Posted by Joe Crumley on January 10, 2002
Mike JacksonI have finally found time to build my first animated sign. For twenty years now I have been wanting to make one of those 1950's type sign we saw on old route 66. You know the one's, with a moving hand, arm, or a hat.
Well, where in the world will I find a book or article showing some of the mechanical parts? This was a big industry with lots of different mehanics.
I know, sign code rules have taken these out of production and they were very corny but lots of fun. They were real effective to. You could not dirve by without looking at them.
Perhaps someone has a lead on How To.
Hi Joe,
Here's a crude drawing of how you can do it. You can get just about any kind of motor you need at WW Grainger with the correct RPM and gear ratio.
I have THE coolest book called Signs of Our Time, by John Margolies and Emily Gwathmey, 1993. ISBN 1-55859-209-1. It shows hundreds of roadside signs and attractions from that period. I didn't see that many moving ones, except for the kind with the waving arm created by multiple neon lines. This book is almost all photos.
The other similar book is called Route 66 Remembered by Michael Karl Witzel. 1996 ISBN 0-7603-0114-X. It has more text, less photos, more history, more attractions. Pretty cool, too.
Check out Amazon, with other similar titles by the same people.
Good luck!
Mike Jackson
Amazon: Fun Along the Road
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 81-3352552
Joe Crumley
Rick SacksThank you Mike for the book references. I will send for these soon.
Lee Bentley of Acorn Signs, Taos N.M. suggests there is a whole industry still making interior "Point Of Purchase" animated signs.They circulate a mailorder catalogue. He's surching for the address.
Thank you guys for your notes. Very helpfull
Joe
A few years ago we did a moving sign. We had a slot in the top of the can that projects from the building. Inside the can is a wheel and we used gears that reversed the direction like on the old egg beaters, and connected it to a shaft that pierces the wall to the inside the attick motor. We got these rubber grommets for weather seals.All the parts came from the Grainger catalogue. The sign is advertising a store that sells beds, and the wheel has sheep painted on it, and they're jumping over a fence. Folks in the community liked it so much they had it exempted from the regulations that prohibit moving signs.
We have these 4x8's, painted on fiberglass panels surrounding the football stadium. They're all flat and this bed shop wants one that moves. Any ideas on how to do one that's real thin? These are a foot off the ground and get bumped into.
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads