Custom Steel Signage: Raw Plate Steel, Waterjet Cut & Enameled
When it comes to custom steel signage, CNCROi.com has you covered just as easily as if you wanted a sign made out of just about any other material, wood through lamacoids.
Custom shop steel signage, custom art and craft steel signage or however you wish to use this for, CNCROi.com is able to cut through finish just about any gauge and type of metal, stainless steel through raw iron.
Although this custom steel signage is finished with red enamel, CNCROi.com can finish it in just about any color you want, even totally clear which allows for a whole host of creative applications.
Making custom steel signage is a relatively straight forward process, just about any design can be cut through using CNC waterjet, there are of course some caveats but CNCROi.com will point those out to you when the time comes when it comes to optimizing your design for this abrasive CNC process.
In this case here, I’m making a custom metal sign for my cousin’s welding business, he isn’t only family, but my first customer when I started CNCROi.com over three years ago.
One thing you do have to keep in mind though, especially with thinner gauges (thicknesses) of cold-rolled steel, in this case, is the need for supports, if you notice in the “a” above and below, there are little tabs that go all the way across in order to support the inside part.
Due to the fact that CNC waterjet is done at over 60 000 PSI with sand, it can bend metal just from the sheer forces applied, as such, cutting through thin metal does require some material supports that are really no different from what CNCROi.com produces for custom stencils.
This is just a little tad bit of information among a mountain of knowledge that CNCROi.com has accumulated through the years across both custom design and fabrication which we cross-reference with every project we perform for our customers.
While with our Austrian CNC laser you see a bright beam of light cutting or engraving through the material, in this case as you can see in the above picture, it’s just rushing white water where the sand is so small that it isn’t even noticeable.
Talking about comparisons between CNC laser and CNC waterjet, check out this video that runs through some of the differences.
The metal in the image below is covered in sand and metal aggregate, it doesn’t affect the final results, it’s just one of the processes involved, CNC waterjet produces lots of muck, CNC lasers smoke.
What’s really nice about custom steel signage is just how strong it is compared to just about any other material out there, this very thin and relatively light weight metal will not crack or break though if it isn’t well supported, it can bend at this gauge.
What’s really nice about metal is that it can be welded to a project, much like applying glue to various pieces of metal, except the bond is stronger than the material on either side.
If you wanted a sign that’s ultra-durable, looks great, can last endless seasons and can also be refurnished a few years down the road, custom steel signage by CNCROi.com is the way to go!
CNCROi.com uses stainless steel (this project here is cold-rolled steel) to make welding tags, so you could easily rivet and weld various elements together permanently quite easily depending on your equipment.
Whether you want us to produce a custom steel signage that is then annealed or further etched with other information, CNCROi.com has no problem performing these tasks, whether it’s 316SS or cold-rolled.
In the case of CNC waterjet cutting custom steel signage, it needs to be held down with heavier weights due to the thin gauge we used here as a demonstration piece.
When its heavy plate metal like inch thick brass or stainless steel that’s half an inch thick, then this is obviously not required, so regardless of your requirements, CNCROi.com can help turn your dream metal job into a reality.
Just for comparison, the above is a lamacoid that’s made to resemble steel, it looks great but in no way does it have the presence of the real thing, though it does offer coloring and design options that just aren’t possible using real metal.
The CNC waterjet is now just finishing-up the custom steel signage, just doing the outline in order to remove it from the sheet of metal.
If you notice, the other designs that are part of this demonstration are also on this sheet, regardless of what’s done on the CNC waterjet though, the next step is sand blasting.
This produces a nice matte finish on the cold-rolled steel and removes the ledge that’s produced by the cutting action of the CNC waterjet on the back of this custom steel signage.
The finish you see above can be easily locked-in using the same process we use for other steel at CNCROi.com, of course, it can also be powder coated or enameled like the custom steel signage shown in this blog post.
This custom steel signage looks amazing, I gave it a dull finish instead of a highly reflective red enamel finish just to give it additional visibility for the camera.
That’s really nice about powder coating or enamel is that it also gets onto the edges of the cut outs, which helps both protect the custom steel signage well into the future and gives it a wonderful esthetic when looked at up-close.
Need custom metal shop signs or steel stencils made to your spec?
Contact CNCROi.com right now!