Lighted sign...I think I can do this?

[Gino]

Some places yes and some, no.

First, if you're gonna use acrylic, have your distributor cut it. It's not fun to cut and you're gonna get a whole slew of ways to do it. Poly is a cinch to cut. Just ordered a full sheet this morning for a guy. That's how I knew the guy was wrong about the sizes he was referring to, earlier.

As for inspecting it. Here's the most common school of thought, however, not the law everywhere. If you see a problem and you don't address it or bring it to your customer's attention to have it fixed, since you were the last person in there, you should've fixed any problems and made sure everything is working properly before closing it up. Otherwise, it could be blamed on you, if in 2 weeks, 2 months or whatever down the road, something goes bad. It's called making a service call. Some places will only hold you accountable for what you work on, but in most cases, if you are working on the sign, you should have full knowledge of all things within.

In other words, if your car is being worked on for brakes and the guy sees your muffler is falling off or has a hole in it, he needs to at least tell you about it. If your dentist is fixing a cavity, but sees you have a cracked tooth, but not hurting you yet, he needs to tell you about it. You then have been alerted to the fact. Their jobs is fulfilled, but not if they don't tell ya. Ever leave an appointment of whatever and later you say, now why didn't that dumb fluck tell me when I was there ??

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I thought all cabinets required a big rats nest of wiring? The bigger the nest the better. Don't discard old ballasts, keep them in there and pile up new wires.

 

[Stacey K]

Some places yes and some, no.

First, if you're gonna use acrylic, have your distributor cut it. It's not fun to cut and you're gonna get a whole slew of ways to do it. Poly is a cinch to cut. Just ordered a full sheet this morning for a guy. That's how I knew the guy was wrong about the sizes he was referring to, earlier.

As for inspecting it. Here's the most common school of thought, however, not the law everywhere. If you see a problem and you don't address it or bring it to your customer's attention to have it fixed, since you were the last person in there, you should've fixed any problems and made sure everything is working properly before closing it up. Otherwise, it could be blamed on you, if in 2 weeks, 2 months or whatever down the road, something goes bad. It's called making a service call. Some places will only hold you accountable for what you work on, but in most cases, if you are working on the sign, you should have full knowledge of all things within.

In other words, if your car is being worked on for brakes and the guy sees your muffler is falling off or has a hole in it, he needs to at least tell you about it. If your dentist is fixing a cavity, but sees you have a cracked tooth, but not hurting you yet, he needs to tell you about it. You then have been alerted to the fact. Their jobs is fulfilled, but not if they don't tell ya. Ever leave an appointment of whatever and later you say, now why didn't that dumb fluck tell me when I was there ??

Finally back to this subject. He wants a full color print design. There is clear and white poly, which do you suggest with the full color print? Also, he just wants me to make the sign, he is going to install. I will still say something about the wiring.
Is Orajet clear with laminate appropriate for this? Thanks!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Yea, and put it on the white poly. Make sure to make a double pass of the ink.

If your customer is picky about color, you might want to make a sample. I have a small 1x4 lighted cabinet sitting in my shop that I use for samples. The colors during the daytime might not be the same as night with light shining BEHIND it.

 

[Stacey K]

Yea, and put it on the white poly. Make sure to make a double pass of the ink.

If your customer is picky about color, you might want to make a sample. I have a small 1x4 lighted cabinet sitting in my shop that I use for samples. The colors during the daytime might not be the same as night with light shining BEHIND it.

I have to order my prints out...I usually use Signs365. Will that work or do you suggest someone else?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I have to order my prints out...I usually use Signs365. Will that work or do you suggest someone else?

Yea that's who I use. They are double printed and do just fine. Just keep in mind that the colors are different, they don't PMS match on that type of vinyl. If color is important get a sample.

 

[Stacey K]

Yea that's who I use. They are double printed and do just fine. Just keep in mind that the colors are different, they don't PMS match on that type of vinyl. If color is important get a sample.

Great, thank you! I should be all set now!

