CNC Router Makes Concrete Signs

摘要

A computer numeric controlled (CNC) router that cuts complex 3-D foam pieces used to make molds for concrete signs has doubled sales for Sign Art Graphics. Hand cutting foam with a hot wire limited sign artwork to 2-D extruded designs and simpler shapes. But Sign Art Graphics can accurately reproduce any design as a 3-D foam piece because the CNC router derives its cutting instructions from a digital model. This has opened up a huge new market to concrete sign makers who can now use much more complicated artwork. In addition to allowing more complex designs, this method is also faster than working by hand. "We can produce foam pieces, even for very large signs, in one or two days," says Giovanni Dimalanta, owner of Sign Art Graphics. Located in Walnut, CA, Dimalanta founded Sign Art Graphics in 1988 as an offshoot of another one of his businesses that specializes in selling architectural modeling supplies. In addition to selling modeling supplies, the business produced architectural models using a CNC router to cut 3-D foam models from customers' CAD files. Over the years, as word of the model building capabilities spread, projects other than architectural models presented themselves, such as props for a movie and a prototype of a new seal for Riverside County. Eventually, as Dimalanta began getting more requests for foam molds for signs, he decided to establish Sign Art Graphics.