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Giant Channel Letter Type Cabinet

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miguelon.lizarraga

New Member
I have a customer who wants a channel letter type logo cabinet. I have no clue where to begin, since acrylics dont come that big, and if they did, I would be hesitant to put it on his cabinet.

Not sure how you would put on flex face and a trim cap...

Any suggestions? This is the exact shape of the logo, which will be lettered with translucent vinyl.
 

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andy

New Member
Does the whole shape need to be backlit?

Could your customer live with a fret cut lighting effect?

The easiest and strongest way to produce that size and shape is to make the whole thing out of 2B stainless steel with apertures for lettering, logos etc. Cut from stainless, assemble, add side return, paint and then install plexiglas lenses behind the cut outs.

You won't have a conventional back lit sign- only the plexi filled cut outs would illuminate. If you wanted to you could put lighting in the back of the "can" to project a halo/ perimeter light around the outline of the whole shape- combining face lit lettering with a halo lit panel shape would give you a pretty neat looking sign.

As far as acrylic goes I think you are right to be cautious... the biggest single piece sheet we can get is 3m x 2m and I seriously doubt US style trim cap is man enough to support the weight, plus it'll bow like mad.

Flexface- I think the shape you need would be pretty tricky to tension properly.
 
Rick

Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
I was thinking similar to Andy.. in the simplest terms, rout out face on cabinet...

The client can "suggest" anything, that design says otherwise. It can be done, but should it... also depending on the graphics, flex face may have alignment problems (especially if the design has on outline that follows the border) when stretching it.
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
Simple, build a deeper cabinet, rivet the flex face to it and have access panels for the lamps and ballasts. Or, a pan face with a McDonald's join, depending on the design.

From your post this sounds like it is over your head, pass on the job if you don't have the right equipment and skills to fabricate and install such a sign. Something that big is going to weigh at least several hundred pounds, does you shop have a hoist to even begin to do it?
 
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marcinito

New Member
Challenge is to thermoforming this face, depends on what is on, shapes embossed areas etc. First I would engineer the whole structure with proper survey to know exactly what you are getting into.Finding a place that does thermoforming and ask about their suggestions. I’m guessing someone may have huge thermoformed and material you can get of the roll. With that being said, seams in this face are inevitable. Retainers and inside rings you would cut on your router to the shape of this logo. Is this sign going to be
illuminated with lamps or LED or neon ? servicing this sign has to be taken into consideration. I would definitely get sign engineer involved to get better idea.
 
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miguelon.lizarraga

New Member
Definitely. I spoke with a couple and said that we could not form the face. Would have to be flat lexan of some sort...

marcinito said:
Challenge is to thermoforming this face, depends on what is on, shapes embossed areas etc. First I would engineer the whole structure with proper survey to know exactly what you are getting into.Finding a place that does thermoforming and ask about their suggestions. I’m guessing someone may have huge thermoformed and material you can get of the roll. With that being said, seams in this face are inevitable. Retainers and inside rings you would cut on your router to the shape of this logo. Is this sign going to be
illuminated with lamps or LED or neon ? servicing this sign has to be taken into consideration. I would definitely get sign engineer involved to get better idea.
Click to expand...
 
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marcinito

New Member
Sounds much better than thermoformed face. you can get this size lexan no problem but this face may sag in the middle. Screwing your face to the outside rings will be required. Servicing this giand without proper design will be a nightmare. Is it illuminated with lamps or LED's ?
 
Wes Phifer

Wes Phifer

New Member
Why couldn't they form it? Size? There are several that can form that big. You are correct it would need to be screwed to the outside ring. Service doors. It will take a while but it can be done.
 
Westcoast Sign Guy

Westcoast Sign Guy

New Member
jhilldesigns said:
...neon would be the worst imo
Click to expand...

How so?

His location is very wet and damp, very tropical. LED's would die with the extreme climate and moisture, fluorescent lamps are affected on the amount of starts and you would have to replace the whole cabinet every 18 months to 2 years. Do a good 15/13mm Tri-phosphor white grids, load them up properly and you'll never have to worry about service for a decent score at a minimum depending on how good the processing was.

You are looking at a industry proven 15-20 year lamp life
 
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