Menu Boards

Aloha all,
Just wanted to share a project that I did over the weekend. We needed new menu boards for our restaurant here in Santa Cruz, Aloha Island Grille. So we took our illustrator files up the street to Staples where they printed out the files on their fancy HP 30" wide printer. I then picked up some foam backer board, just my luck it came in a 3 pack (20" by 30", our file were 24" by 20"). I got the foam in black since it creates a nice shadow behind the bamboo. I stopped by Cost Plus and got some 1.5" bamboo posts (3 6 footers for $20, not the cheapest but they were all in good shape and I didn't have time to wait for an order from Benson's imports.) The last stop was a craft store for some "Jute" string, very rustic looking and only $.99 a yard.

First I cut my foam boards down to 20" by 24", and then I used 3M photo adhesive to apply the photo paper to the foam. I sprayed the adhesive on both surfaces to achieve a nice bond.

As my board dried, I split my bamboo on the table saw, wearing a dust mask, gloves and ear protection. To protect my eyes I wore sunglasses, 'cause it was sunny. Once the bamboo was split I cut it into 25" and 22" sections, then I hit them with a blowtorch to give them that real aged look. (be careful not to over do it and start a fire).

Once my wood was ready, I laid it out on the board and marked where the bamboo criss crossed. Setting my table saw blade to 1/4" I cut grooves into the bamboo (on opposite sides) to get a flush mount. I then drilled holes for screws to go through the bamboo, foam and into some 3/4" scrap wood behind the foam.

Using a simple knot with the jute, I made the bamboo look lashed together by tying the jute like a bow on a package and hiding the knot behind the wood. The jute then covered up the screw to make it look very natural. Here is the first one I finished:

And here is the final product in place on the wall, now I just need to do the Dry erase specials board seen to the left:

This project was super simple and cheap too. Materials were:
Print outs $35
Foam 3 pack $14
Bamboo $20
Jute 4 yards $4
Photo adhesive $5
I had some scrap wood and screws so the materials total was only $78 and it only took me about 2 hours of fun work in the sun.

Thanks TCers for the inspiration and as I mentioned in another post we are "Tikifing" the joint a bit more and would love any ideas or comments. We're glad to be a part of keeping such an awesome style alive and hope that we can use our venue to inspire others.

Mahalo and Aloha for now!

Cheers,
Numa
Aloha Island Grille

As a professional sign maker, I have to say excellent job!
Is there any type of UV protectant on the print?
If not you could have gone to a local sign shop and bought some clear mask to cover it (the type of clear mask we use on vehicle wraps). If it doesn't have a UV protectant on it, I would dry wipe it, it could run when wet.

But other than that, I think it's a great design and a great looking sign. If my wahine and I get out there, we are going to swing by your place for some chow. I love me some Chicken Katsu! Man.. I think I'm going to go to Aloha BBQ Grill and get me some supper tonight. You got my mouth watering!

Texas Tikiphiles Unite!

[ Edited by: Unkle John 2007-07-03 12:41 ]

Mahalo Unkle John,

Thank you for the kind words. I didn't add any coating but I may see if a spray varnish would work, in the meantime I'll make sure it stays dry.

Cheers,
I'll get your Katsu order in right now!

Nice work Numz! What did you did with the old sign? Were you able to salvage any of it.

Chongz

P.S I got the $$$ for the skater thanks cuz!

Looks very professional. Could it be a branching out for you? Do you have a design for "A-FRAME" made out of bamboo that would be for holding one of these signs say, out in front of a bar and grill?

Hang Loose and Stay Cool

[ Edited by: T1K1 LEE 2007-07-03 17:35 ]

CHONGOLIO,
Thanks for the shout out. We saved the old board, Timmy put it up in his garage in case he gets hungry. Glad you got the funds for the SK8, I need to send some more for some raffle tix. That raffle is getting insane!!! So much killer kokua from all these great peeps on the TC. Looking forward to seeing you back on da mainland for a little while.
P.S. I'll try to throw some goodies into da Raffle (maybe a couple gift certs?)

T1K1 LEE,
Thank you also for the kind words. "A-FRAME"?... Hmmm, great idea, I'm on it! I'm putting an order in for Benson's, I'll keep ya updated. Working with Bamboo is definitely a blast and good for the planet!

Cheers to all,
Numa
http://www.alohaislandgrille.com