Andy Thorne
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Try these guys, never used them but looks like they should be able to help…
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We use Omega, mainly because it came with our router (about 17 years ago!) and is not dissimilar to CorelDraw and is also designed to run vinyl plotters etc. Pretty easy to use too (or maybe that’s just years of use talking!)
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Hi Hugh,
Blackburns do a few in an aluminium although I think the opening might be too big unless you go up to a thicker material? Foamex maybe?? -
Not Southampton, but along the coast in sunny Lancing! 😆
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These would be the kiddies…
not cheap (no solar options appear to be!) but they certainly know their stuff!
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Use these guys….
we do all our own metalwork but we couldn’t make them for the price of these and quality is pretty good too.
Oooops – read it wrong! 😆 the one below read it right though! :thumbsup:
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These guys may be able to help you….
https://www.sign-tec.co.uk/products/neon-materials
They have a pump and bombarder system in their catalogue
https://www.sign-tec.co.uk/_uploads/PDF … N19v52.pdf
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I would say it looks like a scam. More so if you have just cut and pasted it as the e-mail address to send it to has some of the letters transposed to look like an Evalon e-mail but probably isn’t!
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Morning Iain,
MDP have a branch in Stoke if you don’t get any other answers…
https://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/contact.asp
They may be able to help?
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Hi Jamie, a few factors at play here. Firstly the colour and location of the letters. If they are a dark colour (especially black!) they will soak up the sun, heating up causing the aluminium to expand. More so if the letters face south (or SE,SW). Then depending on the type of adhesive you have used will determine if the letter faces will break off the locators when they "grow". If you have used a strong flexible adhesive this will usually allow for this expansion (and contraction in cold winter months) but if you have used a rigid glue this will not. Alternatively, as David says if you bond the locators to a small acrylic pad and use a 1mm+ foam tape this usually allows for the different expansion and contraction rates. Of course all this is also dependant on the height of the letter where a bigger one will obviously expand a lot more than a smaller one.
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This stuffs pretty good…
https://www.abbuildingproducts.co.uk/pa … astic.html
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You could try these guys….
https://www.signsofthetimes.co.uk/produ … use-signs/
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Amari do one at 6050x2060mm in DiLite (if they have any in stock)
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Hi Iain,
these guys used to make lightboxes when they were based in Bristol before the company was sold on
(hence the Universal bit) but looking at their website it looks like they have stopped the signage side now.
Best bet is to speak to Paul Vickery, Paul Harvey or Lisa Sperring at Nova Aluminium in Bristol. Both Pauls used to be directors at Universal so should know exactly what product you are after and what the nearest alternative is they can offer.
https://www.nova-aluminium.com/aluminium-signs/
Hope that helps….
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You could also try talking to Steve at Bespoke Manufacturing, Highly recommend them for any Braille bits you may need…
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Cirrus Laser in Burgess Hill can do the 6mm ali but not sure about the ply?
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Hi Jamie,
i’m afraid could be any number of probably well over a dozen different systems.
The only way to confirm is to take the top cap of the post and take a picture of the extrusion looking down on it. Post that picture and i’ll see if I can help you identify which system it is.
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Another vote for https://ironsigns.com/ from me. Not worth even trying to make at their prices and quality always seems good.
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I would try Blackburns Metals for those.
https://www.blackburnsmetals.com/produc … cts/posts/
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Richard Austin Alloys, Parkers Steel, Industrial Metal Services
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We don’t bother to make them anymore, far cheaper to buy from these guys….
rightonblackburns.co.uk
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Thanks Rob.
Our contact details are;
e-mail sales@simplexltd.com
tel 01903 750333
http://www.simplexltd.com
http://www.look-signs.co.ukAsk for myself or Trev and we will be glad to help. Smaller items like built up letters we ship nationwide via overnight courier but anything too big or special we ship door to door to prevent any damage in transit (which unfortunately can add to the cost depending where you are – we are on the not so sunny (today anyway!) south coast). We’ve just found our customers would rather pay a bit more and have the goods turn up without any added dents or scratches!
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Hi Kevin, yes we do supply letters to the trade but I believe forum rules prevent me from saying who we are as it’s advertising. (sorry)
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Go for it! As a trade supplier ourselves I find that shocking behaviour! Yes, we all make mistakes (ourselves included – though thankfully not too often) but it’s how you deal with them that is key. A full stop would only take about half an hour to make and they are prepared to put that over the loss of a potential repeat customer??
