Laser Cut Letters on PVC Board

[Joe Pelonio]

This sign is 18"x60". I applied white vinyl to 1/4" white PVC board for the background. The white PVC yellows fairly quickly in the weather so should be painted or sheeted with vinyl for long term projects.

The letters are laser cut acrylic, the 1st two lines are 1/4", the bottom line 1/8". The acrylic is black, so the edges of the letters are black, the face of the letters are blue. It was done by spraying the acrylic with Krylon for plastic then after drying, transfer tape was applied, and the letters cut in reverse bottom side up. I used a plotter with pen in it to draw out the pattern for gluing them onto the board. That could have been done on the laser to, as I do on smaller ones, but in this case it would have had to be done in several pieces since my laser is only 12"x24".

I would like to see more members post a few of their sign projects here to give ideas to some of the newer sign makers.

[Mike Hood]

Looks nice Joe. I've been thinking of approaching a few local shops with some ideas to do light box signs like that. I'm guessing a laser could do some pretty nice stuff in the sign industry. I don't currently use mine for sign work, but there's definitely a nice look you've got there.

[Joe Pelonio]

Most sign shops do not have a laser, and have to buy cut letters from a wholesaler. That's where people like you can fill their need with wholesale work. I currently supply laser work for several other shops, though this one was for my own customer. I don't do large format digital imaging, but swap work with a place that does. I do their cut vinyl and laser cut acrylic, and we always seem to come out pretty even over the year.

[Mike Hood]

I've done a little work with a local sign shop, but I also do a fair bit of vinyl work (mostly boat names) and we're competitors in many ways now. I work as an engineer at Boeing by day, so there's also the part-timer syndrome.

If you ever need any wider stuff cut, lemme know. I'm up in Lake Stevens, but your welcome to come up and use mine. The table is a bit larger, but I've cut single pieces over 9 feet long with the pass-through doors here.

I do a lot of UAV (small unmanned planes) work for a local engineering firm and some of their stuff is cumbersome, but thin.