Prep and paint plywood and borders: 90 minutes I had the panel cut to shape on my supplier’s Shopbot CNC router. I primed and painted the panel then masked the border and painted it.
Here’s the completed panel, ready for graphics. I had also masked and painted the lighter green arched panel, and cut the two circular panels for their emblems.
I hand painted the inline border with 1 Shot enamel using a lettering quill.
Apply vinyl lettering: 45 minutes After cutting and weeding the Oracal 751 vinyl lettering for the sign, I applied the application tape then applied the lettering to the sign face.
Hand paint the drop shade: 30 minutes The final step was to hand letter a drop shade on the main copy using a lettering quill and 1 Shot enamel. I prefer the look it gives instead of using a vinyl shadow.

What’s it cost to produce this 72-by-44-in. overlaid plywood sign?

Cutting the plywood panel to shape adds interest

By John Deaton

Posted on Monday, October 29th, 2018

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Materials:
One sheet of ½-in. overlaid plywood: $60
Cutting charge: $25
White Oracal 751 film, 24-by-10-in.: $20
Digital prints: $10
Application tape: $6
Paint: $15
Posts: $22
Concrete: $5
Total materials: $163

Labor:
Sand and paint plywood, paint borders: 90 minutes
Cut, weed, tape vinyl: 60 minutes
Apply vinyl: 45 minutes
Apply digital prints to plywood circles: 10 minutes
Paint shading: 30 minutes
Installation: 30 minutes
Travel time: 60 minutes
Total time: 6 hours 25 minutes
The county government needed a sign for a rescue squad building in a town about 22 miles from my shop. They wanted it installed on posts in front of the building instead of on the building itself. I use overlaid plywood [MDO] on almost all jobs of this type, so that’s the material we are using on this one.

Using the information given to me by my contact, I came up with a design and sent it via email to them. The job was approved and I put it into production. I have a friend who owns a woodworking shop about 45 minutes away who cuts out my overlaid plywood panels on his ShopBot router. He keeps overlaid plywood in stock, and I send him a .dxf file from the Vinylmaster Pro software that I use.


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