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These guys are close(ish!) to you…
http://www.bespokemanufacturingltd.co.uk/
Always use them for any Braille we need. Steve will be more than happy to help….
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Hi Iain, although not done on a shipping container this project shows you how you could do it with a projector…
https://hnssigns.co.uk/study/the-arcadiansign/
These guys seems to have mastered this and, understandably, has been nominated for an award.
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Can see the second one possibly working better than the first as (in theory) the cut swarf will drop away. The one at the top has the potential for "driving" over its own cut swarf (as there seems to be no extraction system) thereby raising (and angling) the spinning router bit and not cutting all the way through.
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We use these guys…
https://www.plot-it.co.uk/p/hp_c6035a_b … 10mm_x_45m
But the alternative priced Xerox paper. No problems with it @ £6.19 for a 50 metre roll!
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We are mainly a trade supplier of metal products to the trade. We use it on raw aluminium to remove grease etc prior to applying double sided tape but often use as a cleaner on powder coated and painted surfaces when meths won’t do (although make sure the paint is fully cured or it will soften the paint and take a touch off of that too!). I know some of our customers use for degreasing panels prior to vinyling though. If your powder coated panels are coated in an architectural grade powder coat (which ours are) these have a waxy film to the finished surface designed to repel water and keep the product looking clean. What this also does it make it difficult for vinyl to stick to it! This degreaser also takes that waxy film off. Probably not what your necessarily after it for but thought i would throw it into the mix anyway!
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We use this one
panel-wipe
(although we only pay £14.40 with an account)We used to use this one
ec-degreaser but found it is too slow to evaporate off for us (they used to do a fast version 🙁 )
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We sometimes use these guys for printed glass panels for some of our signs. They’ve taken it to the next level! Some of their photos are fantastic…
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Try these guys….
http://www.talbotdesigns.co.uk/category … d-balloons
we just bought a blown acrylic dome from them and very good.
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We make a lot of sign trays for the trade (mainly in the south east) and tend to only use 2mm aluminium unless the height gets up to around the 1300-1400mm (or more) mark in which case we use 3mm. We can make ACM trays but for us we find it quicker to make aluminium ones (but then we have the equipment to do so). Just be careful to set your router right to leave all of the thin aluminium skin in situ. If you do make your own trays in more than we piece we have a standard extrusion available to the trade for interlocking one tray panel into another to keep the faces in planar called tongue and groove if that helps?
https://simplexltd.com/wp-content/uploa … _range.pdf
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If no luck with the others you could try these guys….
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No problem Neil, always happy to help. :smiles:
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Thanks Kevin. Over the last 30 years we have probably used most of the major manufacturers systems (at least five I can think of straight off) before we designed our own (using this experience to design out bad features as well as introduce good ones!). So if ever you get stuck please feel free to post a photo of the top of the extrusion and will be only to glad to help if I can. :smiles:
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Could be one of ours. The only true way to check for any system is to take the top cap off and post a picture of the post extrusion looking down.Post a picture as we have used nearly all over the years before creating our own. The link shows what ours look like looking down to help….
https://simplexltd.com/wp-content/uploa … _range.pdf
Hope that helps. If it’s not ours put a photo up and will gladly help if I can.
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Given the site it’s on it looks like something you maybe are supposed to have. :shocked:
https://www.gov.uk/licences-to-play-background-music
However, it looks like most of you guys, like us, prefer to work in silence. :tongue:
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Try these….
https://www.blackburnsmetals.com/produc … -sections/
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These guys are experts at them and are highly recommended.
http://www.bespokemanufacturingltd.co.u … actile.pdf
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No problem, glad to help. Look forward to seeing the photos!
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Would suggest these guys can probably help….
https://www.weloveleds.co.uk/?gclid=EAI … gIrBfD_BwE
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No problem Craig. Here to help. If it’s not Apcos then post a photo of the profile and i’ll refer back to the good ol technical library to scan through a few more books! 😆
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Just had a look in our technical library and came across the attached. Apco’s Signbar system has 3 screws and their orientation to the panel is the same. No way of being sure without taking the cap off (and the mill finish section between the planks and feet fixings are throwing it off a bit) but might be a good start.
You can get hold of them at http://www.apcosigns.co.uk/products/signbar/ or we are approved converters of their range http://www.simplexltd.com but would suggest the extrusion looks like the picture at the top of the attached beforehand otherwise it’s back to the drawing board…..
