WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ CNC Routers
MAIN ROUTS Options for adding traditional signmaking capabilities
Read More…
By Richard Romano
W
e mostly focus on the printing aspects of sign and display graphics, but there is an essential tool for signmaking that predates inkjet printers. Companies that are expanding into signmaking
should be aware of the capabilities these types of machines can offer your business. I’m speaking of course about CNC routers. When most of us see or hear the word “router,” we immediately think of the electronic device that provides WiFi to our home or office. That device
Find article at PrintingNews. com/21147956 derives its name from the verb “route,” as it is routing a signal. A “router” in the signage sense derives from the verb “rout,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “to gouge out or make a furrow in (something, such as wood or metal).” As for the initials CNC, they stand for “computer numerical control”—basically, the automated operating of these machines vs. hand tooling or carving. CNC routers are the modern equivalent of traditional woodworking.
Applications for Routers
An example of the kind of signage that a CNC router can produce. (Image via CAMaster.)
42
42-45_Main Routs.indd 42
Printed signage is actually a fairly new application; traditionally, signage tends to comprise channel letters or some kind of routing or milling capabilities. Routers are dominant in wayfinding signage as well as ADAcompliant signage—signs that use a combination of raised lettering and Braille (not all blind people read Braille and instead prefer relief lettering). There are two basic ways of adding routing capabilities to your arsenal of services: routing tools that can be attached to wide-format cutting tables and dedicated routing machines.
WhatTheyThink - Wide-Format&Signage | January/February 2021
1/19/21 11:54 AM
