Blanks on the router table nested.

ADA signs had seemed like a mystery to me for the longest time, as have many areas of the sign business. It was only after installing a lot of ADA signs for other companies that I started to study the composition of the signs themselves. I noticed that this type of sign was being created on a lot of the materials that I was used to cutting on my CNC router. Plexiglas, Corian and laminated materials were the material of choice on many of the ADA signs I was installing for other companies. 

 

I began to wonder if there was a way I could at least manufacture a part of this equation and cut myself into the profit chain. I did a little research and found that a neighbor was making ADA signs as the main portion of his business. I actually had him make some small orders for me in the past. When I approached him about making the ADA signs from materials that I had cut on my router, he told me that this would be no problem. At last, I could make a better margin on these signs.

 

Blank routed and heartbeat line painted.

Stacked and ready for letters and Braille Raster beads.

One of my favorite materials for making ADA signs is the solid surface countertop material that goes by the common name Corian. This material goes by other names such as Staron, Avonite, Meganite and many more. The beauty of this material is that it comes in a wide range of colors that resemble stone, and it cuts very easily with most woodworking tools.

 

When I first started trying to buy these materials, I was told that I needed to be certified in order to be able to buy it. It seems as if the distributors only thought of the solid surface as countertop material. They hadn’t been approached with alternative uses for the material and had very little information about other uses. I was told it couldn’t be used outside. I proceeded to use it for exterior signage and many years later it still looks good. The uses for this material are only limited to your imagination. I’ve seen it reverse carved with 3-D router software, and when it was held up to a light source, you could see an embedded photo. Awesome!

 

If you intend to make ADA signs, there are a number of rules that you need to adhere to—and the scope of this article is just too short to go into all of them. Get a guide and study it before attempting this type of signage. To simplify the rules, I’ll just say that there needs to be good contrast between the background and the letters and the letters have to be raised 1/32" above the background. In addition, there needs to be Braille beads that can be read by sight impaired people. There’s a lot more like size and font requirements, but with some study you can get the hang of it.

 

With this said, I’ll also tell you there is a lot of creative ways that these signs can be made. Many shapes, materials, combination of materials and so on can be incorporated into the ADA signs. The project I’ll show you today was one required by a medical facility in a new building. My wife Renae actually designed the project with a simple heartbeat line across the top of the signs. After visiting the location with her samples, Renae and the customer chose a Staron color named “Sanded Sahara” as the most complimentary choice for the décor. I don’t get to choose colors, if you know what I mean, and actually she’s a lot better at it anyway.

 

The finished product.

After looking at the design, I came up with a plan for making the signs. I made a couple of samples in scrap material before getting started with the actual signs. I did variations on depth of cut for the mitered edge and used a couple of different v-bits for cutting the heartbeat design. The first bits I used were too wide at a shallow cut and distorted the design. I finally found an engraving bit with a very narrow stroke that worked well.

 

With the bugs worked out of the design, I took regular intermediate vinyl and covered the face of the Staron. I repeated the design in my software and added a few extra blanks in case of screw ups or in case the client decided to add more signs in the future. Turned out this was a wise move as they came back and added a few more before the project was finished.

 

The masking was used on the face of the Staron in order to be able to paint the heartbeat after the blanks were routed. V-bits leave a sharp cut edge on the blanks where a straight bit has a tendency to leave a ragged edge to the vinyl that you have to trim off with an X-ACTO before painting. I used a simple brown Krylon spray paint that I bought at Lowe’s. After the paint dried, I peeled the vinyl mask from the blanks. 

 

Note raised letters. Edges are beveled by rotary engraver.

With the blanks prepared, I took them to my neighbor (Rod at Accusign). His name is being withheld at his request. I don’t have the time or the equipment at this time to make the letters and Braille, so my alliance with my neighbor works well for both of us.

 

The equipment for making this type of ADA sign is regular rotary engraving equipment. To make the raised letters in this type of ADA sign you apply the 1/32" thick ADA Applique Material to the letter area of the sign. This material is available from Rowmark and other sources. The ADA Applique Material is available in a wide number of colors and can be custom color matched using a water-based acrylic latex paint. For this project, I used brown to match the heartbeat.

 

The application of the Braille Raster beads was the thing that had me buffaloed for the longest time until I came across this video on the internet. www.visionengravers.com/videos/HowTo-ADASignVideo.html and www.visionengravers.com/videos/2550ADAVideoB.html.

 

These videos and others are available at www.visionengravers.com. What I have said in words is a lot easier to understand in their videos.

 

Finished product. 1/4” P95 Plexiglas with raised letters, Raster beads and standoffs mounted to wall.

I need to close by correcting a mistake in a previous article. In giving the name of the laminating film that I use to bond .040 gauge aluminum to PVC I couldn’t remember the brand of film, intending to go back and correct the name. The article got published without me making the correction, and I have been called to task on it by a number of people. The correct name is Gudy 808 laminating material available from Piedmont Plastics at 919-783-9398.