Signs Never Sleep

We've Moved

2005-04-10T07:16:00.000-04:00

The new home for the Lincoln Sign Company weblog is:

http://signsneversleep.typepad.com/

or you can always reach us at

http://www.signsneversleep.com/

The New Yankee Workshop films an episode at Lincoln Sign Company

2004-09-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

This has been an exciting, long, and somewhat unreal day. The crew from New Yankee Workshop paid us a visit today and filmed a segment for their show at our shop. This is my first mention of this on the weblog but I intend on going back and entering information about the week leading up to the event (look for events starting on 9-17-04), and then the actual day itself.

One of the nice things about this weblog, is not only the fact that I can keep anyone who is interested up-to-date about what is happening with our company, but it also serves as an "archive" for the company, and this was definitely a big day for Lincoln Sign Company.

The Photo Archive of the New Yankee Workshop Visit

2004-09-27T04:24:00.000-04:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Spit-shining the shop

2004-09-26T19:23:00.000-04:00

The majority of my day was occupied with the remainder of the last-minute prep for the show.

Gordon from ShopBot Tools arrived for dinner. We were all entertained by two unusually chatty little boys who were ready and willing to discuss a wide range of topics such as NASCAR, football, the Mars Rovers, the X-Prize and hurricanes.

After dinner, Gordon and I went into the woodshop to look over the router to make sure that all was in readiness for tomorrow and I spend a lot of time gushing about how much I like the ShopBot. It has been an incredibly dependable piece of equipment and has never let is down.

Cleaning the Shop

2004-09-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

Vicki and the kids drove down to Derry, NH (where we lived prior to moving to Lincoln) for a playmates birthday party. I stayed behind and did a lot of organizing and cleaning for the filming on Monday. There is quite a lot to be said for the "clean-as-you-go" school of thought as I came upon many piles of junk that I had been ignoring for months. (I have always been firmly in the "ignore-it-as-you-go" school).

Filled the van to the brim with trashbags and bric-a-brack which I will take to the dump tomorrow. I hope Norm appreciates the fact that I missed out on cake and ice cream on his account.

The family that paints together, stays together

2004-09-25T05:45:00.000-04:00

Here was the Friday evening activity for all of us, painting together in the shop. Vicki is working on Gold Leafing the carved sign for Lunenberg School in VT and then that job is completed!

Ben and Connor are having a good time just painting this and that with watercolors. While all this was going on, I was playing "router wrangler" and finishing up some stuff that we are carving for the CT River Bank project.

======
Late on Friday I went to an appointment with a prospective customer to discuss her sign project, and it was a really great experience. It is sometimes difficult to determine what it is a customer wants out of their sign, and it is something we work very hard to find out and deliver on here. After, a lot of discussion, and many design proposals and sketches flying back and forth, she just came out and said it, "I don't just want a sign, I want art! I want it to make me feel a certain way about this business"

That really brought a smile to my face. The challenge of the sign business, is that 80% of our customers see a sign as a "need", not as something they necessarily "want", even though it will have a tremendous impact on their business. I have to be careful during the sales process not to try to get them into a project that is too far beyond their budget or desire. It is fantastic when a customer tells me, "I am looking for something extraordinary". It is a huge weight off my shoulders, and allows me to create, rather than just "make a sign".

Once this lock was opened, I was able to come up with a great idea she liked, and I will be working on this design project in the coming week.

Oak InnSeason Resort Logo

2004-09-24T05:12:00.000-04:00

This is a logo that Lincoln Sign carved for InnSeason Resorts. These were carved in Oak and stained a natural color and have a dignified charm. They are for the interior of the hotels directly underneath the front desk.

Oak is a wonderful wood to carve in, and it allows for fantastic detail when carved because it is so hard and dense. It is too bad that it is a wood that is not well suited for outdoor signage as it tends to rot when wet and can warp as well, but for interior applications it is marvelous stuff.

Making the router cut pretty for the cameras

2004-09-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

Worked on quite a bit of prep for the show today. We test cut a project we are going to cut on the router during the show, to make sure everything would go as planned because we certainly want to look like we more-or-less know what we are doing when they are there.

Gordon from ShopBot confirmed that he is going to be flying in Sunday evening and he is going to be having dinner at our house after he arrives. (I hope he has kids and is used to the cacophony of noise and movement that can be produced by two small boys and one hyper-active dog)

Watching the paint dry

2004-09-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

The sign that Vicki has been painting today has been giving us fits. For those of you that think that signmaking is a laid-back art, I can personally attest to the fact that there are some real moments of edge-of-your-seat tension. We have been having an issue with black paint not drying properly on a few signs and instead of a hard, high gloss sheen, we have been left with a sticky, tacky mess which needs to be cleaned off and then recoated. We have traced the source of the paint contamination and hopefully be have killed that gremlin for good.

Business After Hours at Windy Ridge Orchard

2004-09-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

Our local Chamber of Commerce has events called "Business After Hours" about every month and this is the first one that we have gone to since we moved north. Kids were welcome to this one, so it was a great after work activity for everyone, plus we needed the apples. We were at Windy Ridge Orchards in North Haverhill, NH and had the best apple-picking, hayride-going, goat-petting, pumpkin-selecting time possible. It was a very good time and we got to see a lot of the people we know from local businesses in town (which is the point).

Highlight of the evening? We won a dozen donuts and a Christmas Tree in the raffle. Vicki claims that the Christmas Tree is the good prize, but oh how I disagree!

By the way, an apple eaten right off the tree is always ten times better than you imagine, and I really don't like apples all that much. Can't really say the same for the pumpkins however, as I still have not developed a taste for raw pumpkin.

