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Letter Locators and Template
Hey guys,
Been playing with my new equipment.
I wanted to ask. If I route acrylic letters in reverse and engrave a slight circle where the locator is to be glued in the back of the letter. I could then print the install template and not have to manually align the letters on a sheet.
Would also mean if I had to repair any letters I could put the locator in the same spot.
Are there any flaws in my thinking?
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5 Replies
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Sounds like a great idea, especially when it comes to repeatability and replacing missing letters.
My only (very slight) concern would be how accurately can you glue the locators in place based on an engraved circle?
Instead of engraving, what about routing a shallow socket into the acrylic for the locator to sit in? This way it can’t move while the glue is setting and may even form a stronger bond given that there would then be no lateral movement possible on the locator (which would prevent the glue from failing due to a shearing action).
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Sounds like a plan.
Only thing I’d wonder about is if you’re routing from back of letter down to front of letter, if you get any chipping on the underside, this will be the front face/edge of the letter. Depends on the cutter type you use perhaps, other than that it sounds good to me.
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Would you not see the shadow of the locator through the surface during certain lighting conditions, darker spots on thinner material ?
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quote Graham Shand:Would you not see the shadow of the locator through the surface during certain lighting conditions, darker spots on thinner material ?I’m going to be using 10+mm acrylic so this shouldn’t be a problem.
I could always print a circle and use this for alignment if it becomes a problem.
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i think its a good idea, and i do think it WILL work but i think you maybe over engineering it with your solution. there for actually taking longer to produce/lay up.
being able to recreate a template in the chance a letter comes off is great. But other than one sign i can think of, ive not had it happen to us in many years.
the one that did loose a letter was dibond and it hadnt been scored before the 3M adhesive was applied. so i put the loss of the letter down to that. regardless, the repair was a new letter, template and instal of the letter whcih the customer was charged for. (it happened a year after it was fitted, it could also have been pulled off as it was only 8ft up)dont print your template, just draw it by using your plotter with a pen in the blade holder. much faster that way…
keep in mind its the nipple of the locator you need to get spot on, not the circle as such, though i do realise if you get the circle bang on, the nipple should fall into place too. so create cross hairs when plotting your template.
keep in mind some locators have little tabs/spikes on the radius of the base. not sure why but im guessing its just something down to how they are produced. that would become a pain if you have same on the ones you buy as it would throw out alignment in rebated sockets for your locator as phill suggested. which i think is a valid point… but… will incur more even more time in production.
not trying to knock it in any way Jason, its a great idea mate, just mentioning possible issues.
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