Laser Engraved Waterfront Classroom Signs

This is phase two of a series of signs i have been making for Saint Mary's School in Hampton Virginia. The job started when I was asked to replace the very old ADA door signs in the school. Along the way i have been making exterior signs for the school, the first was a Victorian style post and panel that I made for the circle behind the school where parents pick up their children. I have shared pictures of this sign awhile back but today I added a small oval to the top of the sign.

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The second post and panel sign was the same design, this time it was for the new Waterfront Classroom that the school had built on the waters edge behind the school. The panel is 30" tall and 28" wide quarter inch thick Corian. After engraving and spray painting this is what it looked like:

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A few minutes with my random orbital sander and the panel is complete.

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The install started with digging an oversized post hole for the custom steel support I fabricated to fit the aluminum circular plate on the bottom of the post. This was done last Friday so the concrete had plenty of time to cure. Tuesday afternoon i installed the post and then the panel.

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As you can see I made a classic mistake, forgot to bring the large trim piece for the bottom of the post so another trip to the school is scheduled this morning to correct my mistake.

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Inside the Classroom I installed five donor plaques. These were laser engraved half inch thick Corian plaques that were 9.75" tall and 29" wide. The pictures of the donor plaques are horrible, a combination of the setting sun and my inexpensive camera provides less than acceptable photos but I will try to get better pics when I return to install the base for the post.

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The dedication ceremony for the new Waterfront Classroom is this Saturday April 12th, 2014. Jackie and I hope to be able to attend the ceremony, its really a hoot to be able to make signs for a school that my Mother attended in the late 1920's and that I attended in the late 1950's.
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Keith

That's impressive work.

Hey Keith, that is great looking work! I'm sure it makes it even better for the school to have been such a big part of your family heritage.

If you get another chance to shoot the donor plaques, just force your camera to do a flash even though it is in broad daylight and you will get better results. Try it!

Thanks guys,

Art I'll try your photo trick the next time I get the chance. I have a Canon Digital SLR that I will take with me on Saturday to get some better pictures.

If anyone is interested in the post and panel types of signs I found a company in Pineville North Carolina that is a great source. The company is called Ornamental Post & Panel and their contact information is:

www.ornamentalpost.com
Phone: 800-779-7947

They only sell to sign companies so there is a registration procedure before they will email you a price list and send a catalog.
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Great job as usual Keith! THAT'S how you make signs! Looks fantastic.

Thanks Steve,

I appreciate the kind words and i will post a picture of the decal you printed for me when I have it mounted.

Here is the final picture I took yesterday after I installed the base for the post.

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nice work Keith!

Thanks Tom.

Jackie and I attended the dedication ceremony for the Waterfront Classroom yesterday afternoon. There were several speakers and lots of people recognized for all of their hard work making this project happen. It's pretty unique for a elementary school to be on waterfront property and to have such a nice training facility. The students already have projects and experiments in the water so the classroom is well on its way as an educational facility.

Although Saint Mary's School is a private school the Waterfront Classroom was open last week to public schools in the area during their Spring Break and it was busy all week, its great to see a facility like this one shared openly and without any fees attached.

Those of you who are not familiar with the local area in the pictures of the Classroom you can see the entrance to Fort Monroe in the background. Fort Monroe is on an island at the entrance to Hampton Roads which is a body of water that includes several rivers that meet at the Chesapeake Bay. The City of Hampton and several other very old localities were protected by Fort Monroe. Hampton Roads was the greatest natural harbor in the known world when it was discovered which is the reason that both the Norfolk Naval Station and Newport News Shipbuilding are located here.

Considering my personal connection to Saint Mary's School and the fact that the City of Hampton is my home town I was pleased to be able to contribute to this project.
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