4 Foot by 5 foot Corian Sign with Dye-Sub Graphcs and Laser Text

[Keith Outten]

This job came to me from the US Navy at Dam Neck Navy Base in Virginia Beach Virginia. Because there is dye-sublimation involved in this job the physical size became a bit of a challenge for my equipment so there was some outsourcing required to make this one happen. I should give credit to Conde for printing the large graphics, Halmarc Solid Surface Products for the beautiful seam work and to Norva Plastics for engraving the text on their large format Kern laser engraver.

The first picture (A) was a quick sample to check out my very old heat press. The press hasn't been used in awhile so I felt it necessary to make sure there were no problems with any of the heater coils. Got my 320 degrees after a 60 minute warmup and after 20 minutes in the press the sample logo looked pretty good.

The job was too large for my heat press so I decided to do the graphics one at a time. The 4 by 5 foot job was cut into 3 pieces of Corian with the edges prepped for glueing back together before they were placed in the press. Picture (B) shows the narrow top piece in the press to dye-sublimate the logo. In the foreground you can see the paper graphic for the flag on the center piece which was 29.75" by 60".

Picture (C) shows the top piece out of the press and the large center piece cooking in the press. Both pieces were placed in the press on top of a custom cut piece of plywood that provided support for the Corian end to end while it was hot and during the cool-down period.

Picture (D) is another shot of the top piece in the press.

Picture (E) is a bit fuzzy but you can see how the piece was clamped to the plywood backer. The blue tape provides the match-marks for the edges.

[Keith Outten]

Picture (F) shows finished unit logo on the top piece.

Pictures (G), (H) and (I) show the sign being laser engraved at Norva Plastics after glueing all three pieces and the black edges together.

Picture (J) was taken in front of my shop, the sign is ready for pressure washing to remove the dust from the engraved areas.

[Keith Outten]

Picture (K) shows the text after pressure washing.

Pictures (M) and (N) were taken near the end of the job just after the paint fill was completed. A bit of polishing is required to clean up the text edges using 3M Trizac discs, first pass dry and the last pass wet.

The final pictures will be taken on site after the sign has been installed.
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[Dan Hintz]

VERY nicely done, Keith...

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Dan,

This one was hard on the nerves as the Pearl Gray Corian is a discontinued color and my local Distributor was able to find only one sheet left in Roanoke Virginia. It took just about the whole sheet of Pearl Gray so one mistake and the job would have been in the dumpster. There is over $2k in material alone on this job so I was nervous the whole time about losing both my material costs and the fees from three other companies not to mention all of my time.

I can honestly say that this sign is unique in all the world, there is only one :)
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[Wes Mitchell]

Well done. Combining so many different processes into one sign is impressive.

[AL Ursich]

Impressive !!!!

AL

Retired Navy

[Bruce Page]

I think you misspelled DISCIPLINE!

Seriously :), that is very inspiring work, I would be scared to death with the installation! Do you see a Kern laser in your future?

[Sotos Patistas]

Where's the Braille? :D

Seriously though, awesome job Keith. Like you mentioned with all the potential points of failure and the cost involved, that's what I'd consider High Stress Signmaking.

[Keith Outten]

I contacted Kern to get a price on one of their laser engravers and they were kind enough to offer me a nice discount for a demo unit they had in stock. Sadly it was just too far from my shop budget this year. It really isn't that the price is so high for Kern Lasers its a different type of service and customer than I currently support. If I had the time to market new products and services I'm sure I could swing a new Kern Laser next year however I have my eye on a very large commercial project that is perfect for the Trotec Laser I own now.

I am also considering the purchase of a 4 foot by 8 foot CNC Router to replace my Stinger II before the end of the year. I would like to be able to do a few more of these dye-sub projects and CNC Engrave the text instead of laser engraving. Routing the text is less stressful then handing the project over to someone else :) I intend to keep my eye open for more of this type of work BUT I would prefer a smaller size project then this one.
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[Mick A Martin]

Very nice work Keith, thank you for posting this.

[Mike Null]

Keith

I'm just catching up with this but it is outstanding work and concept.

[Art Mann]

I love to read success stories like this even though I am nowhere close to doing it myself. It is an inspiration.

[Keith Outten]

Yesterday I installed the Corian sign, the bad news is that they did not allow any cameras or phones inside the facility and I had to be escorted the whole time. I was told to leave my phone and camera locked in my van.

