Gold Leaf Sign: Sandblasted HDU Community Entrance Sign

We designed, created, and installed another handsome gold leaf sign at Shoreham Beach in Mayo, Maryland. This community entrance sign was sandblasted and then hand painted, and we finished the letters and trim with 23 karat gold leaf. In addition, we shape our HDU signs with sandblasting and CNC routing. Both methods can produce a wood grain background, which makes the sign look like natural wood. We can use new dimensional sign materials to make modern signs that replicate natural cedar signs. Before HDU, cedar was the only material sign makers generally used to create sandblasted signs. Naturally, the blasting process exposes a woodgrain pattern that is unique to every sign. Consequently, many newer materials aim to mimic this look, and a variety of machining and blasting techniques provide a natural hand-made appearance. Our shop is in Edgewater, Maryland.

More about the gold leaf sign

You can see beautiful vertical grain around the lettering and horizontal grain in the middle of this sign. A combination like this gives a gold leaf sign contrast and depth. Because this is HDU, we can create perpendicular grain, which would be much more difficult to achieve with real cedar. In the middle, you’ll find a tier-blasted image of Thomas Point Lighthouse. After blasting, we paint the image by hand, and multiple colors and textures bring this lighthouse sign to life. We can also create HDU signs with smooth recessed backgrounds and v-cut or incised letters. For example, this church sign shows how a v-cut routed letter in HDU imitates the look of a hand-carved letter. In contrast, any letter carved by hand exhibits more detail. That is to say, there are more tiny imperfections in handmade carving and lettering, and these imperfections add character to any sign.

To learn more about this historic lighthouse, please visit its official website.