Project of the Month

2004-09-22T04:34:00.000-04:00

OK, so this sign is just about finished. But why would we not finish painting the "Ba" in bank green just like the rest of the green lettering? And why is the compass only half done? It's almost like we stopped because we are waiting for something important to happen.

Are we?

More show prep

2004-09-21T19:24:00.000-04:00

Had quite a bit to do today in regards to The New Yankee Workshop coming here to film on Monday. Russ had requested that I put together some press releases and make the filming known to the local media so they would have the opportunity to cover it if they were interested. With the hundreds of other details I had to deal with, I farmed this out to a local marketing person and we met for awhile on the phone today discussing the press release copy and which papers and TV news stations she was talking to about the event.

Talked to Gordon Bergfors who is the VP of Product Development at ShopBot Tools (which is the CNC router that we use) and he is going to be coming out to the shoot just to make sure everything goes well with the equipment. I called them as soon as I found out about the definite recording date. We have never had an problems with our router not working properly, but I am a big believer in Murphy's Law, and I want to have all of my bases covered. Gordon is planning on flying in on Sunday evening.

Also sat down with everyone in the shop and went over the schedule for Monday and wanted to see if anyone could think of anything we might have not thought of. Lee did remind me that we need to make sure that we have gas and motor oil for the air compressor we use for sandblasting (which I had not thought of, so I was glad we took the time to sit down and go over everything).

Everyone if very cool and calm about Monday, as if we have film crews in here on a semi-regular basis, and it reassures me to have such a cool-headed group of people working with me.

Connecticut River Bank Project

2004-09-21T17:15:00.000-04:00

We have started carving a series of signs for the Connecticut River Bank today. These signs are going to be produced in a material called High Debsity Urethane. It is a specially made plastic composite made for the sign industry that has some advantages over wood. It is a very light and stong material, and it is extremely uniform, which is nice for carving (as carving in wood can produce unexpected results from time to time). The biggest advantage of using this material is that it will literally last "just about forever". It does not expand and contract according to the temperature, which is much kinder to the paint as well.

Show Prep

2004-09-20T19:18:00.000-04:00

to: Russell Morash
from: J.D.

9-20-04 @ 4:35am

RE: e-mail in regards to prep for the show

Here is a summary of the projects I am planning to have "at the ready" for filming.

Gold Leafing - either Vicki or Chris Weissbrod will be able to demonstrate the gold leafing process on the Lunenberg School sign. After the application of the gold sizing, it will be ready to gold leaf in about 2 hrs.

Hand Lettering - If a general discussion about a carved-wooden sign is going to occur, it would make the most sense for it to focus on the large Woodsville Guaranty sign we currently have in the shop. (The one with the dimensional compass build out) Vicki or Chris could be lettering it as we discuss it

Sandblasting - We have a large 44" x 95" oval sign that will be ready for blasting that day. We can have Lee talk about how he applies the "sandblast mask" to the areas where we do not want the woodgrain exposed, and the he can take to sign out to the shed to blast.

We can talk about what sandblasting is and does by looking at some of the examples on the walls

3D relief carving by hand - Rick or Lee can demonstrate carving the Mountain Scene that will be laminated onto the sandblasted sign. We can then place the finished piece onto the sandblasted oval to give viewers an idea of what the finished sign will look like

CNC Carving with the computerized router - I have a large oval sign to carve for another local bank - this will actually be carved, not in wood, but a material called High Density Urethane, a specialized plastic for the sign industry. I think Norm and the viewers would find a discussion of this material interesting (it is also that material that will be used for the 3D relief carving)

Glue Up - Would you like us to do a quick glue-up using West-Bond so we can discuss it on camera? It really is "the" glue to use and I think the viewership should be made aware of it

Hand Router Carve Technique - The is what Rick will be showing you. I am planning to have him do a oval house number sign I plan on donating to the local library (Yes, we do shapes other than ovals, ovals are very popular)

Two other interesting things I could show - I could produce computer printed graphics on my digital printer and then cut them on the plotter and apply the vinyl to a wooden sign. I think that would be interesting for Norm to see as well, I can guarantee he has never seem anything like it. It is not an ink process, but it is a thermal heat-transfer process (I should have made more of a point to show that to you Russ.)

=====================================
Other arrangements I will be making:

Will have sandwiches catered in. Will tell them to plan to serve at 12:30pm unless specified as other by you. Will instruct to have sandwiches for 15 people - you are bringing (5 people?), we will have (5 people & 2 small boys), there may be some reporters, and misc others

I have contacted the manufacturer of the computerized router, and they are currently seeing if they can have someone on-site here that day. (They are out of North Carolina) - We have never had any problems with our machine, but I want everything to go well and they are willing to send a tech rep at no cost to anyone

I am going to borrow or rent a "back-up" air compressor for the sandblasting segment. Our compressor likes to play tricks, and again, covering the bases

Please let me know if you need information about rooms in the area, is anyone is planning to stay overnight

=================================

Official start of Fall according to Lincoln Sign Company

2004-09-20T04:29:00.000-04:00

I gave up and surrendered to the inevitable this morning and started the first fire in the woodstove in the shop. Yesterday was the first day that is dropped below 60 degrees in my office without any source of heat and it is 58 degrees right now. The outside temp is 30 deg so that's it, I'm done... When you hold the cup of coffee just to warm your hands, and you can see your breath as you type the mornings e-mails, a fire needs to be made.

I fully expect all the leaves now to suddenly change colors and fall off the trees all at once (Whumpf!) followed by 6 inches of snow at noon.

The Radiant Marketing Group Blog

2004-09-19T13:09:00.000-04:00

We were flattered that the Radiant Marketing Group was so inclined to do a story on our weblog recently. They are becoming an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn about this mix of small business and weblogging.

