United States Capitol

January 2019

United States Capitol Visitor Center – Days 1-6

2019-01-25T16:02:40-07:00January 25th, 2019|How we do it|

Project Overview Metal Facades (now Atlas Signs and Plaques) was contacted in December 2008 by the prestigious firm, Hadley Exhibits, of Buffalo New York and asked to bid on an exciting project using the LuminOre® metalizing process. The project turned out to be two rectangular frames 16 x 23 feet that Hadley was constructing from High-Density Polyurethane Foam (HDU). The same material that is the favorite of Atlas Signs and Plaques for custom handcrafted signs and plaques. Outer Frame, Unpacked and Ready for the Transformation The frame, quite massive, about 9 x 9 x 9 inches, and required metal coating on three of the four sides. Nestled within the foam frame is a smaller aluminum inner sub-frame meant to house 6 flat screen tv monitors and a large clock. This framework is about 17 feet long and 28 inches tall. Again, 2 of these. The plan is to [...]

Read More

United States Capitol Visitor Center – Days 7-10

2019-01-25T16:02:51-07:00January 25th, 2019|How we do it|

Readying and Applying Metal Patina Day 7: January 22, 2009. With the spray application of LuminOre® Bronze completed, the outer frame project is nearing the half-way point. The sprayed metal requires some time to cure and fully harden prior to the finishing steps. Despite the frigid temperatures, shop heat is left at 74 degrees overnight to aid the process. We can’t wait to see the gas bill for this month. During the cure process, the metal coating develops a bit of a sticky glaze on the outside which must be removed before patination and final finishing. Again, mostly hand work. We usually remove the glaze with a light abrasive blast, and this was no exception. Some of day 7 is spent sandblasting, but the remainder of our time is used to hand-tune the frame surface so we have a nice even metal base that will take the patina and give [...]

Read More

Title

© Atlas Signs and Plaques. All Rights Reserved.
Go to Top