Half assed step by step blasted HDU sign

[SignManiac]

Just finished three of these yesterday. The first pic is my design proposal for the client. The second shows the 2" thick HDU after the stencil is cut and the background was hogged out and then the outer profile cut to shape.

After that we sandblasted the background to bring out the natural texture of the HDU. We lightly sanded smooth the palm trees and moon in the background only. The palm fronds were left rough and textured.

Then we laid down three coats of the background color, a twilight blue. Then came the midnight blue for the palms and sailboat silhouette design. Once that was done we painted the shadow portion of the name black.

I then cut from 1/4" PVC a background for the red outline portion of the name Summer Wind. Once that was down, I cut out the name in 1/2" thick PVC with a nice soft round over on the edges. I painted the letters white and then came in from the bottom of the letters with a soft blended gold color. These were then stud mounted and glued all the way into the HDU material.

That's all there really is to it. So easy, a cave man can do it!

 

[300mphGraphics]

I wish I was a caveman. Beautiful and inspiring work.

 

[AUTO-FX]

awesome! what kind of paint did you put on that?

 

[SignManiac]

All Behr premium exterior semi gloss latex.

 

[signmeup]

Noice!

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

How long does it take for you to do this kind of thing?

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

great project...i wouldnt expect to see anything less out of your shop.

 

[J Hill Designs]

Thats an awesome step by step!

...and then came in from the bottom of the letters with a soft blended gold color...

brush or airbrush?

 

[signgal]

Not just beautiful work... very generous of you to share the process with us wannabees

All Behr premium exterior semi gloss latex.

you didn't mention priming... no primer?

 

[SignManiac]

I couldn't say. I don't track my time since I have multiple projects in the works going on simultaneously. I was lucky to find time to snap pics of this project while it was underway. I know the three of these would have been completed in a week from start to finish, but we did a bunch of other jobs in that same week all the while losing an afternoon to playing with the plane.

I'm sure you would get many different times from other sign makers depending on the tools and production techniques used to replicate these exact signs. I just know that with my set up and methods, I can turn around jobs like these pretty damn fast, but I've been doing this for very long time and have many shortcuts and tricks up my sleeve.

 

[schramm]

I have been looking for a wholesale supplier of sandblasted signage. Do you know someone that does that?

Beautiful work by the way!

 

[SignManiac]

Thats an awesome step by step!



brush or airbrush?

Actually, I used a HVLP gun. Not the best choice for fine control but I have a lot of experience over the years using airbrushes and commercial paint guns. Using the HVLP it took me ten minutes to hit all three sets of letters. Up close it isn't the smoothest blend but from the distance it will be viewed at, it looks great.

Not just beautiful work... very generous of you to share the process with us wannabees



you didn't mention priming... no primer?

Signgal, you can buy Behr premium that has the primer mixed in with it already. And besides, on HDU it isn't necessary to use a primer but I do recommend at least three coats to build up a good durable layer of paint.

 

[J Hill Designs]

Actually, I used a HVLP gun. Not the best choice for fine control but I have a lot of experience over the years using airbrushes and commercial paint guns. Using the HVLP it took me ten minutes to hit all three sets of letters.

yeah I guess thats what I meant...thats all I have on hand as well.

Thanks!

 

[SignManiac]

I have been looking for a wholesale supplier of sandblasted signage. Do you know someone that does that?

Beautiful work by the way!

I'm pretty sure there are wholesalers here on 101 who are merchant members. Give them a try.

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

I couldn't say. I don't track my time since I have multiple projects in the works going on simultaneously. I was lucky to find time to snap pics of this project while it was underway. I know the three of these would have been completed in a week from start to finish, but we did a bunch of other jobs in that same week all the while losing an afternoon to playing with the plane.

I'm sure you would get many different times from other sign makers depending on the tools and production techniques used to replicate these exact signs. I just know that with my set up and methods, I can turn around jobs like these pretty damn fast, but I've been doing this for very long time and have many shortcuts and tricks up my sleeve.

Well, roughly... about a week then? One/two steps a day?

 

[Service Sign Co]

Great looking sign.

 

[SignManiac]

Well, roughly... about a week then? One/two steps a day?

I suppose two days at the most but watching the paint dry is what really slows you down.

 

[Jillbeans]

Half-assed to you, Bob, is more like a full moon to most people.
Nice work!
Love....Jill

 

[Eric H]

Did you cut the sandblast stencil on the router when you cleaned out the background?

 

[SignManiac]

Eric yes I did cut the stencil on the router table as my first pass. I used an engraving bit then weeded out the excess, and then followed up with the hog out using an assortment of end mills.