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combining capabilities as well as contracts and contacts—one of which was the Rabbinical school. When the school approached Stamprite Supersine, it had a rough idea of what it wanted on the donor display wall, and one of the main design elements was a Torah [books of Jewish scripture]. “[They] wanted it to look a little more traditional—like an actual Torah,” explains Field. “They provided us with photos, and we did research online to see what they look like exactly and set out to create something very, very realistic.”
Both the main and small Torahs feature solid brass plaques that Stamprite Supersine cut from a large piece of brass. They are stud-mounted onto 1/4-inchthick, green-tinted acrylic (for a cut glass look) with 3/8-inch-diameter gold anodized aluminum standoffs. A third display also makes use of the green-tinted acrylic and recognizes ad-
ditional special donors. It features acrylic panels cut into an arch with smaller brass plaques affixed via the same style standoffs used elsewhere. This smaller display was the school’s design. “That was one element that they brought to the table and really had a clear picture of what they wanted,” says Field. The final element of the donor display
Fabrication With the look and design in mind, the biggest challenge was to translate that into reality—a tall order for a custom piece that had no precedent. “When we first walked into this, we had no idea how we were going to achieve it,” says Field. “We knew what the final look was going to be, so I think the biggest challenge was conveying that all off to the fabricators and coming up with materials and construction methods that would achieve that final look.” Since a lot of standoff hardware would be anchored to it, the shop needed something substantial to use for the Torah, so they chose .063-inch-thick aluminum. To give the aluminum the appearance of paper, the shop used a combination of paint and 3M vinyl printed on a Mimaki printer. The shop also used a few dimensional tools to add realism. “We actually cut the fabricator loose with various saws and tools to go about making it look like the edges were torn,” says Field. Everyone in the shop had a hand in crafting the Torah, even the owner. “He’s a woodworker and has some equipment at home. He created the wooden handles working in his basement on a lathe,” explains Field. “He had some samples of stain to match up colors to existing woodwork in the school.” Another smaller Torah was also included in the display. This piece recognizes special donors and was made in a similar way to the main Torah, except with .032-inch-thick aluminum. The ends of this Torah were also rolled several times to resemble paper. signshop.com
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July 2014 // Sign Builder Illustrated
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