sign & digital graphics: celtec

Spin toWinA primer outlining the most useful CNC router substrates

BY DUANE FAST

Aluminum is a very durable outdoor material that CNCs well

Dunne Fast is the general manager at ArtcraftAdvertisingLtd VancouverSince 1965 the company hasspecialized in the design andman itfacturing of signage

and display graphics Contact him via e mailat dfast@artcrfi com

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree Idspend six sharpening my axe

—Abraham Lincoln

The razor sharp rapidly spinningblades on a CN C router bit make

smooth easy cuts into some substratesbut make a big ugly mess out of othersHere s a list of some of the more compatible substrates

Aluminum works great forCNC routed cut lettering

MDF cutouts can addinstant dimension toan exhibit

78 November 2011 S IG N DIGITAL GRAPHICS

Sign & Digital GraphicsCirculation: 20039DMA: Denver, CO

City: BroomfieldState: CO

Account: 380400Date: 11/01/2011Pub Num: 69A1510Section/Page: 78Page Count: 1 / 5

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WOOD

Solid wood—Good old fashioned

beautiful natural wood is a great routine material For millennia people havebeen carving intricate patterns intowood CNC routers just made it a wholelot quicker and easier Great hardwoodsinclude ash oak cherry mahoganyhard maple etc Routable softer woodsinclude pine soft maple fir spruce hemlock cedar and redwood

MDF—Medium density fiherboardMDF is a big player in the sign andexhibit industry MDF is made by converting wood chips into fibers Liquidresins are added to create a thick mat

that is pressed into boards using heatand pressure An advantage of MDF forthe graphics industry is that the product is uniform throughout includingthe edges MDF edges are smooth andbeautiful straight off of the router Onedisadvantage ofMDF is that paint is generally required to finish it even if it willbe covered with a digital graphic

Plywood HDO and MDO—Plywoodis one ot the earliest signage materials

of the last century and an excellent candidate tor routing Plywood is createdwith layers of veneers These layers arealternated with the grain running at rightangles then glued together under pressure in large presses For outdoor gradeplywood the adhesive used is generallya phenolic resin that is resistant to moisture bugs heat and cold These syntheticresins are also impregnated into smoothtop layers to create overlay plywood likeHDO and MDO Plywood s large sizehigh strength to weight ratio and dimensional stability have made it a stapleof the signage and display industry sinceits inception Overlay plywood acceptspaint and digital prints however thelayered edges need a lot of finishing tolook Erood Other routable wood based

composites include OSB LDF particleboard and Masonite

PLASTICS

Expanded PVC—Lightweightroutable expanded PVC sheet productslike Sintra Komatex Komacel andCeltec have virtually taken over the

middle price point of the indoor displaymarket Light tough stable and veryeasy to work with expanded PVC canalso be fire resistant and directly printable Routers cut through it like butterleaving perfectly finished edges And theyare available in a variety of colors meaning that no paint is needed for furthersavings

Acrylics—Plastic acrylic sheet is another product that stands strong in therouter marketplace Beautiful versatileand durable these rigid sheets come ina large variety of thicknesses and colorsThey make very stylish and unique displays that are easy to fabricate Specialrouter bits for plastic can polish andfinish the edges as well Some brandsinclude Plexiglass Acrylite Lucite andLexan

A CNC router can be usedto facilitate fabrication with

composites as well as altering shapes

MDF is cut on a ShopBot PRS Standard CNC router




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Composites are a versatile material for exhibit wall panels

Polycarbonates—This is one ofthe toughest materials on the marketPolycarbonates have excellent impactheat cold stain UV and chemicalresistance They represent a very longterm outdoor durable and flame resistant solution Polycarbonates cut easilyon a CNC but the edge finishes are not asclean as acrylics The nature of the molecular structure of polycarbonate thatcreates its strength also creates a minorproblem that makes the baby smoothedges of acrylics and AIDF products moredifficult to achieve