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Hi Rebecca, we have been a converter for many sign systems over the last 30 years (before designing our own based on all our good (and bad!) experiences). The 3 screws in the cap is a bit unusual and is not ringing any bells at the moment. The best way to identify the system is to take this cap off and post a photo of the actual extrusion looking down. Hopefully this will also show the fixing method which will help. If you can do this will be more than happy to help if I can. (But definitely not Nova as theirs is the same as ours.)
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The attached (rough) sketch shows how you could hide the LEDs from being seen. Although you would still have to hide the driver (perhaps in an IP67 box behind the wall for easy changing?)
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I think the Butler DiBond is one of the few brushed aluminium composites rated for outside use as it has a lacquer over the top of it. A lot of them are just brushed aluminium with no protection and so just oxidizes over time.
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We done a job which will be 10 years old next June for a local sign company. The router cut fascia is 6000x800mm and is all made from gloss black genuine DiBond ACM. Have to say have not had any problems with that product and apart from some fluorescent tubes needing replacing (yes it is that old!) it still looks pretty good and walk past in on a regular basis. Especially given the fact that it is on the seafront road in Worthing facing the sea, which is probably only about 100-150 feet away at high tide! (doesn’t look like the sign gets much maintenance either). To be honest we only ever now use Alupanel from Perspex or DiBond from Amari and (touch wood) not really had any problems (apart from colour variation from batch to batch but that is a lesson learnt now!)
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No one has notice in 7 years!?!?! 😆 :claps: :praiseyou:
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As a trade supplier of metalwork to the trade our set up is somewhat different to you guys dealing with end users but thought i’d throw a few pics into the mix anyway…..
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Looks like Pacific again to me….
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Looks like it Modulex Pacific range to me….
http://www.modulexamericas.com/pacific-interior/
They have a base in the UK…
http://modulex.com/contact.aspx
but not sure if they sell to other sign companies and if they do (from what I have heard) make sure you are sitting down when you get the price (especially if you only need a few!).
Good luck :thumbsup:
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Bit of a long shot but it could be one of their products???…
http://www.trix-international.com/en/pr … or/hi-tech
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Sorry, thought I could help. On first look it looks very much like Spandex’s slim slatz but just been and checked our stock and they do not have the ribs on the back of the extrusion (and they are in increments of 20mm so 80mm and 100mm not 90mm). Very similar though. We have used probably 10-15 different slat type system over the years from Apco, Spandex, Signscope etc and it’s not one I recognise. Could be Ashby (don’t use their products) but I doubt it.
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Normally if a box is over a 1000mm high it should have a "storm bead" retaining bead of around 50mm on the face to help (most of the time) prevent suck out. Below that I believe the standard 25-30mm face bead is ok. My concern would be if you are adding more weight (i.e.acrylic heavier than foam) into a sign which you may not be sure how is fixed or how potentially rotten any wooden fascia it is fitted to behind is. (not trying to scare you off – just raising a point)
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Depends where you are. If in the south east would recommend SPA Aluminium but most of the big nationwide stockists like AALCO usually carry some stock. Just depends how thick you want it, if cut to size etc. Just make sure if you are fitting outside it is classed as AA25 anodising which is the minimum thickness you would want to put outside.
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Hi Myles, yes I did receive your message but it came from Chris and your e-mail was not on there to reply to so asked Chris if he could pass on my contact details. Anyhow my direct e-mail address is at@simplexltd.com so try that…
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Hi Myles, hopefully Chris has forwarded my contact details and look forward to hearing from you to see if we can help.
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Hi Myles, unfortunately the rules state that I cannot recommend my companies services so all I can recommend is that you find someone who can rout these for you, affix studs into the rear for flush wall mounting and can get painted with a two pack low bake (as per car repairs) paint to your pantone colour. (which is what we would do)
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Hi Myles, usually 3000x1000mm or 2030x1350mm.
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Possibly, depends if you can "nest" any smaller letters within the logo to save on material?
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You could always just rout out of some 10, 20 or 25mm thick acrylic to give you the depth without building up? We do this quite a bit and paint with a two pack (car type paint). Can work out more expensive than built ups if a large piece (due to the cost of the thick acrylic) but on small letters works well. Just another idea to throw in to the mix…. 😆
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Wards Of Bristol ( http://www.ward-signs.co.uk/product/lettering/ ) would be the kiddies you want here although not sure they would be cheaper than built ups. However, if you want a "prism" 3d effect then they may well be. (If yours is a size and style they have a mould for!).