For the report and their website, click here

Today is international "Talk Like a Pirate Day"

2004-09-19T04:35:00.000-04:00

This has always been a big holiday in our house, and I must confess that it snuck up on us this year, mostly because we have been so busy with the business. The boys and I are big on "pirate-talk", and I think that it is most fortunate that the holiday falls on a Sunday this year. There is no better mix than talking like a pirate and football!

Vicki does not get into the holiday as much as they boys and I do, however, I have heard her say "ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!" on a few occasions around the house. Usually after seeing what kind of job I did on the dishes, or teaching the boys some trick you can do with a liquid that stains carpet.

If you have any doubt of the validity of this holiday, it is recognized by National Public Radio (click here), so it must be true.

Don't worry, you'll be fine...

2004-09-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

This afternoon the family and I watched an episode of "The New Yankee Workshop" together. I have seen the show many, many times, but it is a far different thing to watch the show knowing that you are soon to be the subject matter at hand.

The project they were working on in this particular episode was a Cigar Chair, and Norm Abram has the ability to make all tasks look confidently effortless. His processes are smooth, and he presents everything in a very precise, relaxed, step-by-step manner. Much different from the improvisational method we usually employ, as each sign we make is so different from the last, and most of the "techniques" we use to create them are very much "on-the-fly".

During this episode, he visited a well known chair maker in North Carolina which I think gave me a good taste of how their visit to Lincoln Sign will be presented during the show. The chair maker probably had a 100,000 square foot plant all of which was spotless to the point you could have done kidney transplants on the factory floor (TO DO: must remember to sweep the shop). Everyone was extremely well dressed (TO DO: wear the shirt without the holes) and there had to be about 80 employees scurrying around throughout the visit.

Oh, and they had technology that they had makes our equipment look like it belongs in a museum. (I am pretty sure that at one point he showed norm a fabric cutter that uses a laser to cut the fabric at the molecular level, and was power by an in-plant, fusion reactor) In any event, I am at least secure in knowing that we all love what we do and have immense satisfaction in out chosen careers on a daily basis. (The people in the North Carolina factory all looked as happy as clams as well, riding around on their hovercraft)

Well, I am really not all that worried. During his visit, Russ put me remarkably at ease, and I am very much looking forward to their visit.

Now I am going to go and see if I can quickly build an army of 800 signbuilding robots before next Monday.

"Hold the apples, please"

2004-09-18T13:07:00.000-04:00

Alas, the rain on Friday afternoon into Saturday scuttled our plans for the apple picking. Additionally, it is just downright cold!

We do have another window of opportunity later this week that I hope will pan out better.

Here is what the shop looks like right now

2004-09-17T16:57:00.001-04:00

This Old Blog

2004-09-17T15:59:00.000-04:00

For a number of months I have been talking to the producer of The New Yankee Workshop, Russell Morash, about their doing an episode of the show at our shop. Back in 1989, Lincoln Sign Company produced the original sign for The New Yankee Workshop (which is the same sign that is still being used for the show today).

Today Russ paid us a visit, toured the shop and talked to Vicki, Lee and I about signs and signmaking. We showed him all of the things we do, answered all of his question, and then he surprised us by letting us know that, if it would work for us, they would be coming to film the episode a week from Monday. We all enthusiastically agreed, and Russ let me know that he would be in touch next week, and then drove down to Concord (where they are currently filming an episode of "This Old House").

Since he left, I have basically been in "low-grade panic" mode. I grew up watching Public Television (Russ, by the way, is the person that brought us "The French Chef", "This Old House" , "The Victory Garden" and of course Norm's show) and the concept that Lincoln Sign is going to make a small contribution to that legacy is a bit much for me to comprehend right now.

I have started making a list of all the things that we are going to need to do to get ready, and have been breathing steadily into a paper bag...

I think winter may be coming

2004-09-17T04:53:00.000-04:00

We heat with wood here, both in the house and in the shop. (Yes, I know, how very "Little House on the Prairie") . When I come into the shop office early in the morning, the last few mornings I have been tempted to quickly start a fire, as it has been a bit chilly, but I am forcing myself to suffer through it a bit. The first fire in the shop is such an obvious signal of the winter season coming, that I have no desire to give it the satisfaction. I realize I will only be able to tough it out for a few more days, and I will surrender as the mercury steadily drops, but a want to eke out a few more warm days of summer if possible.

The plan for after work today is to go Apple Picking with the kids. I swear, that is going to be the Friday night activity for us... Apple picking! I will be sure to post a complete report with extensive photos ASAP!

Heating with wood and apple picking... Where's my flintlock? I'm gonna go and shoot me a bear!

Well, gotta go milk the cow

Drumhead on the Pullman Car

2004-09-16T18:09:00.000-04:00

Woodland Acres Sign Sketch

2004-09-16T16:44:00.000-04:00

We just began work on this sign a day or two ago. We are in the process of cutting the boards for the glue-up, and we are also cutting the blank for the carving. I thought it might be nice to show what one of our sketches looks like.

HINT: If you click on the sketch, you can read the details. Stay tuned, and you can compare what the finished product looks like in comparison to the sketch.

In case you were wondering...

2004-09-15T16:54:00.000-04:00

I was just told we are having waffles for dinner.

Meeeow!

2004-09-15T15:43:00.000-04:00

Chris and Vicki just finished doing the cats and they look terrific! I have no idea how they got them looking so lifelike!

Well, I have some chores to do at the end of the day. Let's see, what's on my list...

"Return steam roller for Chris & Vicki"
"Rake up cat-food off of the parking lot"

Okey-dokey

Please, cat-lovers out there, do not hate me! Just for the record, I am not a big fan of dogs either and if we ever need to do a sign with a poodle on it I will be renting the same steam-roller and will not have to go far to find the poodle!

