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Two recent projects by Behlmann Signs and Graphics showcase the capabilities of its crack staff and its UV-curable printer.
Since Behlmann Signs and Graphics procured a DuPont Cromaprint 22UV Printing System from LexJet about a year ago, the company's printing projects have been anything but run of the mill.
Tribeca-themed conference room courtesy Behlmann Signs and Graphics.
Though Behlmann has run its share of production-oriented projects on various graphic arts boards and flexible materials, the DuPont printer has brought the unusual out of the woodwork more often than not.
For Behlmann, an added bonus is the sign maker's knack for utilizing odd shapes and forms to engineer and build cohesive wholes. Two recent projects for a marketing company and a developer prove the point.
True to its roots, Behlmann was able to put the pieces together and coordinate projects that entailed imaging, routing, and assembly.
Tribeca Trifecta
Behlmann had already been experimenting with imaging doors and tables on the DuPont 22UV. The experiments were successful, opening doors to new customers and profitable projects.
Direct to table top with Behlmann's DuPont 22UV printer.
One of Behlmann's clients wanted to theme its conference room, and amaze guests at its open house with custom cabinetry and a custom table featuring Lower Manhattan's Tribeca area.
The image was done in tasteful sepia-type tones, and sent to Behlmann for the magic touch of the DuPont 22UV and the company's problem-solving expertise.
The table was printed in five pieces on MDF with a base layer of white ink. Once the pieces were imaged, they were sent to a furniture finishing company for final coat of lacquer. The pieces were put back together like a puzzle and affixed to the custom table base.
"The hard part was taking their image, which was one big rectangle, and doing the computer work up front to make the pieces fit, cut the whole thing into odd pieces, and have enough bleed on all sides in order for everything to register properly," says Jeff Behlmann. "The key to this project was Jason Mills, designer, file guru, and DuPont printer operator; he has a knack, the skill, and the knowledge to make something like this work. To move the shapes around and get them to register in the rectangular shape of the original file took a lot of trial and error.”
“We re-invented the wheel to make this job work. We had to print the pieces after they were routed to the custom shapes. We did not have square corners to set against the machine guides, so we had to figure out how to position the custom shapes on the printer using custom jigs so that registration was perfect. The printer did an absolutely marvelous job. This was one of those projects where you couldn't have any hiccups in the middle,” Behlmann adds.
Floor Plan Plan
Another project for a developer required the same type of engineering and reverse-engineering to ensure a smooth reattachment of all the pieces.
Floor plans printed on two pieces of acrylic with the DuPont 22UV, and then offset with ten acrylic rods.
In this case, it was a dimensional, two-layer acrylic floor plan showing the first and second floors of a proposed building plan that the developer could showcase in its office and take off-site to present their plans.
Behlmann's crew went into the CAD files and changed the line width so the lines would show up better. The first floor was printed second-surface on 1/8-in. clear acrylic with white ink.
Then, black was laid on top of the white, which made the plan's lines pop out for better clarity. The second story was then printed with white ink.
These two pieces were pre-routed to receive the ten acrylic rods that held the two "floors" together and offset them. Once again, but this time working in a more micro environment, Behlmann had to ensure perfect registration.
The printing had to line up in the right spots in relation to the acrylic rods. The acrylic pieces had to be routed first, and the bottom base print was no problem since it was just a rectangle with the image in the center.
Printing the guide image on transfer tape.
The second-story piece, however, was a custom shape, plus some versions of it (five total) had separate pieces that went with it. To solve the second-floor challenge, Behlmann cut a piece of PVC the same size of the base and drilled holes in it like a peg board for suction.
The "second floor" of the two-layer acrylic floor plan is placed on the guide for accurate registration to the first floor.
Then, they covered the PVC with transfer tape and printed the image on the tape to create an image they could use as a guide for where to place the custom-shaped second-floor piece. This gave them the exact positioning for the second layer. Holes were poked in the transfer tape for suction to hold the pieces in place, and the second-floor placed on top of the printed transfer tape guide. Each of the five versions was different, so all the steps had to be repeated.
“We also had to think about everything being mirrored since we were printing second-surface. Both the bottom and top acrylic pieces had indentations for the rods to be set in; this is why registration was so critical. We did not have any extra pieces,” says Behlmann. “Then we glued the rods and pieces together, and the customer was blown away.”