When I first started doing sign work part time, while still a college student, I had some business cards made up stating that I was in the “outdoor advertising” business. Well, that was partly true. I made signs that advertised, and nearly all of them were outdoors. I was so young I didn’t really understand that “outdoor advertising” meant “billboards,” and that was for the most part a totally different business.

We never have been in the billboard end of the business, but every now and then we are asked to build what is essentially a small billboard. This was the case a few weeks ago, and we fabricated this particular sign a bit different—for us, anyway. That is, we finally wised up and designed this type of sign as a break-down, or pre-fabricated kit, and doing so improved this type of job in several ways. For this month’s Shop Talk, let’s take a look at perhaps the best way to tackle sign projects similar to this one.

Because the sign was designed in simple kit-form, all the components were easily manageable, portable and fairly light weight. When we were ready to actually go out and install our mini-billboard, we had just nine structural parts, plus the faces and trim. 

To keep the sizes minimized, the posts were fabricated in two pieces each, a short member with a baseplate and studs, which would be concreted in the ground, and the post itself with a matching baseplate. Then there were four members that made the rectangular sign frame, plus two vertical ribs that were to support the seams in the three piece face.

Of course, pre-fabrication has several advantages over building in the field. Many signs and nearly all billboards are pre-fabricated these days. But one advantage for a sign this size, which may not always be considered, is that the components, none of which were very large, could be totally pre-finished by powder coating since they would easily fit in a typical spray booth and oven. Powder coating, nowadays available in most all markets, may not be any more expensive than painting, yet gives the whole structure considerably more outdoor durability. This is a plus to us and to our customer, who will have to maintain this sign for years to come. 

Our structure was made of easily available materials, 2" x 2" square steel tubing (11 gauge), 1" x 2" square tubing (14 gauge), and the posts of .25" wall, 5" x 5" square tubing for the posts.

The rectangular frame, as the illustrations show, was made of two “U-shaped” pieces, and to horizontal members. The long pieces would bolt to the posts first, and the “U-shaped” pieces had tongues of 1/8" thick flat bar welded to them to slide into the longerons. Screws of the type used for metal building construction were used to secure the members together on site. Simple “T-shaped” brackets were made to attach the two vertical members of 1" x 2" tubing in place where the three 4' x 8' aluminum panels would seam together. All the items were pre-finished in medium green powder, baked on.

The above ground parts of the posts were 14' long and capped at the top. Holes matching the ears welded to the longerons were pre-drilled (or cut in them with a torch), and base plates were welded on including small gussets for strength.

Both the short and long post members were also powder coated for durability. Virtually no paint at all was used on this project as the faces were of pre-finished .063 white aluminum, and all the structural members were finished with powder coating, making the entire project as outdoor durable as possible.

Graphics on the face panels were done using high-performance vinyls, and trim to hold the faces in place was made of more pre-finished white aluminum in 4' strips. These were secured to the sign frame onsite using many self-drilling screws.

Of course, the short posts approximately 5' long were concreted in the ground first and the concrete was allowed a few days to cure. A lot of the construction of the sign itself was done in one evening, partly after dark on a short winter day. We used our bucket lift to maneuver around the sign. The sign frame is really secured to the posts by only four bolts going through .125" thick steel “ears” welded to the frames’ two long members. 

When installing the longerons, the bolts securing the bottom one were not really tightened at first. Once the “U-shaped” frame ends were fitted into the upper longeron, the bottom one could be adjusted up or down slightly to make a perfect fit. Then the vertical pieces of 1" x 2" tubing were secured in place with their “T” brackets, and it was time for the aluminum angle trim and faces.

As we worked around the perimeter of the sign installed the face trim, we soon realized the batteries we brought for our cordless drills were not all charged fully, and we would soon be running out of power. This would have been a considerable calamity except for having at our disposal a special charger my son, Slade, had devised for us some time before. This item has come in handy on several occasions, and I don’t believe there is a charger for cordless drills quite like it. 

Of course, anyone could carry a cordless drill charger out on a job site, but most are quite slow and therefore of little use in an emergency. Also, few chargers that come with cordless drills are really “smart” chargers and don’t do that great a job of completely charging batteries.

For us, Slade took a spare charger that came with one of our cordless tools, and stole the battery receptacle off it and wired it into a rapid charger typically used for model airplane use. (Today, many model airplanes, even expensive ones, feature electric motors for power). This type of charger will charge cordless batteries from a 12 volt car battery in 10 minutes or so, and it is a computer-controlled charger, able to tweak the charge to get the total capacity out of a given battery. Voila! In a few minutes out on a job we can recharge our drill batteries and get a better charge than they would have gotten back at the shop. (If you would like specific information on making a similar charger for your shop, just send me an e-mail and myself, or Slade, will be happy to answer your questions.)

So, our job proceeded as planned because we could charge unexpectedly dead batteries and keep on working. The trim used to secure the faces, and the faces themselves, were secured with a type of flathead self-drilling screw that’s ideal for this type of job. To finish, they would be painted with white enamel using a touch-up brush.

We completed the project on schedule, and this sign has already weathered a nearly direct hit by a small tornado. The structure didn’t budge at all, and neither did the faces. 

Doing this job in kit form was a real plus for us and for our client. Instead of having to trailer bulky posts and a large one-piece frame to the worksite and use a boom truck or crane to lift it all, we only had to work with smaller, lighter, and therefore safer components. 

Instead of priming and painting all the structural parts, by keeping the pieces smaller in size, we could powder coat the entire assembly, which gives our client a better product for their money. 

In general, the larger a sign is, the more ideal it is to design it as a kit, pre-fabricating everything in the shop, and pre-finishing everything as well if at all possible. From transportation to installation, the advantages of this type of construction are obvious. But, if that is so, why have I done so many projects the hard way? Beats me, but feel free to learn from my mistakes.