Automotive Signs

I mentioned that I had some special projects to work on after successfully cutting a round circle. The first one I wanted to tackle is a couple days late, just due to my schedule, but here is the test before the final run!

I am big car guy, one of the reasons I bought the Maslow is I think I can use it to make bucks for fiberglass or aluminum body panels. My dad is also a car guy and we both have been really excited about the rebirth of the Ford GT racing program. We went to see them race down at Mid-Ohio and it was a blast with the whole family. So I wanted to see if I could make a cool garage hanging sign for him for Father’s Day, with the Blue Oval and the GT logos on it. I used inkscape to make the dxf then Fusion to create the part and the tool paths. Along the way…I discovered Fusion REALLY struggles with the number of line segments in such a complex polyline. So, it took several hours of patience to get to the point where I had tool paths the way I wanted them.

20180620_205537

I am currently watching the test cut of the blue oval part of the sign because it is by far the most complicated and I wasn’t sure the Maslow would be able to keep up. It’s doing great, a little herky jerky because I think it’s processing a lot of the radii to straight lines for accuracy…

20180620_224948~2

4 Likes

Please upload this svg to the garden. I would love to use this as well.

1 Like

Looks great, what’s the overall size of the oval? Bit diameter?

1 Like

The oval is 20" wide and about 7.5" tall. I used that size mainly because it was the smallest I could go and comfortably use an 1/8" bit to cut the whole thing.

When I go to cut it for real I will cut the outside path with a 1/4" bit so it’s a stand alone sign.

3 Likes

I will do that, I actually have it in DXF. I am much better in AutoCAD than I am in InkScape. I will just plan to upload all the logos I end up cutting. I am a VW/Audi fan as well so I’ll do those as well at some point.

8 Likes

Okay, success today, I did the real sign. Need to run to the store and get some paint but I think it looks great.


I will upload the DXF files tonight.

10 Likes

I was going to upload these to the Community Garden, and we can still move them, but for now I decided to leave them here.

Ford GT Logo 2.dxf (156.9 KB)
Ford Logo.dxf (237.1 KB)

I also have a big Ford Performance sign if someone would like that.

Looks great. Thanks for sharing the files. I’d love to see it when it’s all painted.

I had to steal your idea. Got a buddy that is a VW nut.

8 Likes

Nice! I am one of those too! The VW logo was the first thing I ever cut on my Maslow!!

Please upload that on the garden too.

2 Likes

Cool. Trying to get a sense of scale here what’s the diameter of the logo and what size bit did you use to get those crisp inside vertices?

1 Like

Got the base coat painted. I will pour the glaze for the letters today.

2 Likes

20180624_112355
1/4 bit

Lol this might be more of what your looking for.
20180624_112602

3 Likes

Cool thanks!

New sled design @ScrumdyBum? :wink:

1 Like

@arnoldcp, What glaze do you use? and what do you use for coloring? if you don’t mind me asking. I imagine that ford sign would look mighty nice with some bright white letters. Cant wait to see it.

Well… I havent updated because the glaze I purchased bascially ruined the sign and I am trying to determine if it is salvageable. I bought an acrylic glaze for things like pouring the water in a model train set. It shrunk quite a bit and it looks awful. So. I am not sure, I welcome suggestions.

it wasn’t his stuff by any chance?


Because I haven’t used mine yet for its original intention, and thought I could try to color it and use it the way you are. If this isn’t what you used, Id be willing to test it out for research purposes lol.

It was not. I actually went to a local hobby store WITH my sign and showed the person what I wanted to do and the product they gave me was Liquitex Pouring Medium. Super bummed about it. Oh well…

Another product I saw was the Smooth On acrylic resins. That may be a possibility