Project of the Month Day ???

2004-09-15T15:42:00.000-04:00

The Woodsville Guaranty Bank sign is starting to get lettered. (This actually started a few days ago). Vicki is actually the one who gets to do most of the lettering currently, mostly because she claims to enjoy it, and it is a little too tedious and exacting for my tastes (although I will do it if required). I will generally do anything that has a keyboard attached, but unless it has a button I can push, it is tough to get me moving sometimes.

That is really the importance of having a good "team", and we have a great team here at Lincoln Signs.

Lee Lamontagne is our master woodworker, and he is the best in the business.
Vicki has the natural art skill that we need for fine painting and she does the bookkeeping.
Chris Weissbrod has done it all and can do it all.
and Rick Weissbrod is our master woodcarver.

"Team" - very important.

Oh, what do I do? I'm not exactly sure, I think everyone else has it so well covered. I might just be a "spare" or something.

Collin's Pumpkin Farm in Progress

2004-09-14T16:40:00.000-04:00

Chris was hard at work today painting the first of 4 hand-painted cats. By the end of the day she had finished two of them. Tomorrow, Vicki is going to work along with her on the remaining two.

Just got back from voting

2004-09-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

It is really nice living in a small town. Voting just took me about 5 minutes and I was able to walk from the polls. I wish there was an easy way to make voting that easy for everyone.

Irish Cottage sign in for a check-up

2004-09-13T16:31:00.000-04:00

Here is Vicki working on two signs for Collin's Pumpkin farm. The background painting is just about complete as of this photo, and the plan is for us to start lettering the tomorrow. The "crazy" white shape build-out at the bottom of the sign will become a pumpkin patch and cat.

This is a sign that was completed back in 1999 for a homeowner here in Lincoln and is an excellent example that signs are not just for businesses. We commonly do "house signs" for people, and we can do something from $50.00 on up. This would be an example of the "UP" end of the spectrum. This is 23k Gold Leaf, carved, and the snow is a 3D built out shape to boot!

The homeowner wanted us to give it the once over and see if anything needs to be touched up. After 5 years outside, the only thing that needs some attention is the snow. We are going to clean, reprime, and give it a fresh coat of paint.

Soccer Mom & Dad

2004-09-11T16:33:00.000-04:00

Soccer has started for the kids in Lincoln, and we were all out in force early on Saturday morning. When you live in a small town (Lincoln has a population of 1500) you are not accustomed to seeing "large" groups of people on a regular basis, so I was surprised at the army of kids that assembled for Soccer.

I swear, soccer is just an excuse for parents to sit in lawn chairs and drink coffee, and for me it is the highlight of the week. As I sat there, I had an excellent view of the mountains that surround Lincoln on all sides and noted that they were all still respectably green. We are about 30 days away from the peak of leaf-watching (I refuse to use the term "peeping") season, when we will all be framed in red and gold. I will try to get to some high -point and the peak of the season and get a few pictures of the leaves in all their glory for the weblog this year.

The two whirling dervishes in red belong to Vicki and I. (One tends to "whirl" much more than the other!)

Dumont Construction Van

2004-09-10T16:33:00.000-04:00

On Friday most of my day was taken up with lettering a van for Dumont Construction. I wanted to shoot a close-up of the lettering as it highlights the "faux-dimensional" technique that I commonly use with vehicle graphics. The "Construction" above has the suggestion that it has some depth to the lettering and is actually raised off of the surface of the vehicle. The "General" below looks as if it was actually carved into the metal of the vehicle.

Stuff we have been working on

2004-09-09T16:17:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to quickly post some pictures of jobs we have either completed or in the process of working on. This is basically what you would see if you stopped by today for a visit.

Signmakers and the art of spelling

2004-09-08T04:20:00.000-04:00

I just had one of my customers (and regular weblog readers) mention that I had spelled thier company name incorrectly in the pages of the weblog (we got the spelling on the sign correct) and I have gone back and fixed the spelling errors. It made me think that this might be a good topic to talk about on the weblog, as spelling comes up quite a bit in our line of work. Believe it or not, people generally want every, little thing spelled correctly on their signs.

It is VERY rare that a sign makes it the entire way through our production process with a spelling mistake. It does happen on occasion, and we do fix them (unless the customer likes the "new" spelling better)

GENERAL GUIDELINE:
If a mis-spelled sign is out in public for one year without anyone noticing the error, that is the new spelling of the word.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 13

2004-09-07T18:14:00.000-04:00

One of the things our customer's rarely get to see is, I think, one of the times that a carved sign looks the best. That is, when the background color has gone on the sign, prior to the lettering colors being put on. This picture does not do the Woodsville Guaranty sign justice, as when you see it in person at this stage, your eye is immediately drawn in by the carving. It is a "light and shadow" thing that gives the sign a really strong presence. One of these days, I am going to have an opportunity to do a sign just with one color and I am going to jump at the chance.

We have a little bit of "controlled chaos" going on in the shop this week, as we have a large number of projects underway all at the same time. We are going to be adding a few more on Wednesday, and then we actually have a truck coming in on Thursday.

See the cat in the hat in this picture? We are working on a couple of signs for a pumpkin farm. Where are you buying your pumpkins this year?

PS: If anyone sees my keys in this picture, please e-mail me. You won't win anything, but

I REALLY need to find my keys!

Labor Day

2004-09-06T03:57:00.000-04:00

Update on the bear situation

The bear's in Lincoln have been especially bad this year, (not that they have been attacking people, stealing cars, and forming identify theft rings), but there have been a lot of bear sightings and it puts parents with no spare small children on edge a bit. We have a new rule that the kids are not allowed in the back yard past 5pm for safety reasons and we have put a clock up out there to make sure that the bears adhere to the rules.

