Just Rout It

If they haven’t already, business owners concerned about produtivity and the ability to add new services should consider purchasing a CNC or digital router. Not only do routers automate cutting and drilling tasks, they provide high-quality scaling capabilities and allow signshops to add precision-cut, dimensional-signage components to their existing product offerings.

Although some professionals prefer to handcraft their signs, others have realized the advantage of producing numerous components quickly and efficiently. Plus, routing systems allow you to save files for repeat jobs.

If you’re in the market to buy a router, you should ask yourself and equipment suppliers several questions, including:

* What machine size is suitable for my shop?

* Is the system user friendly?

* How much training and/or technical support is available?

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* What extra system features, if any, do I need to complete my shop’s work?

The equipment manufacturers listed on page 85 can answer your questions and provide in-depth information about their machines’ features and capabilities.

By owning a routing system, the professionals featured here have expanded their existing business capabilities and boosted their shops’ profitability.

The right price

LCI Signs and Ironworks specializes in carved wooden signs, decorative metal signs, custom welcome and ranch signs, lamps, wind chimes, weather vanes, mirrors and switchplate covers. Dave Wortman and his son, Thomas, own and operate the Pine, CO-based shop.

LCI’s metal silhouette signs had proven extremely popular. At first, Dave used a hand router to cut out simple letters and designs. However, the process eventually became laborious and time consuming. Thus, Dave purchased a CNC router that would meet his shop’s requirements.

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"I started browsing the Internet for a CNC router that would allow me to produce inlays with a tight fit and complicated, 3-D images," he explained.

Although Dave researched several machines suitable for his business, he couldn’t afford their $30,000+ pricetags. Eventually, however, he purchased Techno Inc.’s (New Hyde Park, NY) LC series CNC router, which reportedly provides a high level of accuracy and repeatability, and requires minimal maintenance. The 4 x 8-ft. model sells for $16,995.

According to Dave, the ability to add wood and plastic to his shop’s signage offerings has added an important new dimension. He noted, "We’ve taken photos of people, their pets, their property, etc. and have carved them into wood using the router. In some cases, we inlay the wood pieces into metal signs or ornaments. We also carve images into tabletops, cabinetry, headboards, and other furniture and/or crafts."

Dave concluded that the machine has greatly decreased the time required to fabricate simple letters and designs; it has enabled LCI to produce complex and highly accurate 3-D images; and, within three months, it generated approximately $4,000 additional revenue.

"Our customers are very demanding and expect top-quality signs," said Gudmunder Baldursson, founder of Logoflex. Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, the company produces multi-dimensional, LED-illuminated signage. In addition to having fabricated signs for several large Icelandic retailers, Logoflex has exported signs to other Scandinavian countries.

So that he could offer high-quality signage at an affordable price, and still turn a profit to expand his business, Baldursson decided to automate his shop. He noted that using a jigsaw or band saw to cut out letters required too much time — producing a 10-in. letter by hand usually required 45 minutes; a 36-in. letter demanded two hours.

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Logoflex houses a Techno Inc. LC series router, which allows the seven-person shop to produce a volume of signs that, according to Baldursson, if crafted by hand, would require nearly 30 employees. SA International’s (Philadelphia) FlexiSIGN