 

[Gino]

Had a guy call me Monday about a 4' x 5' 2-sided electric sign. His one face blew out, fell and shattered. He called the shop who originally made the replacement faces about 25 years ago and they gave him a price to replace them. They're in California and the sign is here in southeast, PA. Shipping and whatnot added another $240, so he's just shy of $2 grand. He wanted me to exchange them. I went in Monday evening and the entire cabinet is falling apart. The bottom corners have more than 1/2" between the them and the tops look about the same. Two retainers ares gone and need to be fabricated. It has all fluorescents and he said someone told him the ballast is bad. I said til I would fix everything and bring the sign back up to code, he'd have about $3,500 in it, plus the faces he's getting from the other guy. I told him I could replace the cabinet and faces completely for around $5,800, but he pays for the permit. He told his insurance company and they agreed, since the sign is about 35 years old and not up to code, it would be in everyone's best interest to replace it. He's out $500 for the deductible, , but that was gonna happen anyway. Now, he'll have a 12" can, instead of 4" and all LEDs inside and will cost less to run and be brighter.

I refused to work on a sign in such bad shape and his insurance company agreed. It just doesn't pay to have things not right in a sign when you leave. However, in your case the customer is doing the work, so you're kinda safe from those kinda problems.

When you print to whiter translucent film, you lose about 25% of your brightness regardless of what the print will be. So, depending on the nature of the design, you might consider clear.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Had a guy call me Monday about a 4' x 5' 2-sided electric sign. His one face blew out, fell and shattered. He called the shop who originally made the replacement faces about 25 years ago and they gave him a price to replace them. They're in California and the sign is here in southeast, PA. Shipping and whatnot added another $240, so he's just shy of $2 grand. He wanted me to exchange them. I went in Monday evening and the entire cabinet is falling apart. The bottom corners have more than 1/2" between the them and the tops look about the same. Two retainers ares gone and need to be fabricated. It has all fluorescents and he said someone told him the ballast is bad. I said til I would fix everything and bring the sign back up to code, he'd have about $3,500 in it, plus the faces he's getting from the other guy. I told him I could replace the cabinet and faces completely for around $5,800, but he pays for the permit. He told his insurance company and they agreed, since the sign is about 35 years old and not up to code, it would be in everyone's best interest to replace it. He's out $500 for the deductible, , but that was gonna happen anyway. Now, he'll have a 12" can, instead of 4" and all LEDs inside and will cost less to run and be brighter.

I refused to work on a sign in such bad shape and his insurance company agreed. It just doesn't pay to have things not right in a sign when you leave. However, in your case the customer is doing the work, so you're kinda safe from those kinda problems.

When you print to whiter translucent film, you lose about 25% of your brightness regardless of what the print will be. So, depending on the nature of the design, you might consider clear.



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What's surprising is you actually got that insurance job. Most are just calling for a quote and never materialize for me.

 

[Richard2717]

Some places yes and some, no.

Just ordered a full sheet this morning for a guy. That's how I knew the guy was wrong about the sizes he was referring to, earlier.

Again,
Harbor DOES offer true size 4x8 clear as I stated before. I have included snips of the page as well as the email reply I got back this morning. If it is not actual size, they reference the actual sizes to the right.

 

[Gino]

Whatever Richard.................. I've been talking white, not clear and so is everyone else.​

However, I asked the exact same question to the girl I talked to and she said yes, it's a true 4' x 8'. I said, so when I get it, it's 48" x 96", and she said no, it's 52" x 100". You'll have to cut it to your exact specs. We just call that our 4 x 8 sheet. I never inquired about clear, as it's not even available at the moment in that thickness.

 

[Stacey K]

All finished up. I was very nervous that it was not cut perfectly, I guess I'm not sure if it was, but he installed it with no issues LOL Thanks for all the help, the customer sent me a text at 10 pm stating that he loved it!

 

[Chriswagner92]

instead of doing a double pass, I like to do a single pass on clear, then do another single pass, but mirrored second surface. This way the colors are right during the day and don't get blown out when backlit.

 

[Gino]

All finished up. I was very nervous that it was not cut perfectly, I guess I'm not sure if it was, but he installed it with no issues LOL Thanks for all the help, the customer sent me a text at 10 pm stating that he loved it!

​

 

[Billct2]

looks good, thanks for following up with the result, wish more would do that

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Looks great

 

[signage]

All finished up. I was very nervous that it was not cut perfectly, I guess I'm not sure if it was, but he installed it with no issues LOL Thanks for all the help, the customer sent me a text at 10 pm stating that he loved it!

Looks fine and also good to see someone follow up!