Un conventional Channel Letter Concept

[Joe Crumley]

Do we have anyone who has made channel letters using either PVC or Dibond for the letter walls?

A few months ago I happened on a software program for CNC's that would place bending groves in flat stock. The way it worked was to set the type and the program made the file. The material we used was Dibond and it became apparent the table surface must be very flat in order to maintain the critical depth. We gave it a try and it worked perfectly but the dept of cut with such thin material was critical. Perhaps PVC would be a better choice.

I'm ready for more experimentation and would appreciate a little input.

Joe Crumley

 

[FS-Keith]

You wont be able to put a UL sticker on that

 

[Graffy]

Hi Joe,

I would be very interested in learning more about that software utility for use with my CNC machine.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[ddarlak]

You wont be able to put a UL sticker on that

so

 

[Moze]

It could be done, but why? If you put a face on it, you would never know it was ACM. If you didn't put a face on it, you would know it was ACM, but again, not sure what the purpose would be or what would justify all of the extra work. You would have to route a huge number of V-grooves to achieve smooth bends and would be pretty limited on how small of a letter you could manufacture.

Pretty curious what the benefit/purpose would be...?

 

[GB2]

Are you talking about making channel letters with a dibond face, dibond letter walls and an open back? There are a lot of interesting videos on YouTube that demonstrate various methods of doing this but none of them seem to focus on how you would attach the letter walls to the dibond face. They aren't using tabs like a conventional aluminum channel letter so I think the typical method would just be an adhesive of some type. What is your plan Joe?

 

[Gino]

You wont be able to put a UL sticker on that

Why not ?? Some of Gemini's are made that way and they can be stamped.

 

[visual800]

That doesnt sound like a good idea to me. Aluminum cannot be beat. But if you wanna experiement.....

 

[Joe Crumley]

Thanks fellows for the interest.

I've been bending both 1/8" and 1/4" pvc and it goes very well. A little heatgun assistance makes childsplay out of the basic process but the trimcap process isn't fun. At this time I'm making 8" serifed letters and using 1/8" materials with 4" returns for my first tests.

I have a semi large job in house that I'm planning on using this technique along with a 1/2" beveled plex background. See photo below as example of plex. I'm using Sloan LED's. I made a set of these a year ago without too much trouble. The client was happy.

Joe Crumley

 

[Gino]

That's incredible.


I'm gonna hire you to make mine. That is absolutely beautiful.

 

[Joe Crumley]

Thanks Gino. That's kind of you.

These are easy to make but it requires a router. I'm in the process of quoting a nice sized sign using this technique along with channel letter made with PVC. The best I can tell PVC channel letters are rare or new to the market. Since I have no metal working equipment or welders I'm headed in a different direction. So far it's been easy and fun.

The sample I've shown previously was to get the job shown below. Since time isn't on my side, I'm limiting some of my work. But not the fun stuff.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Very nice.
You are a fine example of a sign artist who uses his tools and imagination to create beautiful sign art.
Your work is inspiring to say the least.
Thanks for sharing it.
How are led's populated on the back of the letter pointin toward the plexi or vice versa ?

 

[Joe Crumley]

Thank you for the complement.

For those who aren't familiar with LED's they are about 3/8" X1.25" in size. Because they are so small it's possible to insert them in a .50" slot.

On these signs I route out a grove along the interior on each letter and there they go. It's seldom that I see letters with this effect and I often wonder why. They sell like hot dogs and I'm not in the electrical sign business.

Let me know if I can help.

Joe Crumley

 

[Moze]

Very nice work...

Reverse (or halo-lit) channel letters employ a similar technique. They're not as common as face-lit channel letters and I've never understood why. The look during the day is cleaner and at night it's a more subtle, cleaner illumination.

 

[Joe Crumley]

Moze,

Thanks for the reply. I agree this kind of sign is overlooked.

My client who ordered the "Reserve" sign requested a light wash behind the letters and fill front lighting. The problem was he also wanted a stacked stone wall for the letters to go on. As you know, it's almost impossible to get a good wash from stone. For that reason I offered the beveled plex option.

This was my first attempt along these lines. It's led me to several other jobs along this line.

I started out using Sloan LED's but now use GE's.

Joe Crumley

 

[Moze]

You bet! You might want to look into JT LEDs.

 

[Joe Crumley]

Mose,

I'll give them a look see. What is their advantage?

Because I'm making smaller letters it's important to have small LED's. These are placed in slots carved into the plex.

Joe Crumley

 

[Moze]

Good price, good warranty, good selection of sizes. Give Glantz a call.