We have one of those rolling compost bins which they (the bears, not the kids) got at last night. Thankfully, they were not able to get it open, because I'm sure there would have been an ungodly mess if they had.

Evil, very bad thoughts

2004-09-05T04:36:00.000-04:00

Cannot stop thinking about Krispy Kreme Doughnuts... Must stop thinking about Krispy Kreme Doughnuts...

I am going to try to eat a piece of bread with my eyes closed and pretend it is a Krispy Kreme Doughnut

It did not work...

114.4 miles to the nearest Doughnut. That doesn't seem all that far.

Big plans for the weekend

2004-09-04T05:10:00.000-04:00

Is it Memorial Day or Labor Day this weekend? I have no idea, I can never quite keep those two holiday's straight.

Going to try to work a minimal amount of time this weekend (except for Monday where I am planning to put a full day in). That is the difficulty with having a company that is attached to your house, you can never quite get away from it, but of course there are a lot of advantages to it too. My commute is approximately 1.67 seconds.

List for this weekend (Saturday and Sunday):

- Need to deal with the house computer (it is not behaving itself as of late and has decided it has no desire to run quickbooks over the network)
- I have some trim to put in the upstairs bathroom - (this will take hours and involve a lot of swearing)
- Vicki would like me to help her clean out the garden shed (I will hide when this starts, or fake a leg injury)
- We are going on a hike to Indian Head
- There is FREE ICE CREAM at Loon Mountain this weekend FREE! (we may do this twice)
- We are, of course, doing the obligatory "burgers on the grill" thing
- currently reading another vapid (is that a word? Does it mean what I think it means? Please let me know) Dirk Pitt adventure novel

==================
also, Ed and Barb (riding out the hurricane in Orlando)

Take care and we hope you stay safe. We are all thinking of you. Don't do anything silly.

Oh, and everyone else in Florida - quit it with the buying of the plywood, you are driving the price up.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 12

2004-09-03T16:40:00.000-04:00

This is part of a smaller, 2nd sign that will be mounted underneath the main Woodsville Guaranty Sign

Only the freshest, Grade A signs

2004-09-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, we do not make all of our signs, many of them are grown in our garden. Vicki is in charge of sign horticulture and she does a wonderful job at it, as it is not as easy as it would seem. Many times they pop from their pods either misspelled or with the color being slightly off, and then there is the issue of the bugs getting them before we do...

Right below the "162" sign you can see a few other pods just about ready to bloom. I think they are going to be banners, you can tell from the green color.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2004-09-03T03:30:00.000-04:00

Slept in this morning...

OK, so what's going on with the temperature? It's 34 degrees... That's no good! I'm not ready for fall (let alone winter) yet! Where did my summer go? Got in some good hikes (no camping however) , and every once and awhile did get to sit on the porch and watch the cars go by.

Very busy summer for signs

This weekend we are planning to hike one of the Indian Head trails...

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 11

2004-09-02T16:54:00.000-04:00

Graduation day for the Woodsville Guaranty sign! It came out of the woodshop about noon today and got the "spot of honor" in the paint shop. The above picture is a view of the sign from outside the paintshop door (click on the pic to see a closer view). We are very happy with how it looks.

For anyone asking, "why is it all white?" that is the first coat of primer!

Oh, and see all those little white marks on the left side door? Little boys with soccer balls. Whackety, whackety, wack... all day long

A pair of Pullman's proudly painted

2004-09-01T18:08:00.000-04:00

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 10

2004-09-01T16:16:00.000-04:00

This is how the sign looked at the end of the day today. All of the dimensional elements have been glued onto the face and will cure overnight. We will actually transfer this project into the paintshop tomorrow where it will receive at least two coats of primer and three coats of paint.

Boy, I hope I spelled everything right. My spelling is sooooo bad. It's "banque", right?

Oh, by the way, you notice that this is "Day 10" of the project? Those are the actual days we did something with this sign (and I am sure there are some I missed). The actual elapsed time on the project (since we started) has been 17 days.

Adobe Acrobat tip

2004-09-01T04:15:00.000-04:00

OK, so heaven forbid I actually put a helpful tip on the weblog, but I just found this out the other day and it has proven so useful I have to share it.

Did you know, if you hold the shift key while double-clicking on an Adobe Acrobat document, it opens quickly rather than the slow start-up and load time are all used to? Try it.

Next time you use this tip, think of Lincoln Signs, and send J.D. Iles $1.00

2004-08-31T15:13:00.000-04:00

Maia Papaya sign taking shape...

2004-08-31T06:15:00.000-04:00

We do alot of these unit # signs - all over town. There are alot of condos in Lincoln, NH

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 9

2004-08-30T19:04:00.000-04:00

No pictures of the project today, it has just started raining here and the prospect of dashing through the rain at the end of the day is one which I am not willing to entertain. (Our woodshop building is seperate from the main shop, so there is about a 10 ft distance from door to door, and yes, I will melt if I get wet)

This project is for Woodsville Guaranty Bank and it is coming along very well. Lee has completed the cutting of the shape and the finishing of the edges, and he also has cut a v-carve border with a hand router (which will be gold leafed in the finished product). I am hoping that we will get the raised dimensional elements glued onto the blank today, and then we can transfer the sign into the paintshop and start hitting it with paint.

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We had alot of materials come in today, (heavy, large, and difficult to carry materials) and luckily I picked the hottest and most humid day we have had all summer for them to arrive. By the time Lee and I had finished putting everything away it looked like we had both fallen into the deep end of the pool. We have limited floorspace for materials so it takes alot of "creative stowing" to find a home for everything. Some stuff is still not "out of the way" but I am hoping it gets a little smaller by the end of the week and I will take another look at it then.

