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Features
Shop Talk: Custom Signwork on a Budget
*Please click images below to enlarge A few weeks ago, a woman with a small business located in a rural…
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Features
In the Trenches: Quitting Time
I knew he didn’t need to be on his feet much, but he said he felt like working and I…
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Features
Shop Talk: Simple 3D
At our commercial sign shop, we really don’t produce any serious 3D signage, and we don’t own a 3D router.…
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Two Pinocchios
I finished the project Friday evening. I actually had this custom sign fabricated, parts powder coated, faces made with graphics,…
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In the Trenches: Happily Ever After
When my wife, Sharon, was expecting our third son after a somewhat fuzzy sonogram, preparations were made for another little…
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Features
Shop Talk: Fabricating and Frame Making
One of the things that’s helped keep our small commercial sign shop viable through the years is the fact that…
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In the Trenches: And the Winner is …
Well, as the sign business has evolved into a digital environment, I have become a judge of a contest that…
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In The Trenches: At the Speed of Light
Caden, our four-year-old grandson, was the first to wake. Carson, his six-year-old brother was still asleep. I got up and…
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Features
Shop Talk: Logos and Logotypes
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve taken a real vacation, and the shop has been pretty busy this summer.…
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In the Trenches: Artificial Intelligence
Any small business person who has collected sales tax, paid payroll tax, made quarterly personal income tax payments for several…
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Features
Shop Talk: Shop-Made and Special Hardware for the Commercial Sign Shop
*Click images below to view slideshow I would never want to own or run my own hardware store, as inventorying…
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Features
Shop Talk: Getting Back to the Basics with Paint
*Please click images below to enlarge My old brush kit doesn’t get much attention these days. But, from time to…
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So Long, Better Half
If you’ve been reading these Trenches articles very long, you already know our little sign shop is located “behind the…
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Features
Rick Williams: Hiding the Hardware
The commercial sign business is a lot of things, but one thing it isn’t is boring. There are so many…
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Features
Shop Talk: Be Cautious When Investing in Equipment
Several years ago, my dad came to work for us part-time as our sign frame fabricator. Back then, our small…
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Features
Shop Talk: Dealing with a Time-Crunched Sign Makeover
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Kevin, our contact person for one of our very best clients, Exco Operating, gave us…
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