Channel Surfing

Often, channel letters resemble extended family. Some are quite dignified and understated, like taciturn Uncle Bob, who utters little (save ‘Pass the gravy, please”), while others, like crazy Aunt Beulah, convey the full depth and breadth of their personality upon eye contact. They’re arguably more stylish than roadside cabinet signs, which, like Ralph Sampson or Yao Ming, may be remembered only for their height (immediate visibility is their raison d’etre), yet less flamboyant than electronic message centers (who might best resemble your tow-headed, five-year-old nephew frantically jumping and screaming, “Look at me! Look at me!”), whose dynamic motion, ideally, conveys a forward-thinking image.

On this middle path, channel letters maintain a vital electric-sign marketshare. In tandem with demand, better materials and equipment accelerate production, which yields better results. The neon vs. LED question simmers, yet most sign companies use them both successfully. And, some ambitious companies have embraced emerging technologies to kick-start channel letters’ somewhat staid image. To paraphrase the old cliché, there’s more than one way to bend and light a “G.”

Industry trends
Channel letters remain integral to virtually all electric signshops. According to last month’s Electric State of the Industry report, 95% of companies surveyed fabricate channel letters (see ST, July 2007, page 87). In terms of bolstering the bottom line, channel letters slightly outpace cabinet signs as the top-grossing electric-sign type, 27.1% to 26.6%.

The LED/neon question remains a hot topic. March’s latest Lighting Survey (see ST, March 2007, page 98) noted that channel letters comprised approximately 70% of neon usage, and overall, neon was used over LEDs at an approximately 3:1 clip.

However, over the last three years, red LEDs have overtaken red neon as the light source of choice – roughly 50% of shops reported using them. White LEDs also won significant gains; the survey reported a leap to 31.6% usage. White neon is still preferred over white LEDs by roughly a 4:1 ratio.

However, the motivations behind the light-source choice differ little. Initial cost remained a top consideration (which would seem to favor neon use, although startup expenses have closed, especially for red), as have labor (advantage, LEDs) and durability (an all-night debate). The survey underscored the continuing shift to LEDs: Fifty-seven percent of respondents reported more LED use, with 38% standing pat.

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As discussion about the United States’ outdated power grid and the world’s depleting resources intensifies, energy-saving measures have garnered greater attention. In his July “Lighting Techniques” column, Marcus Thielen outlined several methods that will render effective, efficient signage, such as:

• During a site survey, determine the ambient-light levels of the sign’s surroundings, and calculate sign brightness to double the background’s brightness (see ST, September 2004, page 30). Thielen said illumination that exceeds this threshold is usually superfluous.

• Manage operational hours to minimize wasted energy when few passersby would view the sign, or during daylight hours when illumination doesn’t aid readability.

• Select face materials with efficient light transmission. Most plastic-sheet colors transmit less than 50% of light. Diffuser layers can disperse light evenly outside the letter’s face, but, generally, match the face material and light source for more uniform brightness.

Wholesaler perspectives
Naturally, signshop operation entails more complexity than simple statistics convey. Different capabilities, resources and management strategies spur companies to focus on certain sign types they deem optimally efficient, profitable or simply enjoyable. Wholesale sign fabricators offer signshops the opportunity to market certain sign types without devoting fabrication space, time or manpower. Given channel letters’ continual popularity, many wholesale providers exist.

World Wide Sign Systems (Bonduel, WI and Carson City, NV) produces 80 to 100 channel letters weekly, according to Bernie Ostrenga, the company’s sales and marketing director. Channel letters comprise roughly 30% of the company’s business. Predictably, LEDs comprise 35 to 40% of the company’s channel-letter output. For red letters, LEDs have captured approximately 80% of the company’s installations.

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“We work for many medium- to high-volume clients who come to us with detailed specs, and they trend towards LEDs,” Ostrenga said. “However, smaller customers either prefer the look of neon or leave it to us to make the lightsource decision. Many factors, such as brightness, location and budget, dictate the decision.”

Ostrenga said, overall, material manufacturers mutually yield better products. For instance, he noted LED modules’ improved light diffusion couples with sheet plastics’ upgraded diffuser layers, which transmit light evenly across the face.

World Wide’s channel-letter fabrication equipment includes two Computerized Cutters’ (Plano, TX) Accu-Bend return-forming systems; a Chief Enterprises (Elmhurst, IL) Letter-Lok 2000 letter-fastening apparatus and a Eurocom neon-pumping system. For channel letters larger than 4 ft. tall, World Wide typically uses .063-in.-thick aluminum; for those under that threshold, the shop opts for .040-in. metal. Ostrenga said thicker aluminum yields an “overengineered,” unnecessarily costly sign.

