Tag Archives: CNC routing and plasma cutting

Precision, Inc., celebrates expansion with new signage and displays

Thursday, 14 March 2019 09:05

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Precision, Inc.—parent company of Precision Pulley & Idler (PPI)—is celebrating. The Pella-based manufacturing company is a provider of high-performance conveyor products. They reached their fortieth anniversary in 2017. In 2018, they opened a new Technology Center to serve as home base for their engineers. To cap it off, Precision, Inc., has announced a diversification plan and new food division: Precision Food Innovations (PFI). PFI focuses on the manufacture of sanitary equipment for the food processing industry.

To mark this season of growth, Creative Marketing and Communications Specialist Melissa Chipps was challenged to come up with new signage and wall displays. She turned to longtime friend Tim Sadler, head of Pella Engraving Company’s Sadler Sign & Design division. Melissa and Tim worked together during the design phase, then the baton was officially handed to Tim and the PEC team. They turned Melissa’s ideas into reality in three major projects:

Headquarters Exterior Sign

The exterior sign was installed using brackets fabricated by PEC’s Sadler Sign and Design division.

First on the list was a new exterior sign for corporate headquarters. The Precision, Inc., team procured the ¼” aluminum and used their capabilities to cut out their new logo. The sign was then passed in two pieces to Pella Engraving Company. The Sadler division welded the pieces together. Then they created an installation template and manufactured brackets to install the sign into the concrete wall of the building. After the PEC team installed the sign, Gritters Electric came in and added LED backlighting so the sign can be illuminated at night.

Wall of Industries and Frosted Glass Brand Elements

In another project for corporate headquarters, the PEC team created a wall display highlighting the industries supported by PPI and PFI. High-definition color photos representing each industry were UV-printed on a thin layer of aluminum. Each aluminum tile was then attached to PVC backer pieces of different thicknesses. Brought together, the varying heights of the tiles give the display visual interest and depth. Glass panels with frosted-vinyl backing display the PPI and PFI logos and feature definitions of the terms, “manufacture” and “sanitary,” as they are used by Precision, Inc. The tiles and glass panels were installed by Tim and PEC Co-Owner Jarid Purvis in a hallway above the main lobby. Across the way, they installed frosted glass panels—also fabricated by the PEC team—that feature the corporate tagline and Precision, Inc., logo.

Wall of PPI Locations

Metalphoto^® anodized aluminum panels showcase black-and-white photos of each PPI location.

For the interior of the Technology Center, PEC created another wall display, this time highlighting PPI’s four Iowa and two international manufacturing locations. Black-and-white photos were printed on five 24″ x 40″ Metalphoto^® panels. This phototransfer technology permanently embeds dye into the pores of the aluminum, ensuring crisp detail and durability. Each photo panel was paired with a 24″ x 8″ plaque displaying the location name. The display was installed by Jarid and PEC team member Greg Dickenson in the main conference room of the Technology Center.

“I’ve known Tim for nearly 10 years and have always had a pleasant experience working with him and his team,” said Melissa. “They always seem excited when I bring something new to them, and they always accept the challenge of helping me bring my ideas to life. Pella Engraving Company and the Sadler division are my go-to whenever I need signage or display plaques.”

Peanut Pub is nuts about new signage

Friday, 09 November 2018 09:58

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New signage welcomes patrons to The Cellar Peanut Pub’s Newton location.

Since it’s 2015 move to Pella, The Cellar Peanut Pub has quickly become a favorite hangout for both townies and visitors. It’s almost impossible to imagine Franklin Street without this friendly neighborhood institution and its expert Pubtenders. Now, with a new location in nearby Newton, owner Marty Duffy and his wife, Betsy, are turning their attention to a new project: establishing the Peanut Pub brand.

“With the business growing, I really started to think about our branding,” said Betsy, who handles marketing the pub. “We needed a uniform logo and signage. Thankfully, I knew exactly who to turn to.”

Marty and Betsy reached out to Tim Sadler, head of the Sadler Sign & Design division of Pella Engraving Company. They needed two matching storefront signs featuring the new logo (for the Pella and Newton locations), as well as a double-sided hanging sign to be installed on the side of the Newton pub. A longtime Pella resident himself, Tim was glad to take on the project.

The new logo is a bespectacled and mustachioed peanut, which bears a striking resemblance to Marty. Tim partnered with its creator to design the signs. Then, he Photoshopped their proposed designs onto pictures of both Peanut Pub locations and showed them to Marty and Betsy.

“Tim made sure the plans for the signs followed all city ordinances,” said Betsy. “We were excited to see the finished product.”

