Corian Door Signs With Windows

[Keith Outten]

My latest request for door signs involved adding windows for staff offices so the information on the signs can be changed. Traditional side loading signs don't work with the style signs we use at CNU so I came up with this design which I think works better for our application.

The first picture is a completed sign with a window that loads from the back side. It has a piece of blue ADA substrate plastic that has been painted an ivory color, then laser engraved, sandwiched between two pieces of clear acrylic.

The second picture shows the new window design (without the insert) beside one of our fixed sign styles.

The third picture shows the new window sign setting in a jig I designed and built to hold each plaque so I could route the round-over on the window edge. The jig is made from 3/4" thick Corian. Note that the top and bottom edges of the sign blank hang over the jig so the blank can be removed easily.

The fourth picture shows how the jig works. It has three levels. The top edge fits inside the recessed area and provides an edge for the router bearing to ride on when machining the round-over. The second level is where the plaque body rests in the jig. The third level is inside the center area, it is 1/2" deep and provides space for the bearing under the router bit.

It takes about 15 seconds to put a sign in the jig and route the window edge. No clamping is necessary and I use a Bosch Colt trim router with a 3/16" roundover bit.

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[Keith Outten]

These are white Corian signs that we use in our residence halls.

[Mike Null]

More creative and outstanding work. Thanks for the pics.

[Adam Stone]

Hi Keith,

Do you use a CNC for some of your sign work or is the setup and maintenance prohibitive?

Thanks,

Adam

[Scott Shepherd]

Really nice looking work Keith, thanks for sharing. Very clever idea and clever jig as well.

I've got to get down there and see your shop at work one and all that you do one day. Lunch is on me!

[Keith Outten]

Adam,

Yes, I use a CNC router for door sign work. The sign blanks are cut out of Corian sheet on the CNC, the ones with windows are cut from the back side after I machine the keyholes then the sheet to flipped so I can machine the vcarve contour detail and do the final perimeter cut. The text and graphics are done with a laser engraver.

These signs were made in the shop at CNU but I have more capability in my workshop at home. Working on techniques for new projects is almost always done in my shop before I do production runs at CNU. Our sign shop staff at CNU is just me, I design, fabricate and install. I purchase materials, tools and equipment and I am in charge of keeping the shop clean

Scott, you are welcome to visit any time. I hope we will get the chance to talk shop at Angus's get together in early May. It's been awhile since we met at Ed Lang's ShopBot Camp. I have been trying to spend some time learning to use the new Aspire 3D software, it would be much easier if I was ten years younger
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[Angus Hines]

......LOL.....And you do all of this with no money too.

I purchase materials, tools and equipment

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[Keith Outten]

Angus has visited my sign shop at CNU, thats why he made the comment about me making signs with no money

I have to admit that the State funding has been cut to the bone so I have to do a lot with very little in the way of tools other than the two big ticket items (CNC Router and Laser). The up side is I don't have any problems purchasing materials since they are charged to the job....but I can't get a battery drill, a ladder or any other type of small tool

Can you imagine a sign shop without a table saw, band saw, drum sander, spindle sander, etc? I have a bench top drill press, my home made router table and a 24" by 48" work bench. In spite of the limitations I make hundreds of signs every month

I watch every penny and use every piece of scrap
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[Bob Cole]

Those look great Keith. Very impressive on the jig.

My last sign job that I was trying to use Corian on just didn't work out for Corian as there were only 10 signs and they were looking at a color that I would probably never sell again so I just used acrylic.

It looks like you mostly use white Corian. How do you handle someone who wants a quantity of signs that will not cover the cost of the sheet?

Also, I saw one of your early posts and there was mention that you might wholesale precut sign blanks. Have you considered this anymore?

[Keith Outten]

Bob,

Don't forget that you can paint Corian any color your customer requires. Corian holds paint very well whether its oil or latex. I spray them and brush paint the details if I need to to get the necessary color scheme or inlay engravers plastic for raised details. I cut some 8" tall letters from 1/2"Corian for a building entry sign a couple years ago. I used scrap Corian from a sink cutout that was an ugly color, painted the letters gold and hung them on the entry......total cost of the job was twelve bucks for the stainless steel fasteners and a can of spray paint.

If you have enough volume the problem of buying full sheets isn't a factor. Almost all of the signs at CNU are either Glacier White for the residence halls or Vanilla for everything else.

Assuming you only needed ten signs and the customer agreed to a price of $65.00 each the billing would be $650.00. The cost of a full sheet of Corian in my area is $260.00 so I can still turn a profit and have enough material to make 50 more door signs. In volume you can drop the price as low as $45.00 each and do well once you get the time per plaque down by working on your technique.

