We host two Sign Magic Workshops each year here in our studio. Preparations for each workshop begin months in advance. Each participant is greeted with a custom made name plaque. This involves designing, routing and painting a small piece for each student. We also pre-route letter samples for each person. We are not content with merely repeating ourselves and so each name plaque is a chance to experiment and learn some new techniques ourselves. Today I start the projects which are to be held in four weeks time.
In the last weeks we have also made major changes around the shop which have been planned for some time. The massive CNC router was moved to the back room, making our workshop quieter and less dusty. Moving a CNC router was no small task... and the other moves necessary made it doubly so. Our metal fabrication department was first moved out into the parking lot. Then the tools and painting departments were relocated to that area as well as all the display pieces we have in the shop. Guests entering our shop will now come into a finished area with plenty of eye candy to look at.
The storage area in the back room was then emptied and moved to where the painting department used to live. THen we brought out the heavy duty forklift for the router move. It was nail biting time as the heavy but delicate instrument was taken out of the building ad around to the back door. My good neighbor Gord came with the forklift to wrangle the heavy machine into its new home. Over the next few days our electrician and the MultiCam technician hooked everything back up and tuned it for optimal operation.
Then everything else was brought back into the shop and arranged in its final resting place. The big shop rearrangement took a little more than a week to accomplish. After a six years of operation in our shop it is now in a workable format which should facilitate a smoother operation. The new layout will also work well for our workshops. It feels like a brand new workshop!
Now it’s time to get busy making things once more!
-grampa dan