He noted the company uses raceways for approximately 25 to 30% of its installations – the end user or his landlord commonly specifies whether channel letters would be flush-mounted.

To effectively design channel letters, Ostrenga recommends creating letter strokes at least 1.5 in. wide – narrow serifs may also trigger fabrication roadblocks.

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Southwestern Signs (Phoenix) specializes in channel letters – they entail approximately 95% of the wholesaler’s business, and the number continually grows larger, according to Mike Wurz, the company’s owner. He said most of the sign retailers it serves tally annual sales under $1.5 million, although 10% exceed $2.5 million. Though the shop has fabricated projects as large as 60 letter sets, most are one- or two-off jobs.

LEDs now prevail in Southwestern’s shop – Wurz said they account for roughly 60% of the shop’s channel-letter fabrications. Moreover, approximately 70% of the shop’s installations comprise front lighting, with backlit and exposed, respectively, accounting for 25% and 5%.

For jobs that specify day/night acrylic faces (sheet that appears black or dark-blue in the daylight and white at night), Wurz prefers to use neon, because the dark-plastic face mutes illumination.

While LEDs preclude the need for time-consuming tubebending and often enable narrower returns, Wurz said there are limits: “People think they can make any font into channel letters, including narrow scripts and letters with unusual shapes. In most cases, this is true, but you still need a stroke that’s at least ¾ in. wide to allow LEDs sufficient space and viewing angle.”

Retail shops
National Signs (Houston) devotes roughly 40% of its business to channel letters, according to John Graff, its production manager. He said automatic bend and clinching equipment have shaved fabrication time by approximately 50%, bolstered accuracy and enabled simpler fabrication. LEDs light approximately 30% of the company’s channel letters; customers specify them in 80% of these jobs.

He also recommends LEDs for channel letters destined for tall buildings because of neon’s more intricate wiring and installation – slim-profile [LED] transformers can easily be hidden inside the letters, which conserves space.

Graff said the most important first step to an effective channel-letter install is a precise site survey; descriptions may leave out detail, and blueprints may be incomplete or out-of-date.

Graff said, “There may be newly installed power lines, or the property has been expanded into their proximity. There may be unmarked I-beams. You may have to park your crane over oddly sloped ground. So many variables make it imperative to be well prepared before installation day.”

In keeping with a growing trend for corporate or retail signage, Graff said the majority of the company’s LED-lit channel letters incorporate white, not red. Graff estimates the company changes over approximately 80 channel-letter sets annually from neon to LEDs. Moreover, because LED efficacy (especially white) has improved, he hasn’t switched a project from LEDs back to neon in more than four years.

Miracle Signs (Wichita, KS), which has been in business for approximately 50 years, plies roughly 20% of its trade in channel letters, according to production manager Luke Luttrell. The shop, which recently began offering LEDs as a lighting option, uses them for roughly 15% of its channel letters.

The shop still fabricates its letters the old-fashioned way – it implements a handbrake and other manual-fabrication tools. Luttrell acknowledged he and other shop managers have considered automated bending and clinching equipment at the last two International Sign Assn. Sign Expos, and he conceded it’s a matter of time before the shop upgrades its equipment.

“We’re experiencing some challenges with competing for turnaround time and price, and it’s more challenging to create some letters, such as serifs, with manual equipment,” Luttrell said.

Though Luttrell espouses both light sources’ attributes and lets his customers decide, he notes that his shop has only fabricated halo-lit LED channel letters using red, white and blue. However, he sees broader LED applications ahead.

“We work heavily in the restaurant industry and exhibited at the last [National Restaurant Assn.] tradeshow in Chicago,” Luttrell said. “In addition to touting LEDs as a channel-letter light source, we also marketed their border-tubing capability, which is popular in restaurant environments. At this point, we’re running about the same price for a linear foot of neon as a foot of LED, so it’s simply a matter of brightness and ease of service to our customers.”

On one recent project, Miracle fabricated a halo-lit, blue-LED sign for a Wichita chiropractor. When the shop initially tested blue halo lighting, Luttrell deemed it insufficiently bright. To enhance the application, fabricators painted the letter interiors white and installed a diffusion layer of Plexiglas® impact-modified acrylic, which helped evenly illuminate the wall behind.

