Project Profile: Plasma-Cut Copper Sign by Yevgeniy Parfilko
Rasa Spa in Ithaca recently opened a new location in Watkins Glen, and they asked Makers in the general area for help in making a custom sign, which would have their name and logo made out of sheet metal with a warm copper finish. I reached out to them, and they were happy to work with me. My original approach was to cut out the logo and letters out of 24 gauge aluminum with a nibbler, but the marketing director at Rasa wanted to have a sturdy, long lasting sign. So I asked Cliff Burger, the current TCMS Vice President, if it would be possible to use the plasma cutter at TCMS for this purpose, and he helped me get my letters cut from 2 sheets of 16 gauge steel. Next, I had to create a textured copper finish that would also look both worn and warm. So I went hardware store hunting, and luckily found copper sheet flashing, which was significantly cheaper than copper plating or solid copper. I glued the copper to the metal letters and applied epoxy to the edges to prevent fraying of the combined materials. Finally, I rubbed the copper down to create an imprin