Hope that may (but possibly may not!) help…..
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If ever we quote for monolith signs with solar panel LED illumination we would use http://zetaled.co.uk/products/signage-led-lighting-2/
They really are experts in the field and have very smart electronics to keep the illumination going even if half or more of the panel gets covered in dirt etc. Hope that helps. They will need a bit of info on how big an area is to be illuminated and so on (and may take a few days to calculate the quote) but I think they are the best around. -
Its a brushed aluminium ACM sheet (to look a bit like brushed stainless steel). Be careful which one you buy though as not all are suitable for external use. The DiBond one is as has a lacquer over the top but some don’t and will start to oxidize outside.
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Looks like it has been looked at for a while….
http://www.probyn-miers.com/perspective … om-the-uk/
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Amari Plastics I think…
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It certainly isn’t always about the price. Good for you!
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You also need to check to see if the bead has been set for 3mm or 5mm acrylic. (But would probably be 5mm)
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ThyssenKrupp in Birmingham used to sell it for sure, but not sure now?
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Haven’t used personally but these could be the kiddies….
http://www.acrylicfabrication.co.uk/acr … g-service/
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Not only the print trade i’m afraid guys. We have been a trade supplier of metalwork for signs for nearly 30 years. A few years ago now a couple of well known metal stockists decided they would add trade sign services to their portfolios and offer trays, traffic signs etc. All the sort of work we do. We now have to compete against them sometimes where they clearly have an advantage in the base price of the material required. Far from fair but all you can do is provide a better service and/or a better quality job and hope that swings it (generally does for us) although to be fair most of our work is bespoke fabrications now.
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We use AALCO but can also recommend Richard Austen Alloys whose prices can be slightly more competitive. The area for the south east is Strood. Try ringing Max on 0203 424 3444
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May be more expensive because of the 3050mm length which will put them into the next sheet size. If you ask at 2990mm (if you can live with that) then you may find quite a difference in price.
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For our Pole & Plank range (and would suggest the same for all post and pole mounted signs) we recommend you bury a 1/3 of what you have out of the ground. So for example 2100mm out of the ground should have 700mm in the ground. We would always recommend a minimum of 600mm into the ground with up to 1000mm max of bury. I would also suggest for your large panel that you consider reinforcing your posts if they are aluminium. Nearly 3m of sail area could bend of shear aluminium posts with extreme weather and depending on location of course (i.e. if in a particularly exposed or wind funneled area). If some steel box or similar can be slid up before fitting it will help strengthen at the critical ground load point.
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Hi George,
we use double sided tape all the time but not really for channel to ACM. The people to talk to are Indasol. They are very good and technically helpful and will be able to advise the best product (and more importantly explain how to apply correctly) for what you want…
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As a trade supplier whenever we design a projecting sign (or a monolith sign or anything else vulnerable to wind loading) we draw upon years of experience and generally (well) over engineer what we make. Too many instances of signs failing and hurting (or worse) and so would rather sleep at night knowing we have done all we can to supply a safe sign. Of course you can never count on extreme weather like last week. All I would suggest is draw on experience and do what you think is right and build/fit to last. If your customer says one of your competitors is much cheaper too then there may well be a reason for that!
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We use Clarity Vince but only for preparing quotes (which then turn into your job sheet etc) and for cost analysis. We don’t use it for estimating as we have our own spreadsheets I made up which are more tailored to us. But it is a good program and seems to be almost the industry standard one now too.
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We used to make (literally) hundreds of them a year until we developed our own system. Definitely Spandexs infopanel system. As Iain says, a great system (if built right) but not as good as ours 😆
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We’ve had our 408 for probably getting on for about 12 – 14 years now. Rarely gives us any problems (but we have the monthly service contract just in case). Good, well built machine but the artpath software running it is a bit outdated now but the Omega graphics software is very good.
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They are generally very expensive (for a good one anyway) as there is quite a bit of work involved in making them.
The Avenue range from Signconnex may be a possibility if your customer is on a budget…
http://www.signconex.co.uk/exterior-pos … ster-cases
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Baby oil and WD40 are great if you have no stubborn marks (but you will probably have to do the whole panel or a complete set of letters so it all matches rather than just an isolated area). If you need to get tougher stains out, vienna lime powder is excellent or if not readily available use a polish with a light abrasive in such as Peek or Autosol BUT make sure you go with the direction of the grain or it will stand out (especially on mirror polished stainless steel which still has a very light grain in it). Use sparingly though as a little bit goes a very long way. You can even use an abrasive powder like Jif (or Cif) powder – but again always with the grain. Hope this helps.
