Speaking from Experience: A very big ship!

WELCOME!

It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one of these machines - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Along with the CNC router I discovered the wonderful material called Precision Board and the glues, primers and other companion products they offer. Since then we have gone through many tons of the material using it in most signs and projects we tackle. This journal will chronicle our many adventures both past, present and future. I'll talk from the perspective of someone who pushes these products to the creative limit on a daily basis. I'll be adding to the stories two or three times each week. -dan

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

A very big ship!

With the workshops now behind us we are full blast into building the Viking ships for the Motiongate project in Dubai. Between the workshops we kept the MultiCam CNC plasma cutter busy and cut through tons of steel plate. These custom cut pieces will form the shape of the hull at each level. They have been cleaned up and bevelled where they will be welded together.

We also brought in many hundreds of feet of heavy square steel tubing, pipe and angle iron which will be used to build the complicated structural framework of the ship.

Yesterday, we cleared the shop and began welding the precept pieces into place. It quickly became apparent just how massive the Viking ships will be... measuring almost forty feet long, seventeen feet high at the figurehead and fifteen feet wide through the beam of the ship. They fill up our shop in a hurry! The first section is below the waterline. The upper portions of the hull will bolt on top of this, disassembling to fit into the galvanizing, then partially bolted together for building and fitting into the shipping containers. It is BIG!