May 19, 20222 min read

Brentwood Sign

I volunteered last year to do this sign for Brentwood High School.

First, I went into Torchmate and made a 12inx48in the rectangle by using the shape tool
Next, I made holes on each corner that are 0.249in
I found the font and wrote the letters at the top then got the idea to do a different font for their slogan Home of the Eagles
After adjusting the size of the letters I made 3 - 4 0.125 holes on each letter for the screws
I then added bridges to some of the letters at the bottom so each part would stay attached to the sign so it would look nicer and be easier to read
After welding the bridges and letters together I selected the whole sign and created a Male Tool Path
Next, I changed the Feed Rate to 90 and chose for there to be no lead-ins

After programming, I cut the sign out of 14 gauge steel on the Plasma Cutter
After the sign was cut, I ground off parts that had too much metal with the Nomadic Grinder
Then TJ and I drilled the holes with 7/32in drill bit to make them full size
We also used a bevel on the holes to make sure the screws would be flush with the sign
Then I cleaned the sign with M.E.K. Substitute to get rid of rust and dirt
Lastly, we had the Autobody shop put a clear coat on to make it look nicer and for protection

For the letters we purchased clear plastic that is 48x96x0.5in
In AutoCAD I mirrored the letters and downloaded it to Aspire
In Aspire, I programed the tool paths
Both for the Drill and Profile, I'm using a 0.125in Endmill
I set the RPM to 18000, the Feed Rate to 240, and Plunge Rate to 20
For the Drill setting, I made the pass depth 0.5
For the Profile, I made the pass depth 0.51 and added tabs to each letter that are 0.3 inches long and 0.07 inches thick
Once they were cut we had to tap them to make threads so the screws would fit nicely
Then we had to fill the holes with Bondo since they drilled all the way through and sand it smooth with an orbital sander and sandpaper