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Plant List
Below is a list of all the machines that L&S Signs owns and runs at our workshop.
3 x Roland Versa Express 640, 4 x Mimaki Cutters, 1 x Easymount Laminator, 4m x 1.7m Bubble Free Pro mounting table, GCC Spirit LS laser cutter/engraver, 8ft x 4ft CNC rounter, 3m wide hydraulic guillotine, 2 x 4m scissor lifts,, 1 x 6m scissor lift, 1 x 12m boom lift
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Wide Format Printers
There are a few fundimental machines that are key to any sign making business, one of those is the wide format printer, these machines will print onto a variety of materials, from paper to various types of vinyl and even heavy duty banner vinyl.
At L&S Signs we run three Roland Versa Exress 640 machines to enable us to keep up with the ever increasing demand we face for printed goods. -
Vinyl Cutters
Another fundimental machine to any sign making business is the vinyl cutter. These are used to make cut vinyl lettering and logos, they will cut out pre printed vinyl from our printers, we also use them to do pen plotting to paper, for example making drilling guides for locator fixed lettering.
At L&S Signs we run 4 x Mimaki cutters, 1 x CGFXII 75, 1 x CGFXII 130 and 2 x CGFXII 160. -
Laminator
Once a material is printed you can then choose to have it laminated, the choice will be made depending on what the printed material will be used for. For example labels going onto a product might not need the laminated finish, whilst printed vinyls going onto a vehicle will need a laminated finish.
The printers we run use Solvent inks, you can get prints done with machines using Latex or UV inks and you will be told these do not need laminating, this is correct but some applications like vehicle graphics will still require lamination. In the real world where vehicles get washed with chemical cleaners, may rub against a hedge etc the unlaminated prints WILL wear out over time.
At L&S Signs we run the Easymount 1400 laminator, this machine has been the work horse for all our laminating for over 8 years. -
Bubble Free Pro
The wide format printers we run can print to many types of materials, however they can NOT print direct to a rigid panel like Correx, Foamex or Dibond. When we make a printed sign panel we print a vinyl skin and then wrap the panel.
Mounting the skin to the panel by hand is possible, however when it is a large panel or even a full 8ft x 4ft panel, this task can be tricky to get right and takes time, with this mounting table it takes less than 5 secons to wrap a full 8ft x 4ft panel with perfect results everytime.
At L&S Signs we use is the 4m x 1.7m Bubble Free Pro, how we managed before this machine arrived is im glad to say, a distant memory! -
CNC Router
When a customer contacts us with an inquiry, there are some common questions regardless of the job, top of that list is price and turn around time. This was the reason that some 12 years ago we purchased our own CNC router as being able to make bespoke signs on demand is a big bonus for any sign company.
Companies without this machine will need to contact a supplier, get a quote and the turnaround time and pass this onto their customer, often this results in the loss of the job because customers will shop around and ultimately find a company that can do all the work in house at a cheaper price with a faster turn around time.
At L&S Signs we use an 8ft x 4ft CNC rounter, at 12 years old it is the oldest machine on this plant list and we have already been looking to replace it with a larger 10ft x 5ft in the near future so we can continue to offer this service with greater options. -
Laser Cutter Engraver
Having the CNC router on our plant list has opened up many opportunities and enables us to offer sign making services that many companies of a similar size to us can not. However there are some limitaions with the router and that is where the laser cutter steps in.
Whilst the the laser cutter is smaller, this is not a problem as it is the small letters that ths router will struggle with, the router uses a tool bit which is generally 3mm or 6mm in diameter, the laser cutter uses a beam of light thinner than a human hair and this allows it to cut much smaller letters from acrylic. It was also engrave onto wood, glass and other materials used for signage.
At L&S Signs we use the GCC Spirit LS machine which has stepped in many times where the router simply can not acheive the same results. -
Guillotine
Sheets of sign material start life in set sizes, one of those is the common 8ft x 4ft size, from this the sheet is cut down into the required size for each individual job. Materials like Correx and Foamex can be cut with a stanley knife, Dibond can be cut with a knife but as the material is an aluminium composite it never cuts clean and blunts stanley knife blades very quickly.
Another option to cut dibond is to use the CNC router, however to do that a job file needs to be set up and then there is the time to cut it out as well as the wastage created, a rounter uses a 6mm tool bit and then there is a gap between panels so there is at least 15mm of material wasted.
At L&S Signs we have our own guillotine which can cut up to 3m wide, with this machine we can cut Dibond, Aluminium or even Steel panels for signs at the press of a button, there is no tool bit so there is no waste and it would take seconds not minutes to cut a panel. -
Access platforms
When a job comes in for a sign that is any higher than ground level, the supplier will need to work out a way to fit it, if it is not to high a simple step ladder will work but what do you do when the sign is going 4m up an industrial building?
The obvious and common choice is the trusty scaffold tower, however the tower will need to be transported to site and when you arrive to site the tower will need to be constructed, you will need to carry the sign up the tower before you can finally fit it before dismantling the tower and loading back on the van to take it home where you guessed it, it will need to be unloaded and put away. This all takes time that could be better spent elsewhere.
At L&S Signs we use not 1, not 2 but 4 different access platforms, they all have different specs which tailor them to specific jobs. We have 2 x 4m scissor lifts, these are small enough to be transported inside our van along with all our tools and signs for the job, we have a 6m sissor lift for this slightly higher jobs and then we have the 12m boom lift, this will get us up to the highest of jobs we take on but also with a 6m outreach we can traverse over obstructions which a scissor can not do.