joining signs

[Robert Lambie]

its probably to save money. it should be in the centre, but i know i have, in the past done the same.
the reason? well customer comes in wnting a price for a sign, its illuminated lightbox. you have some offcuts that you can use to make up the sign, but not equal parts. to make them equal you have to buy a full sheet in… it costs YOU more and takes longer. so turn the table on the customer. say to them…
how soon do you want the sign?
if you want it joining in the middle it will be 3 days longer to make.
if you want it joining in the middle it will cost you £100 more because etc etc

9/10 times the customer will say just use what you have…
that being off-cuts from previous job, you just made 100% profit 😀

i guess it comes down to the situation and the sign maker. lots will not even think about how it should look… just make it as cheap as possible.
my advice would be ask the customer what they would prefer… if willing to pay to get it right, then so be it.

[Gary Davis]

cheers rob.

[John Singh]

Same as Rob reasoning
Put the ball in their court

I’m glad we got to the centre of this though!
There’s always two sides to the story
butt in the end a joint effort

I’m sure the panel agrees

John

[Robert Lambie]

:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Simon Clayton]

I do all my joins to match the text, or what ever is going on the panels… Its no good getting joins in the centre if the text runs across it..

Simon

[Robert Lambie]

do you mean vinyl text simon? if flat cut letters etc i sometimes purposely put the joins behind the letters. holds it closed and hides at same time

[Simon Clayton]

Sorry Rod, Yep i mean vinyl, but i wouldn’t have flat cut letters over the join unless it was fixed on site, eg locator fixings or glued flat, (only on half the panel) as i have had it where the fitters have snapped the letter for some reason or other.

Simon

[Robert Lambie]

rod>? thats twice youve called me that mate :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

yeh i know what you mean mate, i lay the lot up in house drill etc but when onsite snap on letters. wouldnt do it if any sort of twist in the panels etc also, joining brackets should prevent any real movement ide think/hope 😉

[Phill Fenton]

I do the same as Simon. I work out the best place for a join and cut the panels accordingly. If the best place happens to be the centre then so be it. But generaly I find there’s usually a place on the sign where a join is least likely to be noticed.

I have never thought that the join should be in the centre but now that this has beeen questioned perhaps this is something I should be doing, what do others think?

In my defence, I have never had a customer question why a join is where it is 😕

[Martin Pearson]

I always join the boards in the middle, I have just always thought that was the way it should be done and as I am self taught didn’t give it any other thought. I don’t think it makes much difference if vinyl text has to be cut where the join is as long as the boards butt up together properly then you don’t really notice that the text is cut.
I have never given this a lot of thought before but now it has been brought up I will need to have another think about it, I like Roberts idea of explaining to the customer that if the join isn’t in the middle then the price may be reduced. Be interesting to find out what others have to say about this.

[Aaron & Chris]

Yup same goes, we always try to make the join in the middle I like things to look neat and tidy, in saying that we haven’t yet had a situation where the join needs to be anywhere but the middle so I guess it is matter of choice and what is right for that job.

I’m slowly learning, so I can only tell you what I think and not what I know 😀 😀

Aaron.

[Simon Clayton]

Sorry Rob… 😳 thing is the keys ain’t even near each other on the keyboard, must stop trying to type with two fingers and go back to the more reliable one finger…a bit slower but more accurate.. 😀

Simon

[John Singh]

Its easy done Limon

Gohn

[Adrian Hewson]

Join in the middle always unless it is lilluminated letters on sign tray, if the letters only used up 60% of the sign tray we would split it 60-40 so all electrics were on one side.

Regards Adrian