I can make sign blanks for you guys if you need them and ship them ready to engrave. I recently sent Mike Null a box of Corian plaques via UPS. I can provide you with the Corel Drawing and an alignment template for your engraver bed. Contact me via email or Private Message, I would appreciate the work for my helper, he can paint contour lines and sand plaques for you as well. If you have your own design that's fine, we can accommodate just about any sign or plaque design you need. A ShopBot can make more sign blanks in two days than I can process the rest of the month by myself. If you can purchase the design that I make in volume the price is much cheaper than a small custom run.

The reason I concentrate on making Corian signs is that it gives me a competitive edge against other sign shops in my area. Its profitable work, especially if you choose to do large commercial jobs like schools, hospitals and new construction projects where there is volume. Visit a local Architects office and show them a Corian door sign right beside the traditional acrylic signs and tell them the price of the two is comparable. You know which one they will pick up every time....and they can sell them to their customers

Here is a great marketing tip that works for some customers, especially colleges and universities. A Corian sign with two keyholes machined for hanging will save them money year after year. When I install signs in any of our residence halls I use a dab of construction adhesive between the two keyholes. Students who frequently acquire signs as souvenirs can't remove them from the wall. We were losing almost $7,500.00 worth of acrylic signs per year in just one residence hall at CNU. I replaced them all with Corian signs and haven't lost not one sign in three years. Multiply the savings by six large dormitories and you can see how it helps to sell Corian signs

I took my youngest daughter to JMU in Northern Virginia a couple of years ago for a four day band camp , there wasn't one sign in the dormitory my daughter was assigned, even the rest room signs and stairwell signs were gone. I know this is a huge problem for other colleges as well and it is an expensive loss.
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[Steve Stram]

Keith,

I have been working with Corian and other solid surface material for a little while now and find it amazing. No router burn on the edges and doesn't chip. Problems are the fine dust and learning to respect the sharp edges.

Couple questions though:

What methods do you use to hang or attach signs? I don't consider the material adequate for just screws and have read that the temperature / humidity difference between the metal screw and solid surface don't complement each other. I am using epoxy to mount MDO to the rear that is used for mounting.

Why do you laser the front detail? I route the detail, then sloppy paint the areas and use scotch brite pad to remove the surface paint.

Lastly, my source for the solid surface has been spotty at best. A shop went out of business and I was able to buy a lot of "pieces" that were probably sink cutouts. Good point is that the color selection is wide, but also I can't commit to any job requiring a lot of the same color. I have a tax number and DBA, but not an LLC or the like. Would Dupont, Wilson Art or others allow someone starting out like me to buy?

Attached are some of my latest endeavors, garden signs. I sell with a copper tubing stake on the rear, but need to epoxy MDO first. Can make picture of that later.

Steve.

[Keith Outten]

Welcome to The Creek Steve,

Nice work on the signs. One of the best features of solid surface material is that you can machine a keyhole for hanging. It costs you nothing and you can use multiple keyholes if you need to based on the size and shape of the sign. There is enough slop in the keyhole to allow for thermal expansion between the screw and the material if you select the right size fastener. Look at my post number one above, the last picture, you will see two keyholes routed in the back side of the door sign. Get a keyhole router bit.

When I make ADA door signs I machine the keyholes first, then flip the sheet over to the front side to machine any details and cut them out. For one of a kind signs you can make a simple router jig using a guide bearing to put keyholes on your projects.

I laser engrave and CNC route signs, the machine I use is based on the job requirements. ADA signs require precision holes for the braille and inlay material that is easier to do with a laser. It can be done on a CNC router as well but I can engrave very fine detail logos with a laser beam that is 0.004" in diameter. All three of the large signs I am working on in my shop right now are routed inlay work but I am cutting the acrylic inlays with my laser engraver so the edges will have a mirror finish.

If you want to get certified to purchase Corian from a Distributor visit this link:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65214
You can purchase Avonite and other solid surface materials without a certification. Dupont only requires you to have a business license for sign work.

I recently made a connection with Atlantic Plywood in Richmond Virginia, they are an Avonite distributor as well as other products like Color Core that are great for sign work. I'm looking forward to using some of their material in the near future but I doubt that any material could take the place of Corian in my shop. I started out using sink cutouts and have about 10,000 pounds of the stuff stacked behind my shop. These days I purchase full sheets almost exclusively and use the sink cutouts for small jobs, jigs and fixtures.

I never am concerned with the cost of solid surface material. The cost of the material always comes back to me many times over and almost every piece is used no matter how small. Concerning painting I often either spray paint or paint with a foam brush...without using masking. Most of the time I scrape the excess off with a razor blade knife then sand the surface with my ROS which leaves pristine letters and graphics and it is FAST which saves me time which more than pays for the material. Assuming I had six inches of material left on the end of a sheet, if I make 10 desk signs and sell them for $20.00 each it almost pays for the entire sheet of material
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