WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

It's looking like the movie now

It is always interesting to watch the steps of each piece we create. First, there's the development of the idea on paper and on the screen, sometimes with small scale models. Then the piece goes through the engineering stage, to make sure the structure underneath fits inside and holds everything up securely. Then it's out to the shop to begin construction. Steel tubing is cut to length and the welding starts. For most of our pieces the plasma cut steel is designed as we go through the build process. Measurements are taken and then its back to the office to design the pieces in EnRoute. They are sent to the MultiCam CNC plasma cutter to create the piece and then it is welded into place to begin the process anew. And so it goes for weeks.

Once the structure is complete we attach the lath and then trowel on the concrete. this is carefully hand sculpted. After the concrete cures it is time for the painting crew to do their magic. As with all of our projects we do not skimp on the paint. A minimum of three coats of base colours are applied before we begin a series of glazes, and dry brushing to gradually bring the piece to life. After many weeks of hard work the piece suddenly comes to life. Our skillful crew of talented painters blend the warm colours on the wood and cool colours on the metals and rocks to create absolute magic. It's now looking like the movie, 'How to train your dragon'.