you would need weeks just to print a single job!
Don't get me wrong, I love 3D printers, I bought a small one for use around the shop to print jigs and fixtures, but if I had to charge machine time on it a simple print would cost thousands of dollars and be lower quality than something from the dollar store.
There might be some viability with a resin printer, I can't say how well it would do for outdoor applications, but perhaps on smaller interior jobs. No matter what method is printed, some finishing will be needed. And any printer will need a set up of it own, such as ventilation and curing. Something like a Elegoo Jupiter perhaps.
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
I don't mean this to sound rude or directed toward your efforts, but the democratization of technology has not done any favors to the ones who have little experience in any given area of expertise.
Again, no offense to you...the only ones who benefit here are the machinery manufacturers.
Granted, we need movers, shakers and innovators. And a lot of times they are the ones who come with no pre-conceived notions, which is "sometimes" good. But in your case, it's the manufacturers who profit from the equipment, and the sellers of consumables who ultimately win...especially with crafters.
I attended a "craft" show last weekend that featured approx. 200 vendors. I counted no less than four people with 3-D printers, and about a half dozen vendors with lasers. There was also a half-dozen or so doing the dye-sub gig.
All said, there was a lot of (very similar) crap and other ticky-tack stuff, and very little seemed to be selling.
If you're old enough to remember, we're basically repeating the "Peeing Calving" and "No Fear" era that was so popular in the early 90s when vinyl cutters were finally democratized.
JB
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Even if it were economically feasible to print them, the UV stability and mechanical integrity of 3-D printed returns would still be problematic.
JB
JB
Owen Signcraft
New Member
In a few years when 3D printing has increased speed and quality (and it's getting there quickly) I believe this will be the most popular and cost effective way to make dimensional signage. The material is a non-issue now as printers are able to use ABS and ASA with modifiers such as carbon fiber and glass. Just as strong as aluminum and completely UV stable (think: car bumpers, mirrors etc., all ABS plastic) Plenty of sign shops are already offering 3D printed letters. It's a matter of learning a whole new process and industry, so I get it. It's scary. But I believe 3D printing will be a staple of the sign industry very shortly.
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
3-D printing will only be limited by the physical properties of the resins they use, and that ultimately affects speed. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds.
JB
Last edited:
I did a little research on this. There's a company that it looks like is in Germany pushing this using printers being made or marketed by a company in the Netherlands. They are touting speed, efficiency, and being able to reproduce fonts. But when you try to look deeper what you find is that the same company is trying to sell 3D printers in multiple industrial markets simultaneously, and it's hard to find out any companies that are actually using the technology in real life.
As to durability, etc. they are using regular plastic spools for the printing; there is no special plastic being optimized for sign durability. On the other hand, maybe in northern Europe UV durability isn't a problem.
You have to wonder how this is all supposed to work. Stop drilling for oil but at the same time push making channel letters out of plastic rather than recyclable aluminum.
To the OP, I think you'd be better off looking into one of the automated channel letter bending machines.
As to durability, etc. they are using regular plastic spools for the printing; there is no special plastic being optimized for sign durability. On the other hand, maybe in northern Europe UV durability isn't a problem.
You have to wonder how this is all supposed to work. Stop drilling for oil but at the same time push making channel letters out of plastic rather than recyclable aluminum.
To the OP, I think you'd be better off looking into one of the automated channel letter bending machines.
Bradley D
www.jigsign.com
I've looked into this as well. You could order a set from Sign Fab called "Wowee" channel letters and see if you like or can sale the product first. I really only see disadvantages in using it but the future may hold a different story. I believe if you were okay with the layered or textured look for the return and were doing just doing mini channel letters it could work and you might be a step ahead of the game as the tech gets better. Keep me updated if you move forward with the idea.
JBurton
Signtologist
Totally doable, but when you can fab up an 2' tall aluminum letter in 15 minutes, $10 in materials, vs 150 minutes, sectioned out, $5 in materials, you just can't compete. (Obviously you have a great upfront investment in machines for aluminum, less so for printing) It'll get there one day, and is in fact viable at tiny sizes. A 2" letter is going to take a lot more care to fab out of aluminum, may show imperfections, and is challenging to paint. 3d printed could be printed with whatever color, is pretty well set and forget, and it'll mostly get all the details easily. Plus you have to consider life of the plastic. PLA is organic and breaks down pretty rapidly without a coating, which brings us to the paint booth, where with aluminum you could order precoated stock.
The best letter I did was printed onto 1/8" acrylic, then cut out with a router with a flush trim bit. It worked great, but it had .25" inside radi, was still subject to human shortcomings, and I had to preheat and clamp the acrylic to get it flat enough to take the filament with enough of a bond to not just fall apart.
The best letter I did was printed onto 1/8" acrylic, then cut out with a router with a flush trim bit. It worked great, but it had .25" inside radi, was still subject to human shortcomings, and I had to preheat and clamp the acrylic to get it flat enough to take the filament with enough of a bond to not just fall apart.
Owen Signcraft
New Member
On the subject of materials once again, the sign industry uses Polycarbonate and PET quite commonly for outdoor signage. These are also common filaments in 3D printing. Brad147 take a look at the Bambu Labs X1C Carbon. One of the fastest printers on the market right now and is very user friendly. It's also quite affordable when compared to any other piece of equipment a sign shop may have to buy. You could buy 8 of them for the same money as an automated channel bender.
The Bambu X1C can to 10"x10"x10". That's pretty limiting for channel letters. I have three channel letter jobs in the mill right now. None of them could be completed with that size limitation. The machines being touted in Europe for making channel letters are much, much larger.
JBurton
Signtologist
Never used ACM?
Owen Signcraft
New Member
For sure. And there are bigger and more capable 3D printers in North America to be certain. But for those who are just starting and not wanting to take out an equipment loan, the Bambu is a great choice for introduction to the 3D world.