I thick I see an outdoor material storage cabinet in our future...

2004-08-30T05:27:00.000-04:00

Feeling very organized this week... Making lists and checking them twice.

If you don't see your project on this list, don't panic... this probably only represents about 10% of what we actually have going on!

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Big news from over the weekend... Ben lost one of his two front teeth! I am hoping I get a cut off the tooth-fairy money but I am not holding my breath. The kids both go to school soon, boy did the summer blast by quickly. That means Vicki will be coming to work in the Salt Mines with us starting next week.

Sunday morning project

2004-08-29T09:40:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned from an earlier post, we are currently working on town seal decals for Lincoln, the beautiful town we live in. We have a Thermal-Digital printer, in-shop, that allows us to print and cut a large number of materials in-house. The seals you see in the picture are printed on regular pressure sensitive vinyl (like you would put on a vehicle) but if in the future the town needs us to print on other materials, we will be able to do it.

For example, if they wanted these printed on reflective vinyl so the image lights up at night when headlights hit it, we can do it...

If the needed them printed and applied to a banner, we have them covered...

If the needed it printed and applied to the inside of a window, we have it taken care of...

We can also print onto many types of candy and baked goods, as well as small pets.

NOTE: the above line is a slight exaggeration. The pets rarely stay still long enough for the printing process to complete and the process tends to be fatal (but I have experimented with many goldfish and alley cats attempting to perfect the process) and I generally eat the "test food" before it actually hits the printer.

Our weblog got a mention on a site about business blogging

2004-08-29T02:34:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has stumbled onto this site accidentally (or accidentally on purpose) has either understood it from the get go or is somewhat still scratching their heads over the concept, and that is exactly the same thing that is happening to the wide variety of blogs that are currently out there.

What is a blog? There are many versions of the definition, but it is basically an online journal with hyper-fresh content. It is an eclectic mix of everything and anything, and blogging is said to be "the next big thing" on the internet.

The thing that I like about business blogs, is that it allows the reader (or consumer) to understand a company or person from a variety of angles all at once. You see a business at its best, at its worst, and in its unguarded moments. Everyone likes to see the "behind the scenes" part of something, and a business blog is exactly that.

We were recently profiled on Rick E. Bruner's Business Blog Consulting Website which I was thrilled about, as I believe Rick's website is an essential resource for anyone getting used to the idea of Business Weblogs. (Here is the link to the story on us - yes, it's short - we are really not all that interesting).

After drifting around Rick's website, you will have a much better understanding of this thing we call "business weblogs".

Next time you see me, ask me if blogging might be right for your business, and you can listen to me drone endlessly on about it...

TGIF - but I am probably going to end up working all weekend anyway...

2004-08-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day, a busy day, but a good day.

Fridays generally are always busy. The big day to finish up some projects and get that which needs to be installed, installed. Lee was out doing installs for the entire day. Chris and I were lettering the train that you see below at the Hobo Railroad. We were able to complete the first side today, and we will be back next week to complete side #2 and letter two other cars that are waiting for us.

Later in the afternoon I returned to the office and made an effort to wade through the scrapheap that recently has been my desk. Worked on a few sketches, did a quote or two, and decided how we are going to attack what next week has in store for us.

One of the signs Lee installed today was a new sign for The Deacon's Bench Furniture Store which is opening a new location in North Conway (they already have a store in Littleton). They have been great to work with and I wish them best of luck with the new store.

Sandwich Boards

2004-08-26T04:30:00.000-04:00

We have started promoting a "ready-to-go" manufactured sandwich board for our customers. It is made from injection-molded plastic, so it is very tough and very affordable. It is weighted down with sand so it won't fly away in the wind, and the message on the surface is easily changeable. The message area measures 24" x 36"

For this sandwich board, lettered on both sides: only $225.00
In the future, if you would like the message changed, only $115.00 for both sides

This one was made for the Century 21 Real Estate office in Lincoln, NH.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 7-8

2004-08-25T03:58:00.000-04:00

After a sign is carved, quite alot of time is spent sanding it. A power sander can be used for the flat, background areas, but each individual letter needs to be sanded as well, and the only way to do that is by hand. Lee is also getting ready to cut the outside shape of the sign with the jigsaw (hence the pencil)

I'll be honest with you... Writing this series is making me realize how much work goes into a carved sign.

I don't think a lot of progress is going to be made on this sign over the next 2-3 days. One of the other things that takes up time in sign production is the fact that there are other jobs that need to be attended to as well. Today Lee and Chris will be out playing with trains.

Smith's Creamery and Cafe

2004-08-24T19:02:00.000-04:00

Today I was in Littleton in the afternoon visiting a client and I was able to take some pictures of the Smith's Creamery & Cafe sign that we installed about two weeks ago. This is the type of project that makes it all worth it. Heavily 3D carved with a ton of little "touches" here and there. If you can click on the picture, you'll be able to see the detail on the custom, carved finals at the top of the posts in the shape of the logo. The bowl is done in silver leaf (shiny, shiny) and of course the straws are over-the-top but perfect at the same time.

If you are in Littleton anytime, I really recommend that you stop by. The Cafe is run by Suzanne and Ted Smith (fantastic people) and they have wonderful hand-made ice cream and food. They turned me on to a type of Sorbet called Gelato which is fantastic! If you are there, try the Tequila Sunrise flavored Gelato - excellent! (When I was there yesterday, they were out of that, so I asked for the one that was the closest color - and that was excellent too! Always order Gelato that has red in it - that seems to be the secret)

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 5-6

2004-08-23T04:31:00.000-04:00

This is a shot of the router doing its 3D carving thing. I usually doing this type of carving over the weekend so it has a long time to run when it is not needed for other things. As I said, each of these compasses took about 6 hours to do.