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Ashby do some (but it does mean dealing with Ashby though!?) 🙁
https://www.ashbytrade.net/home/index.p … 119#tabs-2
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From what I have heard I understand two of the directors will be rejoining the company as "consultants" when it reopens in a couple of weeks or so!
The shameful thing is they are both either on the BSGA Council or Technical Committee. I trust they will both be resigning these posts otherwise what sort of example does this set for the sign trade as a whole?
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The most annoying thing, (apart from letting customers down with non delivery of orders) is that (as I understand) they went into administration and were bought by someone for £1.00 and will re-open in about 3 weeks! It’s companies like this that make me fume. It was only a few months ago they were bragging about a new machine on social media that must have cost in excess of £100k when they clearly had no money! (wonder if that was part of the £1 deal!!)
The other point to remember (and may be a part of their downfall) is that they claimed to be Trade Only, however over the last few years they seem have been dealing with end users (i.e. your customers – such as the Coronation Street contract among others) and were even exhibiting at a trade show in the spring for retail buyers specifically to target end users (as indeed were another "trade only" supplier).
We have been a (strictly) trade only supplier of metal products for nearly thirty years and you can’t have a foot in both camps and these guys were clearly walking a dodgy line in so many ways!
Anyway, rant over! I’ll get back in my box now…
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We do dozens of trays a week but to be honest have tried to keep this in the south east corner of the country (where we are based) just so we don’t have to put on carrier.
They are a nightmare for damaging stuff and so now (unless quite small) we always deliver door to door to ensure this sort of situation doesn’t arise in the first place.
Not a big help to you i’m afraid to say but if they value your customer I would expect them to do something to help you out. I know we would. Just threaten to take your business elsewhere but if it’s who I suspect it is then they won’t even give it a second thought. Good luck and hope you get the result you deserve. -
Here’s a close up of how we do corners on composite panels Daniel…
And nice job too Colin. Always hearing how someone else is a few pounds cheaper only for the customer to ring back a few weeks later moaning that the delivery had turned up late or was damaged. Cheaper is definitely not always better.
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Could always try Brands of the World Hugh, there’s a few to choose from here…
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/search/ … west%20ham
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Try these….
http://www.goodingalum.com/p10/c42/Alum … lit-Batten
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Hi Bob, if you want lightboxes Nova Aluminium in Bristol are the guys. Ask for Lisa or Gary on 0117 955 6463.
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We use Clarity but I mainly use my planning board. Days of the month across the top, job cards down the left with different coloured magnetic rectangles signifying job start date, days in production, sub contract work (in days), days at paint and delivery date (or your own to suit). Beauty of it is you can see visually where everything is (so can other members of staff) as long as you stick to it! See picture attached.
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Hi John,
the Strata product looks like a copy (or made under license) of Modulex’s Pacific range
http://www.modulex.com/Modulex_ukus/Pro … erior.aspx
It is a great product with a lot of plastic clip in components (may not surprise you to know they are part of the Lego group!) and they get involved in a lot of corporate rollouts. They were in all the Barclays Banks at one point.
So you could try them if you want the same, they have an operation in Northampton.
Our company was asked by a customer of theirs to come up with an alternative curved face system that could hold either bands or paper inserts which we done but as I understand I don’t think I can name our product here as would be classed as advertising.
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Hi Neil,
try these guys…
http://www.cerrig-granite.co.uk/memorial/signage/
Helped out with some slate and granite on a monolith in the past and very helpful.
regards,
Andy
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To be honest, you are doing all we do for sending out the same things. We just try to send everything door to door now where we can on a bespoke carrier. Costs more but at least the customer gets his goods in good order and so prevents problems with pre planned install dates etc.
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Hi Rich,
the MSS system is not readily sold in component length. A number of companies sell the system in the UK but this is based on them buying the extrusions in bulk. Although the interlocking dovetail design is simple the actual process of producing the extrusion (and the variable tolerances as the aluminium cools down after stretching) means that a lot of them do not happily fit together and is often a case of choosing a good pair that do.(For the same reason a lot of scrap is also produced!). I guess you already have a supplier but if you need another please feel free to give us a shout. Hope this helps?
Andy
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Hi Davy, we generally use sheets of 2" polystyrene cut to size either side of panels when shipping and the a layer or two of bubble wrap. You have to make them bounceproof on certain couriers!