Located Within DPW’s Route 1 Facility is a Small Office of Great Importance.
It is the sign shop where all the street signs that drivers see every day are created. Stop signs, speed limit signs, street signs, caution signs, and more are all created by hand here at this location.
“Signs get knocked over or damaged by storms but have a general lifespan of about 10 years,” said Dan Kingsbury, the skilled DPW tech who makes the signs.
It’s a routine but important process as each sign must follow mandated state and local protocols for size, readability, and safety.
Each sign has its own template that is located within the software on the shop’s computer and are categorized by sign type. If needed, signs within each type can be Individually customized to meet a specific situation.
Once a sign type is chosen, in this case, a 25 mile per hour speed limit sign, Dan loads a roll of adhesive black vinyl material onto a specialized hardware component called a cutter and instead of clicking “print”, the software template is recreated onto the black vinyl. With impressive speed a small sharp blade crosses back and forth outlining the curves and lines of the numbers and words at a precise depth without cutting completely through the vinyl material.
The process is precise but Dan’s years of experience and practiced patience makes the process look rather routine. No sign, big or little, many words or few, are all in a day’s work for Dan Kingsbury and whose efforts benefit York residents every day.
The process consists of the following steps:
| 1. Once complete, the sheet of cut vinyl is removed and spread onto table where unwanted material is trimmed away using a modelers knife. |  |
| 2. White base paper is added for increased visibility and high intensity reflection. The trimmed vinyl is then placed upon an aluminum blank (the actual physical sign) which has already been cut to regulation size. |  |
| 3. Transfer tape is then applied over the black vinyl to adhere to the aluminum blank. |  |
| 4. The new sign is then rolled numerous times under 100 pounds of pressure to ensure even adhesion on to the aluminum. |  |
| 5. The transfer tape is then peeled off and the new sign is ready for installation. |  |