Take a hike

2004-08-22T17:05:00.000-04:00

We did get a chance to go out for a hike today. A old friend from Allegheny College is visiting us and we dragged her up one side of a mountain and down the other; I think she enjoyed it. The highpoint of the hike was when Vicki slipped on a wooden bridge and got a boot full of muck. Everyone thought that was very, very funny; except perhaps, Vicki; and her boot.

I unfortunately do not have any pictures of that which is unfortunate, but with good reason.

#1: Up to now, having this blog has been "a good idea" as far as Vicki is concerned. Mentioning this event will tip it towards the "bad idea" category. A picture of Vicki's leg covered in muck would push it over the cliff.

#2: Vicki is the one who packs snacks to take on the hike. I like snacks

#3: Vicki is my wife and I care for her deeply

#4: I was not fast enough with the camera

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The hike was on the Artist's Trail for you outdoors-types. The picture above is of Cannon Mountain. The picture below is some other mountain (I have a hard time remembering the name of a mountain unless it has a really strong marketing plan).

In you take this hike, beware the Short-Circuit trail. Especially the 4th wooden plank on the bridge approaching from the east side.

Signmakers rarely have adventures like these

2004-08-22T06:12:00.000-04:00

This is what I am currently reading, which I firmly put into the category of "guilty pleasures". I find the Dirk Pitt novels highly formulaic and predictable, but extremely satisfying nevertheless.

If you haven't read a Clive Cussler novel by now, you should...

Start with "Raise the Titanic!"

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 4

2004-08-21T05:46:00.000-04:00

In addition to traditional V-Carving (which is carving a shape into the surface of the sign), there are also going to be some raised elements to this project. This is a 3-dimensional model I created in my carving software which will tell the machine what it needs to do to create this shape.

But don't go thinking this is just a big video game and is just all fun, fun, fun. Time to create this 3D model? about 3 hours until I got it just the way I wanted it. How long will it take my equipment to cut this shape? 5.5 hours, and I need two of them

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 3

2004-08-20T16:58:00.000-04:00

Today was the day that we went ahead and did the carving on both sides of the sign, and everything went just as planned as you can see from the above photo. We do the majority of our carving with a CNC Router. We program the machine what we want it to do and it generally does it flawlessly (but has been known to surprise us from time-to-time)

As you can imagine, there is a lot of careful math and planning just before turning the machine loose on a very expensive piece of wood, and I can tell you that we are as careful doing our math as the guys at NASA were sending men to the moon. There is not worse way to end your week than seeing a machine do something it is not supposed to do in a very dramatic and irreversible way. Both Lee and I always sweat bullets as the machine makes its first pass into the wood.

But as I said, everything went according to plan with this operation and we are on to the next step in the program...

By the way, any guesses who the sign is for?

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OK, so it is Friday, by the way, and we live in the White Mountains. I am going to round the family up to go on hike.

Yes, I am well trained...

2004-08-20T03:44:00.000-04:00

Spent the afternoon measuring trains. We do alot of work for the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln which I enjoy immensely, as it is always one of those "nice break from the routine" types of endeavors whenever we do a job for them. My kids, of course, think I am a hero because of this and I don't think being the guy who letters the space shuttle would be as large in their eyes. I, of course, always get a complete debriefing from the kids after any train work:

"Did you get to ride on the train?" No
"Did you get to see one move?" NO
"Did you get to make the whistle blow?" No. I did hear a car horn however, and I saw a guy drop a wrench

No pictures from the Hobo today. Next week we are going to be out there doing some work and I will try to get some shots.

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I was at the dentist today. That might not sound like a good way to spend the morning, but coming from a guy that usually works 14-16 hour days, having someone pick around my mouth with a sharp metal instrument was like going to a spa. I got to lean back in a nice reclining chair, listen to music, and I did not have to think about anything more complex than the concept that I should perhaps be brushing better considering the amount of effort that the Hygenist needed to get all the gunk off my teeth. Did you know that you are supposed to brush EVERY day? (They actually claim twice a day, but I think they were pulling my leg). I specifically remember from health class in High School, the rule of thumb was once a week if possible. Is everyone else out there brushing EVERY DAY? Seems a little excessive to me.

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Here is a sign that we completed back in late June. This was another big team effort, and was one of the first major signs were did after Vicki and I started running the business. Lee did all of the framing and build out of the structure and he did a phenomenal job getting everything to fit together. This is the job that Vicki discovered that she really likes hand lettering, as she did much of the finish painting work, and she also did most of the gold leafing. Rick gave me a hand with the carving and some airbrush pointers, and Chris pitched in all-around. The majority of what I did was the boring painting stuff. Two coats white primer, and then, 3 coats white paint: Wah Hoo! I almost went snowblind that weekend.

NOTE: Lincoln Sign company did the top InnSeason panel of the sign and the structure. The Fratello's sign and changeable copy board were supplied by another vendor.

"Yes, we do that kind of stuff as well"

2004-08-19T05:53:00.000-04:00

One of the things we have a hard time communicating to our customers, is that we do things other than fancy, high-end, custom-carved or sandblasted signs. We will happily do banners, site signs, lighted signs, vehicles, or anything else that we need to to get our customers message across.

Here is a site sign we just finished for Jeff Mailhot; a follow up to the van and trailer job we completed earlier in the month.

Close up

2004-08-19T02:15:00.000-04:00

"Coffee - you are my god"

Note the time below

2004-08-18T06:51:00.000-04:00

We are currently working on the Town Seal for Lincoln - painted by Rick Weissbrod

You gotta watch those kids with access to signmaking equipment

2004-08-18T02:57:00.000-04:00

Ben is 7. With all of the technology lying around the shop, we are well beyond crayons on the walls. Found this on the workbench this morning.