It's been a long time since I was on a Navy base, the access is more stringent (3 check point inspections) and security was much higher than it was in my day. I can say that I was impressed with both the Civilian and the Military personnel, everyone was friendly and at the same time very professional. It was a pleasant experience in spite of horrible weather on the way to the base and horrible traffic on the way home. I received lots of nice comments about the sign and that made the long fabrication process much more enjoyable.
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[AL Ursich]

Thanks for the Update and "GOOD JOB".... or in Navy Speak... BZ or Bravo Zulu... :)

AL

FCC(SW) Retired

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Everyone,

This was a challenging job and I am glad it is delivered and installed. Mostly because of the weight of the finished sign, the older I get the less I enjoy heavy lifting. Secondly when you work alone if you hurt your back production stops.

Today I intend to finally purchase a lifting hoist for my shop, this is something I have been putting off for a long time as I have always been able to move things with little effort in the past. Occasionally jobs like this one come up and I wish I had taken the time to install a hoist so I don't intend to put this off any longer. No doubt Murphy's Law will kick in and I will never need the hoist but I don't want to take the chance.

I don't have any problems moving heavy objects to and from my shop, I have pallet forks for my tractor. I don't have any problems moving items inside my shop since I purchased a pallet jack but lifting anything heavy inside is where I am disadvantaged so I hope to resolve that issue today.
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[Brian Michael clancy]

looks great Keith!
You are a great example on what you can do with Corian.
I just got my new router so I'm starting to experiment with the signage myself.
keep up the good work.
Best
Brian Clancy

[John Bion]

Keith, this work is indeed stunning, thanks for sharing the complete process.
How would CLTT do on a job like this and would it be at all UV tolerant (for outdoor applications), using Corian as the medium?
Many thanks and Kind regards, John

[Keith Outten]

John,

Thanks.
I don't have any experience with the CLTT process. I started using dye-sublimation several years ago when Ken Dolph suggested that I give it a try when I acquired my first heat press. What I do know about Corian dye-sub is that when you heat Corian to the point that it is very soft the dye transfer will penetrate below the surface and thats why it is more UV tolerant. No other hard substrate that I know of is capable of sub-surface sublimation.

I really enjoy this technique and I'm still learning with every job. If I was a bit younger I would purchase one of the really big heat presses from Felder and market very large Corian dye-sub jobs because they are very unique and would be even more profitable. Since Conde has a 54" wide roll paper printer and their fees for printing are so reasonable the only expense on large projects would be the heat press.
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[John Bion]

Keith, Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I have done quite a number of corian signs following your previous posts on the subject and since I am looking at using CLTT on wood and acrylic (as I understand it: Dye Sub can’t be used without a pre-treatment on wood and acrylic?), I wondered about extending the possibilities on Corian. If I bite the bullet on CLTT, I will try it on Corian and post some results.
Thanks again and kind regards, John

[Scott Shepherd]

John, I wouldn't count on CLTT lasting that long outdoors. CLTT is on top of the material. I can take acetone and wipe it right off. Also, I'd be a little hesitant to say you can CLTT onto acrylic. That would be a "yes and no". Some, thicker acrylics, yes, thinner, not so much. Keep in mind, CLTT is still at 325F degrees, and the times are generally longer than Dye Sub. That means you'll start really softening the acrylic in the press at that temperature.

If your product can handle being heating to where it's soft, and you can get it out of the press and cooling flat enough, you might be able to pull it off. I haven't had any luck in trying it.

[John Bion]

Scott, I appreciate your comments, Thanks. The main reason for looking at CLTT has been to replace my old method of transferring Inkjet images onto wood (with variable results and wastage of time and material) However I had thought that using it on acrylic sounded good too, so thank you for that warning. Do I understand correctly that I would not be able to use dye-sub onto plain wood and untreated acrylic?
Thank you again and Kind regards, John

[Scott Shepherd]

Yes, that's correct, you can't dye sub onto either of those and at 400 degrees, I don't think you'll dye sub much acrylic at all.

[John Bion]

Thanks Steve (Scott).

[Mike Null]

John

Beside the temperature issues for dye sub you must have a polymer or polymer coated substrate.

I agree that CLTT would not be suitable for outdoor applications.

[John Bion]

Thanks Mike,
I have read a bit about UV affects on Sublimated Corian, with variable results and this a little time ago. What is sublimated Corian like outdoors? I hope I am not flogging a dead horse, sorry if I am.
Thanks again and kind regards, John

[Mike Null]

John

I'll have to defer to Keith on that one.

[Keith Outten]

John,

Nobody really knows what the average life span is for dye-sublimated Corian. I have had some exterior signs that have been in service a couple of years without fading but it will take more time to see how long they will last. I ran a test using FRP a couple years ago, they lasted about 5 weeks.

My first test of Corian was a sample that I placed on my truck dashboard for four months of Summer. I compared it to a duplicate I had on my desk at work and they were identical. Based on that I decided to make a couple commercial signs and watch them for a number of years.

[Bill Munroe]

Beautiful!