Small sandblasted signs with colors

[Drip Dry]

Anyone have a recommendation for sandblasted signs that are small and need to be painted. They are about 15" tall
My regular guy says he can't do it that small.

I had someone in California many years ago that did a great job on the small things but I can't remember who it was

Thanks

 

[Gino]

Need a picture of what you want.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Need a picture of what you want.

I agree.

If he is saying it is too small to sandblast, my question is why? Is he worried about the mask not sticking because the detail is too fine, could it be routed?

 

[J Hill Designs]

+1 - there is no sandblased sign 'too small' in my opinion (unless we are talking about type detail, and not overall size)

 

[Drip Dry]

Here's a picture of what I need.
Can all the colors be painted by the sandblaster.

 

[J Hill Designs]

its a bit hard to understand which parts you want blasted....

 

[SignProPlus-Alex]

Let me know if you want to go CNC routed way. I am MM.

 

[Gino]

That is not designed for sandblasting..... or even cnc. That's a digital print file.

If you want someone to blast that, design it in black - white - grey only. And no outlies. Then, you'll know what gets blasted/carved and can decide on colors later. To me, it looks like you'll have too many pieces too thin to be blasted. More often than not, you'll blast away anything under 1/16" . Painting it will be a breeze but 90° on that will be a nightmare. Cnc, not as much, but you still need to deferentiate the areas.

 

[Drip Dry]

I only have the jpeg now. I haven't redrawn it yet. I will redraw it and then show you what I need blasted.
Since I'm going to print the snake anyway, I could do the other colors in vinyl.
Do you think a combination of paint and vinyl would look bad ?

 

[visual800]

You dont wanna blast that you need to route that out of pvc. Its too detailed and too small

 

[Gino]

Mixture of sandblasting, paint and vinyl might look Okay, but I wouldn't do it. That's just me. Sometimes mixing your mediums works, but this is so small, it will probably not look good. I would just give it to someone with a laser engraver....... and be done with it.

 

[Drip Dry]

Mixture of sandblasting, paint and vinyl might look Okay, but I wouldn't do it. That's just me. Sometimes mixing your mediums works, but this is so small, it will probably not look good. I would just give it to someone with a laser engraver....... and be done with it.

Laser Engraver ? I know someone with one, but I'm pretty sure he's never done anything like this.

Do you think he should be able to engrave and give the sandblasted effect ?

If I can get him to do it, I would need to do the painting. What paint would I use.

 

[Gino]

No.

Let's go in another direction for a moment.

How and where is this thing going to be displayed ??​

 

[Drip Dry]

Hang on a wall inside the Firehouse

 

[Gino]

Okay then, have it etched onto 1/2" glass from behind, mount it to the wall with standoffs and forget the colors.

Without the color, it will have an understated elegance.

 

[Ghost Prophet]

Okay then, have it etched onto 1/2" glass from behind, mount it to the wall with standoffs and forget the colors.

Without the color, it will have an understated elegance.

+1 to getting away from color. 3/4" solid maple or red oak laser etched 3/8-1/2" deep, laser contour cut, and then clear coat will look pretty awesome as well.

 

[SignProPlus-Alex]

Just for fun of it. Lets make a same sign in different sign making methods and put some pictures for a public display
1- Digital print
2- Hand painted
3- Laser etched wood
4- Etched glass
5- CNC routed
6- Sandblasted
I will do CNC routed.

 

[Drip Dry]

I have a glass sandblaster friend that can etch with different dimensions. Some of his work is gorgeous.
Recently, we did some clear plexi with the back side etched and the logo on the front side. Standoffs on the wall

But the customer seems to be stuck on this sandblasting thing. We did a larger one years ago and that's why he's back.

We did discuss briefly about cutting down on all the detail.
If I eliminate the hose, hydrant and tools... I can start with just the Maltese cross and everything inside it. The snake can
still be a print. I think that would be doable. Just not sure what to do about the text "Vipers Nest"
I will need to talk to him first

 

[Marlene]

if you blasted the black and the green on HDU, the strokes of the letters may be too thin to look right or work. if you put a stroke around them to fatten them up and surface painted all the details, it might work. I have a company in NY that does our sandblasted signs. they aren't merchant members here so not sure if I can post the compnay in the thread

 

[Gino]

One last time.

So, I just put that into Illy. None of your cross members in your words will blast properly. Many areas are less than 1/16" while others are less than 1/32". In the sandblast world, those tolerances don't exist, especially when so much detail depends on those sizes. Whether you blast on HDU, wood or anything else, the edges will never match up for your digital print, either. It will look mighty wonky, especially again... if this is going to be viewed up closely. All the stripes and outlines will never work. All the detail is going to be lost and when all this comes together..... you're gonna have an ugly 15" sign.

You want dimension/relief, but you don't want to listen to reason, so do it your way and prove me wrong. I have nothing to lose. Even some hobbyist doing this in his little sandblast box with tiny grit is not gonna do this.

This is why in your first post, your sandblaster friend said, it's impossible. Engraving or laser cutting will work, but let the color off/out. At that size, the color won't look good, unless you keep it all one medium. Completely all hand painted or a digital print will work. Mixing too many mediums on such a small canvas is gonna look bad. Trust me.