Sign Foam—Sign foams are usedquite differently than other materials inthis category Rather than just be used assubstrates to carry graphics they comein thick easily routed slabs that are ideal tor 3 D sculptural signage In otherwords the shapes are the graphics This

wonderful stuff has made a whole new

dimensional genre of signage possibleAnd in comes in a wide variety of qualities densities and sizesOther Routable Plastics—There

are a number of other plastics that areconsidered routable and useful to sisjn

makers They include ABS polyethylenePVC polypropylene polystyrene HDPEand PETG

METAL

Aluminum—Most metals don t fit

into the easy to CNC category with theexception of aluminum and honeycombaluminum And for long term outdoordurability it s hard to beat this commonmetal as well It is completely impervious to any form ofweather and 100 percent recyclable a winning combinationSpecial CXC bits are available for thismaterial that make cutting smooth and

easy albeit at a somewhat lower speedthan many other substratesOther Metals—A number of other

metals are considered routable but maynot be quite so easy to work as aluminum These metals include brass copperbronze and mild steel

COMPOSITES

Aluminum Plastic—One of die mostcommon router substrates are die class of

composites that employ aluminum andplastic Utilizing the light weight andmoisture resistance of thermoplastics forthe core and thin layers of painted or anodized aluminum for the outer surfaces

these relatively new products are perfectfor sign production They often have012 outer layers with 2mm 3mm and4mm core thicknesses Sizes include 4 x84 xlO and 5 xlO sheets It is dimension

ally stable and weather proof yet much




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PVC can be used to build allsorts of things with a little

Routing in sign foam is limited only by the imaginationhelp from a CNC router

Thick pieces of polycarbonate make durable but attractive and lightweight display pieces




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Traditional wood—in this case cedar stilla great material to use such as this example being routed on a ShopBot machine

lighter than solid metal Composites area UL recognized component for electrical signs have a Class 1 and Class A firerating and are NCHRP 350 approved forhighway and safety signageTheir layered structure gives them

excellent strength and rigidity meaning

that less substructure is required duringconstruction They are easy to work withusing ordinary shop and woodworkingtools and come pre painted for a completely hassle free experience CSC routers love these unique products and spinthrough them with ease The layerededges may not be quite as beautiful as

PVC or MDF but they are smooth andclean Some aluminum composite brandsinclude Alupanel AlumaCorr DibondGraphic Al and KomaAJu

So keep your bits sharp use the rightone for the job and try something newtodav sdg

CNC ROUTING MATERIALS RESOURCES

Web siteProduct BrandsSupplier

Sintra Gator Dibond www 3acompositesusa com3A Composites

wwwatoglas comAltjglas Plexiglaswwwarauco ctArauco Wood Products Araucoply plywood Trupan like MDF

www coroplast comCoroplast Inc Coroplastwww dencosales comDenco Corafoam Board HDU

HartBoard www hartboard comHartman Plastics

PETGInt l Plastics www intlpiastics com

InteFoam InteCel TUF Board more www inteplast comInteplastJain Americas EX Cel wwwjainamericas com

Komatex Komacel Komabrite dp KomaAlu www kommerlingusa comKommeriingwww laminatorsinc comLaminators Inc Omega TerraMax Alumaiite Econolite more

Mitsubishi Intl wwwgraphic ai comGraphic Al aluminum composite materials

wwwmultipaneiuk co ukMultipanel UK Ltd Alupanel Ecopanelwww nudo comNudo Products Inc AlumaCorr Poly Metal

Pairam America Palight Palopaque Palsun Paltuf aid Sunlite wwwpalramamericas com

Plaskoiite Duraplex OPTIXLD wwwplaskolite com

Sabic Innovative Plastics www sabic ip comLexan acrylic sheet

Sheffield Plastics Makrolon Vivak www sheffieldpiastics com

www signfoam comSign Arts Products Sign Foam3 HDUwww simona america comSimona America Rigid PVC PP and PE materials

Sungard polycarbonate polystyrene PETG www spartech comSpartec Corp

TtriPanel structural panels www triceicorp comTricel Honeycombwww uttraboard comUnited Industries Ultra Board Ultra Plus Ultra Core more

CeltecVycom Corp www cpg vycom com




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sign & digital graphics: celtec

Documents

includingthe edges mdf

thelayered edges

overlay plywood likehdo

routable wood basedcomposites

great routine material

digital prints

othershere s

wood chips