Repurposed street signs

I rescued some street signs from the local dump. They are heavy aluminum on the back side and I polished them up with a scotch brite pad on my drill press. I hope the attached picture is really attached. In any case, the drill press can’t do the center of the sign so I am soliciting ideas on what to do with the signs as is. I am not very inventive and the only mini-ideas I came up with are: 1) glue a piece of slate on the sign to make a chalkboard surrounded by polished aluminum 2) glue on some photo or art work (hmm Elvis on black velvet?) 3) glue on a piece of wood — then what? Alternatively I am still thinking about jury-rigging a drill press to do the center. If I am successful there, what could I use these for? Place mats? Backsplash in kitchen? I am hoping you have better ideas than these!!

daroogle

in General Discussion 10 years and 11 months ago

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edwinmayer | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Are these old enough, if so it holds not only cash but a historical value. Imagine Mike Wolfs the archeologist tat collects vintage arts and signs. If that signs have fading design, you can have that restored from many designer or printer expert. Check this portfolio at [http://digitekprinting.com/](http://digitekprinting.com/), you can see various designs in many kinds of print materials.

daroogle | 10 years and 11 months ago

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OP here (still!) Attached are pics of my sign-friendly drill press. I took apart an old craftsman press designed for using with hand drills and mounted it to a shelf in my shed. I then had plenty of room to maneuver the work around beneath it.

daroogle | 10 years and 11 months ago

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OP here. Is this what you are referring to tinkers wagon: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Black-Decker-Drill-Guide-Extension-1-4-3-8-Drill-10-Shaft-71-055-/141293170116?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e5baadc4 I had one of them years ago (now long lost) and agree that it should work to burnish the center. My neighbor just lent me an old craftsman drill press (like this one): http://www.ebay.com/itm/CRAFTSMAN-Drill-Press-no-335-25926-amp-STANLEY-Electric-Drill-type-H19-A-/190807627871 that I think I can partially disassemble and clamp to a shelf from above enabling me to get at the center portion. I’ll try that this weekend and post the result. Still looking for inspiration on what to do with the finished product!

thetinkerswagon | 10 years and 11 months ago

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I have a drill guide here. I only just bought it at a yard sale and have not taken the time to see how a drill chuck attaches to it. but the seller told me one does attach. the guide is really for drilling centered and straight holes on the edges of wood. I can tell you this though, if it were screwed to a board with a hole cut out for whatever you are burnishing that metal with, someone could put their feet on the board and stand over this and do the work. let me know if you wish to know more. sorry about my off topic to Mr. Greenmountain. Steve

http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/tinkerswagon

daroogle | 10 years and 11 months ago

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OP here (still!) The metal is 3/32″ thick and I’d need access to a saw that could cut out the hole neatly. Ideas that don’t require me to do much more actual work (or leg work) are best for me. Mounting a block of something on the sign is something I can more easily do (liquid nails adhesive say) than cutting thru it. But if anyone had a nice saw I could experiment with, I’d be game to try.

dorkofwindsor | 10 years and 11 months ago

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back to the topic, i think the poster could cut make this into a frame. a rectangular hole in the unfinished area, trimmed on the inside with some wood (paint it black), and essentially use it as a photo “matte” and frame the outside (same black). A photo or a picture – perhaps a nice gritty industrial photo or a photo of some cool street art – could be the subject.

Arkady | 10 years and 11 months ago

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I think aluminum filing fires are similar to flour dust fires – you need quite a density before it combusts.

thetinkerswagon | 10 years and 11 months ago

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I was not actually looking for a response.

greenmountain | 10 years and 11 months ago

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I have to admit I do have a few metal filings around here too, and thank you for inserting the “Mr.” True, most of us do not start fires with aluminum dust. The Wisconsin fire was in a foundry where their was a much higher volume than we have in our shops. I don’t really know what the necessary conditions are for an aluminum fire, other than some dust and static. But, it is still a good idea to check it out. ACTS FACTS also covers people falling in to orchestra pits, and chemical storage closets in schools where everybody forgot what was left in there. It has helped me to gain perspective on the hazards we all deal with in our crafts. And the re purposed signs look great.

thetinkerswagon | 10 years and 11 months ago

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Mr. Greenmountain: two months ago I had a customer (a genuine chemist) here at my house informing me that the oak I was sanding could cause cancer. I have been breathing in oak dust since 1971 when a huge tree fell in our yard. the tree did not get me, the dust generated sawing it up did not get me and all of the sanding dust since then has not gotten me – I was certain I had escaped a certain death. Now, I read your post about aluminum fires. I have been grinding aluminum since 1979 and have never given one bit of thought to the possibility that I might die in an inferno caused by the dust from aluminum. Honestly, I like grinding aluminum because it, unlike steel, does not impose risks if bits of it remain in our eyes and we later have to have an MRI – so I don’t even don safety glasses for the stuff. But back to aluminum fires: I am aware that metal fires are about impossible to put out (I believe the fire extinguisher for such infernos is a yellow one – or was that for certain gases that only NASA is able to posses, I forget. I suppose I better know before I advance careers) so I have never bothered to buy the extinguishing equipment; I just figure I will save my family the cremation costs. reading your post almost makes me wish I smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol while piloting an open cockpit aeroplane just to round up my chances of dying from something before I work myself to death.

greenmountain | 10 years and 11 months ago

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Do you know you about the fire risk when you create aluminum dust? Check this out: http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0054.pdf Not convinced you are engaged in a hazardous activity? You got a fire extinguisher? What kind? Aluminum fires are not easy to put out. If you continue to rescue industrial materials from dumpsters, why not subscribe to ACTS FACTS. http://www.artscraftstheatersafety.org/newsletter.html ($30 for 12 monthly issues sent by USPS) It could save your life, or the life of an innocent bystander. Aluminum fires are regularly covered, such as last May when Editor Monona Rossol reported on an aluminum dust fire in Wisconsin, which injured 3 workers.