This is the first of three identical directories I have been working on lately for McMurran Hall at Christopher Newport University. I hung this one today, the other two should be finished in the next couple of days.
These are reasonably simple to make, they are basic flat work. Anyone with rudimentary CNC skills should be able to bang these out and make a few bucks. They are 46 inches tall and 28 inches wide made from 1/2 inch thick Tumbleweed Corian. The inserts are 1/4 inch thick Cameo White, the blanks were machined from Tumbleweed, I had to reduce the thickness of a piece of Tumbleweed to 1/4 inch to make the blanks.
The text was cut with a 60 degree vbit and I machined two keyholes on the back side for hanging, the rest of the machining was done with a 1/4 inch spiral bit. I machined the front side first so I could cut out the windows....then round over the window edges with a small hand held router before I flipped it over and cut the ledge for the inserts. You need the full depth of the material for the bearing to ride on to machine the quarter rounded edges.
The inserts are held in place with application tape, they are flush with the back of the sign so the wall provides additional/primary support. The inserts can be used twice, changes can be engraved or carved on the backside of the inserts. Changing the inserts is as simple as removing the sign from the wall and installing a new insert.
The three sails logo at the top of the directory are 1/4 inch thick Tumbleweed inlays that stand proud of the surface about 3/16 inch.
All design and toolpathing work was done with Aspire.
If you do a bit of Google searching for building directories the prices you find might just turn your head around
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