“Red is still the most vibrant LED color,” Luttrell said. “But, other colors have improved as well. There’s a perception that blue LEDs are pale or dull, but I don’t think there’s much of a difference in the luminescence of different colors.

Plastic points
Although somewhat unsung, sheet plastics perform a vital function for frontlit channel letters. Sheffield Plastics (Sheffield, MA) manufactures Makrolon® polycarbonate materials. Erik Murray, a Sheffield technical-service representative, said key enhancements that have spurred polycarbonate performance include UV-resistant-coating and cap-layer upgrades. Also, a co-extruded cap layer on Makrolon SL, the company’s highest-selling product to the sign industry, enables a 10-year warranty.

Further, Murray said crazing (small, sheet-surface cracks) and brittleness usually stem from “chemical attack” from environmental stressors, such as excessive UV exposure and aggressive cleaners or solvents that corrode the surface. He also underscored the importance of decorating the material with paints or films that lack aggressive solvents that could attack the plastics.

CYRO Industries (Parsippany, NJ), a methacrylates business unit of Degussa, manufactures Acrylite® Resist SG impact-modified acrylic sheet, a continuously manufactured material that’s sold in sheets or reels. Many suitable machining and shaping tools exist, such as table saws, scroll saws and band saws. However, CNC routers process the material most efficiently. Company documents recommend solid-carbide, “O” flutes with up to three spiral bits, which won’t generate heavy heat or friction, because they evacuate chips away from the sign surface. To bond plastic faces to channel-letter trimcaps, Cyro advises liberal application of solvent and viscous, acrylic cements.

Daniel Pavelko, Cyro’s senior technical-service engineer, said channel-letter luminescence benefited significantly from LED and plastic manufacturers’ efforts to match module and sheet colors. Also, he noted LEDs with broad viewing angles help minimize point lighting when signs are oriented for an appropriate viewing distance.

When decorating plastic sheet, Pavelko said a shop’s capabilities and the application dictate the choice of paint or pressure-sensitive vinyl: “Paint can create a translucent or opaque lighting effect on a sign, whereas vinyl is commonly used for opaque surface effects. The level of diffusion required will influence the choice, but either will result in an effective finished product.”

To store the product, he recommends preserving the sheets with a polyethylene overlap and cleaning the surface with soap and water or a 3:1 water-alcohol solution.

Crane safety
Architectural, retail or high-rise, channel-letter installations often require crane trucks. Numerous safety enhancements enable safer, more effective operation. Wilkie Mfg. LLC (Oklahoma City) operations manager Darrel F. Wilkerson Jr. said hydraulic power and overload-prevention interlocks and warning systems have improved crane safety, but any integral safety amenity won’t halt careless operation.

“Failure to inspect the site and properly position the equipment commonly cause installation failures,” he said. “Contacting power lines with the crane, loadline and load remains the leading cause of crane-related fatalities. Staying within the extension’s safe reach and weight-load limits remains a primary concern.”

The company’s XRB crane series, which includes 58-, 65- and 94-ft. vertical-reach models, features a basket-mounted winch and jib with a rotating basket. The winch and jib hold the letters and raceways during installation, which frees both the worker’s hands, positions the basket parallel to the wall and sets it in place throughout the process. The basket’s load weight can’t exceed 600 lbs.

Also, a worksite’s vehicular and pedestrian traffic flow must be secured. Wilkerson said, “The general public often has no idea what’s being done, or the potential safety hazards. I’ve seen people move barricades because they wanted a parking spot and were oblivious to the potential overhead hazard.”

Companies Mentioned
Chief Enterprises
Elmhurst, IL
(800) 831-7294
www.chief-mm.com

Computerized Cutters
Plano, TX
(800) 310-1887
www.computerizedcutters.com

CYRO, a unit of Degussa
Parsippany, NJ
(800) 631-5384
www.cyro.com

Elliott Equipment Co.
Omaha, NE
(402) 592-4500
www.elliottequip.com

Miracle Signs
Wichita, KS
(316) 832-1177
www.miraclesigns.biz

National Signs
Houston
(800) 659-6285, (713) 863-0600
www.nationalsigns.com

Sheffield Plastics
Sheffield, MA
(800) 254-1707, (413) 229-8711
www.sheffieldplastics.com

Southwestern Signs
Phoenix
(888) 479-7447
www.southwesternsigns.com

Wilkie Mfg. LLC
Oklahoma City
(405) 235-0920
www.wilkiemfg.com

World Wide Sign Systems
Bonduel, WI
(800) 874-3334
www.wwsign.com