The Peanut Pub’s new logo takes center stage—rendered in vivid color with a vinyl printer.

Fabrication started with cutting and assembling the wooden bases of each sign, which were then painted with three coats of solid color stain to make them dark green. Using the digital logo file, Tim’s team printed a full-color Peanut Pub logo for each sign on quarter-inch aluminum. The logos and sign lettering (also quarter-inch aluminum) were then cut out using the PEC plasma cutter and affixed to the wooden bases.

The Sadler Sign & Design team also handled installation and fabricated much of the mounting hardware for each sign. For example, Tim designed and made the ornamental bracket that holds the 4′ x 5′ hanging sign. He then built a scaffold, which allowed him to bolt the sign to the wall. The Sadler Sign & Design team was able to flush-mount the storefront sign in Newton by bolting into the building’s mortar; they used a canopy-mount system to install the sign at the Pella location.

“The work Tim and his team did on our signage is kind of like magic,” said Betsy. “I’m planning to start my own venture soon—a brewery. When that gets off the ground, I won’t go to anyone else for my signage.”

PEC makes waves with new donor wall at Cambridge SportsPlex

Thursday, 21 June 2018 14:55

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The donor wall at the Cambridge SportsPlex honors all those who contributed time and money to the project.

It took 140 donors to make it happen, but thanks to their dedication, the town of Fairfield, Iowa, has a new gym and pool facility that is improving its citizens’ quality of life and attracting new people to the community.

Originally built 45 years ago, Fairfield’s recreational facilities were due for an upgrade. In 2011, planning began for the multi-million-dollar Cambridge SportsPlex, and it opened in 2016. The 36,000 square-foot-space includes an indoor three-lane track, three full-size basketball courts, fitness area, exercise floor, storage, batting cages, restrooms, and showers.

After the grand opening, the SportsPlex task force committee wanted to recognize the generous donors who contributed to the project. A member of the task force, Kent Whitney, had previously worked with the PEC team and was pleased with the end result of the project. On behalf of the committee, he approached Pella Engraving Company about creating a donor recognition wall.

“I stopped in one day and showed them our ideas. They immediately took to it and got excited about the project. I knew right then we had the company we needed with the capability and passion to create our donor wall,” said Kent.

Kent already had a design in mind, and PEC was able to bring the idea to life using a three-part approach:

Wave-inspired, curving background plates were cut on PEC’s state-of-the-art plasma cutter from 1/8″ aluminum. After color-matching the client’s artwork, these plates were painted in three shades of blue.
1/8″ zinc plates with a pebbled texture were cut on a band saw and painted light gray to showcase the donor list. Donor names were etched into the zinc and tipped in black.
PEC turned to Sadler Sign and Design of Pella for the smallest lettering on the sign. The scale of the letters was too small to be handled by a plasma cutter or CNC machine. Vinyl was the perfect solution. The PEC team pre-coated the vinyl with the task force committee’s chosen shade of gray, and the individual letters were cut by Sadler Sign and Design. This lettering technique was repeated for the sign’s headline to create a cohesive and eye-catching final design.

The donor wall was installed in the Cambridge SportsPlex lobby. It perfectly fills space on a bare wall and improves traffic flow through the building. The task force committee was very pleased with the final project.

“Pella Engraving Company made what could have been a very challenging project enjoyable and stress-free,” said Kent. “The team’s professionalism and friendly and flexible demeanor made us feel like our project was the most important one on their plate.”

PEC team sticks the landing with new sign for Winterset Gymnastics

Tuesday, 13 March 2018 10:14

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Winterset Gymnastics sign lettering installed

Top, the Photoshopped mock-up provided to Pella Engraving by Winterset Gymnastics. Bottom, an unaltered photo of the finished sign.

The athletes and coaches at Winterset Gymnastics are flying high thanks to the new company sign created by Pella Engraving Company.

The gym, which offers tumbling and trampoline classes to kids ages 2 to 18, was in need of a sign after they relocated in August 2016. “The building we moved into is much larger than our old space and just turned 100 years old,” explained Matt Floden, who co-owns Winterset Gymnastics with his wife, Holli. “We did a lot of renovation. While we were able to get the majority of the work finished before Christmas and start classes in the new studio in January 2017, we waited on the sign until a mason could come and repair some of the bricks and mortar on the exterior. That masonry work was completed this year, so we were ready to move forward.”

Matt and Holli knew the façade of their building featured a border and two diamond accents in white brick. However, historical photos of the building revealed there was a third diamond accent covered by old signage. Excited by the discovery, they removed the old sign and started brainstorming ways to design their sign around the three diamonds. Matt, an architect by trade, used Photoshop to digitally build a mock-up of the sign they envisioned.

