Anyone tried making their own acrylic awards ?

[Mike vonBuelow]

Just got to thinking, it would be cool to make some custom / unique shaped acrylic awards using resin... has anyone else tried this?

Success or failure stories?

Or is it just worth it to buy from a wholesaler?

[Joe Pelonio]

Well resin is normally Polyester or Urethane so it wouldn't be acrylic awards. I have used casting resin many times in the past, though never tried engraving it. Mostly for encasing things like gold nuggets or bugs, and for burl tables and clocks.

I'd guess it would be a muddy image when engraved, like extruded acrylic, only worse, but I hope someone has tried it that can tell about it.

[Mike vonBuelow]

Hmmm, I was thinking this stuff looks clear -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Wp9CmSKFY


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Wp9CmSKFY)

[Rodne Gold]

You can be creative with ordinary acrylic sheet .... look at what I do.
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/custom_acry_large.htm

[Mike vonBuelow]

nice stuff, you may have a point :)

[Mike vonBuelow]

just hear back from TAP - they concur with the "it may not laser well" statement

[Chuck Stone]

Hmmm, I was thinking this stuff looks clear -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Wp9CmSKFY
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Wp9CmSKFY)

not my favorite stuff to work with.. tends to be brittle and chippy.
If you're looking to clear cast, try Silmar-41. Warm it in a pan of hot
water before adding catalyst.. that will thin it out and help clear any
air bubbles.

[Martin Boekers]

I have a handful of pieces I designed and cut from cast acrylic sheets. I keep a good supply of black and clear 3/16" & 1/4"
in stock. That way if a client needs a custom piece or shape I can produce it relatively cheaply and quickly. I also keep black
1/4" bases in stock from 2"x5" to 2"x9" I get these from Huang Acrylic. I can laser a slot quickly in this to hold the acrylic cutouts.
It's amazing what you can produce with a bit of creativity. For me I think if someone offered a DVD with vector designs they could
sell quite a few. Esp to smaller shops. With an assortment of acrylic sheeting a variety of bases you could make hundreds and more
unique items with VERY little inventory! Think of the savings and possibilities!

[Joe Hillmann]

I have a handful of pieces I designed and cut from cast acrylic sheets. I keep a good supply of black and clear 3/16" & 1/4"
in stock. That way if a client needs a custom piece or shape I can produce it relatively cheaply and quickly. I also keep black
1/4" bases in stock from 2"x5" to 2"x9" I get these from Huang Acrylic. I can laser a slot quickly in this to hold the acrylic cutouts.
It's amazing what you can produce with a bit of creativity. For me I think if someone offered a DVD with vector designs they could
sell quite a few. Esp to smaller shops. With an assortment of acrylic sheeting a variety of bases you could make hundreds and more
unique items with VERY little inventory! Think of the savings and possibilities!

Any pictures of the cut out awards? It does sound like a good way to be able to offer hundreds of designs of awards that can be done the same day they are ordered.

Edit: On second thought I just looked up the price of trophies, there are some online companies that can do the entire trophy and engraving for cheaper than I would do just the engraving.

[Martin Boekers]

Any pictures of the cut out awards? It does sound like a good way to be able to offer hundreds of designs of awards that can be done the same day they are ordered.

Edit: On second thought I just looked up the price of trophies, there are some online companies that can do the entire trophy and engraving for cheaper than I would do just the engraving.


Joe, most anything we do can be bought cheaper on line. The one thing we can beat online pricing
is in service. Three times in the last month I have redid a piece that was bought online because
of price (actually about the same price as I charge when you factor shipping) One piece was damaged
and the other two typos. My clients then discovered what service means. I finished their pieces by
the next day so they had them for their event. They now buy from me! Online shops couldn't fix
them in time. Online also typically limits what you can engrave. A few lines and limited graphics.

You'll see some vendors such as JDS now have "Snap" pieces so the acrylic snaps in a base, still you
have to use the couple styles.

Here are a few than I had posted before, I'm not at work so I'll post some others when I get a chance.
Look at Rodne's link you'll see how he works it to his advantage.

Tom Bernhard does pretty well with his designs for wood cutouts. I still think a good designer could
put a package together like "Buzz" did and it would be very popular.

On the arch with the black base (I designed the Arch for the pen set and made a gift/award item from it)
I have under $10 in material for the small one (7"x7") I sell that for $45.00 takes about 12min to do.
I have and 8"x8" and a 9"x9" that are $55 & $65 I have sold almost 150 of these in a few months. It's
been real popular as it has the St. Louis Arch with in it. Why these sell is cost plus nothing can be found
online like this. Every city or community has something that is recognized with them, come up with a quality
design and piece they will sell.

I do keep an extensive inventory, it does cost $$$ though, but the return it brings pays for it. I turn around jobs
in 2-3 days many in a day because of what I carry in stock. Local competition doesn't offer the quick turns.
I definitely will be designing more and more of this type of work as it multiplies the products I sell and these
aren't available from any vendors we all use.