By the way, did you notice he spelled the driver's name incorrectly? The correct spelling is d-a-l-e j-a-r-r-e-t-t.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 2

2004-08-17T16:10:00.000-04:00

Glue-Up

The next step for a carved, wooden sign is for all of the individual boards to be glued together with a special outdoor adhesive (that is the "Ooze" that you see in the picture). (Don't worry, wooden boats are made with this stuff, and if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us!)

We use the pipe-clamps that you see in the picture to pull the boards together and keep them straight and even. The glued-up board then sits for 12-24 hrs before the pipe-clamps come off and you have a rough board for the sign.

This sign is a good sized one. It will measure 61" x 96". We do both large and small here, right now we have another carved sign we are working on for a homeowner, that weighs in at 6" x 11.5"

2004-08-17T08:10:00.000-04:00

Here is a sign we completed this morning and I just got off the phone with the customer (Eric Johnson's Furniture) letting him know that he can come and pick it up.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Day 1

2004-08-16T18:33:00.000-04:00

We have just begun to work on a 2 sided, carved sign for a local bank here in the White Mountains, and I thought it might be interesting to capture the entire process from start to finish. Many of our customers are surprised when we tell them that the typical turn-around time for a sign like this is 4-6 weeks, but many times they do not realize all of the steps a sign needs to go through before we can even think about getting around to painting it.

When we see something like the picture below in the woodshop, it is a good sign that a sign is getting ready to be born. The 6" boards below are Western Red Cedar (A Grade Wood) that have been trimmed along their lengths, and have had "notches" cut in several positions along their sides to allow us to place wood biscuits in the notches. (If you click on the picture and take a close look, you can see them). These biscuits will allow us to put two boards together and help us to get them perfectly aligned to one another.

The next step in the process will be gluing all of these boards together so that we end up with a large "board" that will eventually become our sign, but since getting these boards already took most of the day, glue-up will need to wait until tomorrow.

By the way...

Here is how those Ash signs look once the paint mask has been removed

2004-08-15T17:07:00.000-04:00

Everyone gets to pitch in at Lincoln Signs, but they don't look all that happy about it

Technology comes in handy once and while...

2004-08-15T03:54:00.000-04:00

The software that we use to run our CNC router allows us to see a 3D image of what a sign will look like once it is carved and painted. We can even print out a copy and show it to a customer to give them a pretty good idea of what the end-product will look like.

Neat

This is not a drill!

2004-08-14T04:06:00.000-04:00

We had a bear in our backyard last evening... yes, a bear!

At least, I think we did. OK, I did not actually see the bear, but I was told there was a bear by the 4 year old who woke me out of a sound sleep (yes, my kids get to stay up later than I do) and I was made to run all over the house, peeking out of windows looking for "a bear".

My wife did confirm there was a baby bear in the backyard, but I did get jipped considering I did not actually see it. Pretty sure waking up suddenly like that takes a few years off your life.

Told the little boy, for future reference, I only wake up for bears IN THE HOUSE! And even then, only the big ones!

Friday the 13th

2004-08-13T16:28:00.001-04:00

Nothing bad happened today!

We did the install on the Smith's Creamery Sign and it went extremely smoothly. Considering the date, I expected that we would drop the sign face-down on Main St., but it went up no problem and we didn't get even a pinched finger, or splinter, or anything. I even tried walking under the ladder a few times. Nothing!

On the way back from the install, I veered into oncoming traffic on a busy stretch of road, but everyone just got right out of my way.

Got back to the shop, got a few nice approvals on jobs, and some checks in the mail. Worked on a few projects, and everything worked out perfectly. Colors looked good, paint dried as it should, computers didn't crash, all my machines worked flawlessly.

NOTE: OK, so I did forget to take pictures of the Smith's install, but that is not really "bad luck". I was looking for a safe or piano to fall on me all day.

The signs below just got a last coat of maroon and they are going to The Mountain Club on Loon on Monday. They are carved in Ash which is a wood that I wish we got to work with more often.

I'll try to post another pic of them once the paint-mask gets peeled off

Carved, sandblasted and Gold Leaf

2004-08-11T03:15:00.000-04:00

The Owl carving on this sign is about 2" thick and really gives the sign a strong presence. Just about everyone in the shop helped out with this sign with Lee doing the sandblasting and all of the carpentry work, Chris and Vicki doing the lettering and gold leafing, and we have Rick to thank for the Owl carvings.

What do I do? Beyond standing around drinking coffee, I did get the "glory-work" of priming and painting the sandblasted background and Vicki did let me do some gold-leafing.

Completed J.L Mailhot Trailer

2004-08-09T15:15:00.000-04:00

Worked all day Sunday (yes, I do work on weekends) and most of the day Monday to get this trailer completed for pickup at 5pm. We enjoy doing vehicles immensely, and we especially like doing Jeff's trucks as the design came together very nicely.

Wow, the summer is almost gone!

2004-08-01T04:01:00.000-04:00

Took a few minutes top think about what a busy, hectic, and rewarding summer we have had. I have worked alot of late nights and early mornings (especially mornings!) over the past few months, but I have had some time to enjoy some of the nice things that the White Mountains has to offer for people who are luckly enough to visit here (or even better to live here).

Archived Press Release

2004-05-01T05:22:00.000-04:00

Now, here is what you might not know about this photo. Vicki's jacket is zipped up to hide the fact that she is wearing a Pittsburg Steeler's Sweatshirt. We are very big Steeler's fans, but figured it might not be the best PR to publicise that fact on day #1.

Go Steeler's!