I am not really a one-man army, since we normally employ over a dozen full- and part-time employees at our two companies located across the highway from each other. But, when I go back through my files it is interesting how many sign fabrication jobs I tackle personally and get done with very little help from the crew. And to be honest, I don’t mind flying solo at all.
In fact, for quite a while I had two kids off to college, and working a whole lot of overtime seemed the only way to protect what retirement savings I had. Then, custom sign projects became my regular Saturday activity. This is often still the case today, because when I am not interrupted 30 times a day by phone calls, and customers who want to see the boss, I can actually get a whole lot done and I enjoy the work a lot.
This month I’d like to look at a couple of the recent jobs that were basically created one-man-army style, and go over some of the fabrication techniques that make these jobs make sense and make money, too.
First of all, over the years I have found that I have gravitated toward building nearly all of my individual custom sign jobs using metal, and have half my wood working tools in storage. And most all exposed metal will be aluminum, of course. But, fabricating with metal is easy, with basic welding and cutting tools, and done right, many of the jobs are even still quite light and can be installed without lifting equipment.
One of the ones completed recently was a custom sign for a local plumbing shop called Richard Parker Plumbing. This client wanted a nice sign, somewhat three-dimensional, but was opting to light it from the ground so no electronics would be involved.
Using his circular logo, I drew up a proposal that would present his name, phone number and even the address, on a tall monument sign with a steel structure, formed aluminum panels and simple cutouts. The final look would compliment his new building, install in sections without any real equipment, and last for years with all powder coated metal components and a concrete board covered pylon.
Also, this sign would involve a skill I was still working on, that is welding aluminum with a spool gun fitted to one of our wire-fed welders.
This was a fun job, and though the aluminum welding was a bit challenging (nothing serious, though, just spot welding), the whole process was just a tinker-toy puzzle that went together quite easily.
The structure for the pylon, which supported the entire sign, was built simply and from materials not often used in signs. That is, for lightweight strength, instead of using heavy c-channel or steel tubing for the main uprights, purlin steel 10” wide normally used in steel building construction was used. This metal comes primed already, is economical and lightweight but clearly strong enough, and that material was mated to some steel angle and square tubing to construct a simple framework.
The structure was built on our sign fabrication table, which is 6’ x 12’ in size, plenty large enough for this job. Even though it is welded on all the time, its top is made from thick particle board top, and things are often screwed to it to hold them in place while welding.
One handy tool we use for jigging up jobs like this, is a shop-made speed square, 12” x 12” made of .125 plate steel cut very precisely on a waterjet and welded with a lip all around like a smaller speed square. But this square can be tack welded, too; it can be screwed into the table top using holes in its wide lip, and is just a better item than can be bought at any welding supply. One of the photos shows this shop made square, and it is as handy as a pocket on a shirt.
The main structure was quite simple, and was cross braced for stiffness, but rather lightweight and could be lifted by hand, though I did have a helper when we got to that step. Fabricating the main logo panels, which were hollow and 2” thick, using our new aluminum spool gun, was the most interesting part.
Thankfully, all the welds were just spot welds that held the aluminum 2” wide stripping in place to form the edges of the round-shaped panels. Working by myself, it took less than half a day to have both of them assembled, and the ends welded into two large rectangular panels as well. Tack welding with the spool gun was fun, but that’s where my skill level ends with aluminum welding.
All the exposed metal parts on this job, made from .090 mill finish 5052 aluminum, would be finished by powder coating. But to remove all surface oils and oxidation, every square inch was buffed out with a fiber disk of the right grit size. The ones we use are made by Norton, maroon in color, and I believe they are described as A/O Med HS. These fiber disks do a great job on aluminum prep work, but are not too aggressive so they do no damage. They are the best thing we have found for prepping mill finish aluminum prior to painting or powder coating.
Two more formed aluminum panels were made to construct the part of the sign that would display the phone number, as well as a flat cut-out piece for the address number. All these parts were cut on a CNC machine (waterjet), and the cut file included small notches indicating exactly how they were to be formed on brake, no mistakes allowed.
When the parts were finished and prepped for coating, I did the powder coating myself at our WPC Services facility, easily borrowing the equipment on a Saturday.
Out in the field, the pylon unit was set in the ground in hand-dug holes, and several bags of concrete mix were used to make it permanent. The unit was to fit on very sloping ground, so one side and one leg was longer than the other to accommodate the slope. Full 4 x 8 sheets of Hardie textured concrete board were used for the skirting, and they too were cut on a considerable angle at the bottom. For non-masonry monument structures, this sheeting is really ideal. It is inexpensive, paintable, extremely durable, and many of our monument signs are skirted with this material.
The pylon was painted to match the client’s building, and the powder coated alum parts were installed one at a time, all lifted by hand as none were too heavy for manual lifting. Sheet metal work enclosed sides of the main elements, and a single 15” wide by 60” long piece of white .040 aluminum formed the “roof” that enclosed the top. A lot of the metal elements were secured by sheet metal screws, which had been powder coated to match the sign exactly.
That job was a fun job, and involved work done over three Saturdays, but many of the hand fabricated jobs I do aren’t that involved or time consuming. Another recent job I enjoyed doing from the ground up was for a local hair salon. Again, their logo lent itself to being cut into a shape, which was done in .125 aluminum sheet, a simple cutout, not formed. To provide a base to mount the sign on, a monument base was built of steel tubing, which would be covered with concrete board like the plumbing sign.
The dimensional unit the actual sign would mount to was formed from mill finish .063 aluminum sheet, made into a hollow box that would slide down over tubing stubs extending up from the base. It literally would just sit in place, and the sign face cut-out is secured to it with about 10 counter sunk screws painted to match. This hollow raceway allowed the sign face to protrude out from the base, but is totally concealed by the sign, at least from the front side.
One thing done to keep the public safe, and keep us from being liable, was to alter the sharp ends of the sign that extended out from the base. Since the sign face was only 1/8” thick, and someone might at some time bump into it, the exposed edges at end pieces were cut and secured in place. That doubled the thickness of the metal, eliminating a sharp and hazardous edge. Sign makers should consider safety issues like this at all times, for the sake of the public and themselves.
How awful it would be to work as hard as we do, to see all our income vanish because of an unfortunate accident and lawsuit. Working smart can be more important than working hard, and I know all about the working hard part.
But, at least our work is enjoyable, and if done efficiently and productively, and at times “one-man-army” style, it is profitable as well. That’s how it is supposed to work, anyway. And built-by-hand projects, like the ones shown here, are some of the kinds of work I enjoy, which keeps me out of trouble and keeps our commercial sign business healthy in the black.