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Howdy from Florida
Such a useful board!
We basically bend acrylics to make combat helicopter windows and are in the process of manufacturing boat windshields. We have a lot in common with the sign industry and in the coming weeks we will be developing methods to edge polish as well as screen printing on acrylics that are later formed. We need all the help we can get on thses mysteries!
Machinerywise we have large ovens, a Eurolaser large format Co2 laser and the usual routers, strip heaters, etc.
All best,
Chuckie -
9 Replies
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Welcome, we dont get the words “hellicopter gunship” and “signs” mentioned in the same paragraph that much on these boards!! 😕
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big welcome from me mate.. 😉
thanks for making the “say hello” post mate.. i look forward to hearing from you more..
if we can give any advice at all.. please just ask.. we will do our best 😉
can i ask how you found this site mate? -
Hey thanks for the welcome!
I found the site while looking for a better way to polish cast acrylic edges using a Google search.
I read a couple of interesting posts on flame polishing and diamond abrasive polishing. The state of the art on both seems to be in the UK. however diamond polishing has the problem that it will do straight edges and not radiuses (radii?) I’ll place a post on the relavant section.
Helicopter gunships? nah! the politically correct term would be Forward Assistance Rotational Transportation (get it?) 🙂 -
Hi Chuckie and welcome.
Two questions…..
Whereabouts in Florida?
What is the climate for signmakers like there? Is it reasonably easy to make a living, or is there so much competition that it is a struggle?
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Hey Chuckie,
Welcome from down ‘ere. How did you get into your trade? Do you have to fit the screens, or do you just manufacture?
Lee
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Hi Carlos…a big welcome to the UKSG from across the pond… 😉
Glad you found us – and liked what you saw! – we’re pleased to see you here too. 😀
You’re just gunna have to put together something about those helo screens – it’s all ‘boys and toys’ here it seems, we’re all gaggin’ to know more.
I look forward to hearing more from ya’ 😉
more soon
mikethesign
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Thanks for the welcome!
We’re a small company (18 employees) in Lantana, Fl just south of West Palm Beach and when we’re not fishing we make most of the windows for the US Army’s choppers (Apache, Chinook, Blackhawk, Huey, Jolly Green Giant, etc – we also make C-130, and a couple of trainer / fighters like the A-37 Tweet and the F-5) We just build them, the customer installs them in the field.
How did we get into this? beats me- I used to be a banker and got bored! 🙄
They all involve molding acrylics although most of them use biaxially stretched acrylics which is a cast acrylic that’s heated and pulled by a machine in all four directions. You have to creep form this stuff below 215F else it shrinks back into a block. The nice thing about stretch is that if you drill into it it won’t crack. The ugly thing is that it’s about $2K a sheet so if you toast an item it can get expensive in a hurry.
There are a lot of sign companies around here but few seem to be vertically integrated. I visited one and they seemed to be mostly in the metal end of it (building the raised letters, etc) and their sales were over 4 million. There are a bunch of companies of all sizes, though, so there must be a market but I suspect it must be very competitive. -
Hi Carlos and Welcome
I went to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale this July and it was unbearably Hot! (hot) (hot) (hot)
Mind you! Returned to London to experience the hottest temperatures ever recorded
Interesting stuff you do!
You say it cost $2K for a sheet of acrylic
Are u talking about an ‘A4′ sheet or a 8′ x 4’ sheet 😆 😆 😆John
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stretched sheet comes in 106″ x 106″ and no kiddin.. $2K for a sheet at .250″ thick both thicker & thinner is more!! 😕
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