Plasma Cut brown letters for outdoor sign in PEC shop

The brown color was selected from the Matthews Paint System.

Matt and Holli knew right where to turn to make their vision a reality. Holli is the sister-in-law of Pella Engraving Company Co-Owner Cory Vande Kieft.

“We got the mock-up, then chose a color from our Matthews Paint System that closely matched the color of the sign in Matt’s example,” said Cory. “This paint is specifically formulated for signage and performs really well in outdoors settings.”

Next, Co-Owner Jarid Purvis used the PEC plasma cutter to cut the 20-inch-high letters out of 1/8-inch-thick aluminum. He set the type to match the font from the mock-up. Once the letters were cut, he sanded them to remove imperfections and drilled holes for the stainless-steel screws that would secure the letters to the building.

The 20-inch-high letters were cut by the PEC plasma cutter to match the example.

“We painted the letters and the screws with the brown color we chose to match Matt’s example,” said Cory. “After that, we put on a clear coat to give the letters an added layer of protection from the weather. This coat also contains a UV inhibitor to help prevent fading.”

On a clear February morning—less than a week after Matt sent the Photoshopped mock-up to Pella Engraving—he installed the finished sign on the building with help from Toby Tyler, the dad of a Winterset Gymnastics athlete who was also very involved in the remodel of the new studio.

“If you’re looking for a sign I would definitely recommend working with Pella Engraving Company,” said Matt. “They were fast and easy to work with. The end product perfectly matches the vision we had.”

Gymnasts holding letters for new outdoor sign

Athletes from Winterset Gymnastics pose with the letters for the new sign.

PEC brings modern style to Central College recognition wall

Tuesday, 07 November 2017 13:40

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Pella Engraving manufactured 58 plaques for the updated Central College Hall of Honor—55 recreations of the original plaques and 3 all-new plaques.

Four years ago, Central College embarked on the Forever Dutch initiative—an ongoing multi-million dollar renovation project that is transforming the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex into a modern and welcoming home for student-athletes, coaches, and Central fans. The latest upgrade to the complex is the expansion and renovation of the southern and western wings of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.

The expansion was completed last spring, but it was officially unveiled to fans, donors, and alumni at the Athletics Hall of Honor induction ceremony on September 23 during Central’s 2017 homecoming celebrations. Open for exploring on the gym’s second floor were areas like the newly updated wrestling room. Downstairs, in the Pacha Family Lobby, guests were greeted by something special courtesy of Pella Engraving Company—a brand-new Hall of Honor recognition wall.

The Hall of Honor was instituted in 2002. It recognizes standout student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who have become exceptional leaders outside the Central College athletics family. “Inductees to the Hall of Honor represent the best of what Central is all about,” said Athletics Director Eric Van Kley.

Fifteen years ago, the original Hall of Honor included 55 magnesium plaques with wood backings; Pella Engraving had been manufacturing a new plaque each time an inductee was chosen. As the work on Kuyper Gymnasium progressed, the Forever Dutch team decided to replace the original plaques with new ones that fit the sleek, modern feel of the renovated building. “We went back to Pella Engraving because we knew they could provide plaques with the style and excellence that characterize the new building,” said Eric.

The new plaques feature a photo of the honoree, their graduation date, and biographical information printed on silver aluminum plates.

In total, Pella Engraving manufactured 58 plaques for the updated Hall of Honor—55 recreations of the original plaques and 3 all-new plaques. Plaques will be added each year as new individuals are inducted into the Hall of Honor. The PEC team took the lead in creating the new plaque style. Each plaque includes a photo of the honoree, their graduation date, and a short description of their accomplishments, all surrounded by a field of Central red. The photo, text, and color background were printed on silver aluminum plates with Pella Engraving’s UV flatbed printer. The aluminum plates were then adhered to a black acrylic backer. Finally, clear acrylic shields that provide both style and protection from nicks and scratches were secured to the front of each plaque with aluminum standoff caps.

The display is headlined with plasma-cut aluminum lettering. Two sets of letters—one silver and one black—were created using PEC’s state-of-the-art plasma cutter. The black letters were installed first, followed by the silver letters, which were placed at a slight offset to create a drop-shadow effect.

The new recognition wall received a very positive reception at the Athletics Hall of Honor ceremony. “I’ve heard a lot of people say that the new Hall of Honor looks very classy,” said Eric. “It adds excitement to the lobby, and the quality of the display is something we are really proud of. The Pella Engraving team is tremendous.”

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