In our workshop in Guanacaste, a CNC router cuts the letters, logos and panels of our signs straight from the design file. Its table takes a full 122 × 244 cm sheet (4 × 8 ft) of acrylic, PVC, ACM (Lokbond), MDF or wood. We cut for our own signs, and for designers, carpenters and sign shops who bring their own file.
How a CNC Cut Is Made
Everything starts with a vector drawing, the same file the customer approves. The router follows those lines with a small spinning bit, and a red laser cross on the sheet shows where the head goes next. Acrylic keeps its protective paper on while it is cut, so the faces come off the table clean. Every letter of a name is cut from the same file, so they all match.
The machine carries two more tools beside the spindle. A camera on the head lines the cut up with the sheet before it starts, so the cut is more accurate. For PVC board there is an oscillating knife: instead of milling, a blade moves up and down very fast and slices through the board, which leaves a sharp, clean edge.
Where CNC Fits in an Illuminated Sign
In a lit letter, the router cuts the acrylic face and the back. The sides are bent from metal and the LEDs are wired by hand, all in the same workshop, so nothing waits on an outside supplier. A face cut to the drawing sits tight in its letter, and a tight letter keeps rain and dust away from the LEDs through the green season. The finished product is on our illuminated letters page.
A Real Project: A Lattice Garden Screen
Not everything we cut is a sign. One project was a set of wood panels in a mashrabiya lattice, cut on the router and installed as a garden screen on a deck. The machine that cuts a café's logo can cut a pattern like this too, panel after panel, with no difference from one to the next.
CNC Cutting for Other Businesses
If you design furniture, displays or signs and need the parts cut, send us the design as a vector file and tell us the material. We quote the cutting and run it on the same router we use for our own work. A piece up to a full 122 × 244 cm sheet is cut in one go. The quickest way to start is our contact page.
Which Material for Which Job
Acrylic is for anything light has to shine through. ACM is the rigid aluminum panel that stays flat outdoors, PVC is a lighter board that is quick to shape, and MDF and wood are for decor and furniture. The table below sums it up.
