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  1. 4x8 lexan face replacement

    If I were to be a one man show, it would be me and a boom truck. You can command a much higher hourly rate with a truck. When we rented lifts the rental was figured into the price. Now we still charge for the equipment but own it so we make more money.
  2. 4x8 lexan face replacement

    4x8 solo is easy. Sometimes you can just remove one side retainer and side the old face out and slide the new one in. If it won't slide take the top retainer off. Never remove the bottom retainer. A tow behind articulating lift can usually be rented for around $300. We used to rent them all the...
  3. another stupid story

    Sadly net 30 is something we just have to deal with regularly on the back end. We always require a 50% deposit even on small jobs to soften the burden of waiting for the final payment. Oddly enough the most common clients to have net 30 are national sign companies. You'd think they would...
  4. 3D rendering software

    SolidWorks may be able to do this. Its a bit pricey but it can make high quality renderings and animations.
  5. Sign Letter Track from metal?

    I've done wood tracks before for a menu board. It was just a strip of 1/4 ply with another strip wider than it glued and brad nailed to it. You could do this with metal pretty easily using a router or laser, or buying small bars of different widths and screw through them into the wood.
  6. What materials to use for an outdoor placard applied to a cement wall?

    You can use 3M VHB tape and some dabs of silicone. The silicone might leave some residue, but I can't think of anything else that will adhere well and can be removed cleanly. I would feel safer with a minimum of one tapcon. A few small screw holes in concrete can be easily filled and may do...
  7. What materials to use for an outdoor placard applied to a cement wall?

    How thick? 1. Aluminum with studs welded on the back. 2. Acrylic with studs glued or tapped. 3 ACM with countersunk tapcons. There are many good ways to skin this cat.
  8. Varisigns Channel Letter Bender and Welder

    The Lightweld is intended to be in its own room with an interlock on the door. We currently have it bypassed. I might see if I can find a better wire feeder for it. Aluminum wire really needs a spool gun or a push pull setup to not birdnest. I might be able to do some autogenous (no filler)...
  9. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    The router is terrible (Laguna entry level). The parts come out fine for router standards, but the laser parts come out with perfect glass finish edges. The best part is the acrylic doesn't move. I just set it on laser bed and even tiny parts stay put.
  10. Varisigns Channel Letter Bender and Welder

    We have a Lightweld laser welder and it sucks. The safety always triggers and it shuts off. So far it's a $40k paperweight. I need to spend more time with it and figure it out, but it's hard to find the time. We have an SDS bender and it's awesome. Fast, accurate, good customer support based in...
  11. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    I laser cut all my letters and use the cabinet face as a template to glue them to the backer. I avoid using the router if possible. It's slow, noisy, messy, can't cut sharp inside corners, and leaves a poor surface finish compared to the laser.
  12. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    I have yet to have any issues with the acrylic Coming in glued. I always use acrylic for the push through and the backer and acrylic adhesive. I have yet to find anything that glues well to polycarbonate. The glue can leave shadows on clear acrylic which is another reason I prefer the white.
  13. Question How do you prepare your install crew for an install?

    We use square coil and do surveys with pictures then add measurements to the pictures on coreldraw. The production drawings and site drawings are all produced as soon as we receive the deposit. The same paperwork and drawings are submitted for the permits.
  14. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    I always back my acrylic with acrylic and glue them together as they are all laser cut and not routed. The only thing I cut on a router is ACM and polycarb.
  15. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    Thank you all for the replies. I'll fire up the lasers tomorrow and make some samples for comparison and post som pictures.
  16. Good place to order printed flex faces?

    So I need two 12'x18' flex faces for a client and am struggling to find a good supplier locally (Utah). I used to use a shop called Ferrari, and they got bought out by signs.com. I called and got a call center in the Philippines that had no idea what a flex faces was. I called another local...
  17. White or Clear acrylic for push through.

    I have a customer who specified 1/2" clear acrylic with white vinyl applied to the faces for a push through cabinet sign. I have usually used white acrylic in the past so I don't have to apply vinyl. I would think white would be better because the vinyl won't get destroyed by the sun. That got...
  18. Installing acrylic letters

    Lords acrylic adhesive or 3M urethane body panel adhesive would be strong enough. I would put some VHB foam tape in a few spots to hold it in place until the adhesive dries and put the adhesive everywhere else. Yes they are big letters, but the bigger the letter the more surface area you have...
  19. Hard Substrate for outside image

    ACM is the cheapest option and would probably last longer than the print. Aluminum will last the longest. You can typically apply and remove several prints to the same sheet over its lifetime. It can be bought in several thicknesses such as .040, .063,.80,.090..125 etc. I wouldn't go any thinner...
  20. Rounding corners on Max Metal (ACM) sign panels

    The only routers bits with bearings I'm aware of are for wood. They are usually carbide, and should work fine for ACM. The proper tool would be to cut the whole panel with a CNC router.
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