The Mountain Lake Public Library’s new sign
Project blog by: Artist SammyJo Miller
April 7, 2025
Hello readers!
This new project is funded by a private donor for the Mountain Lake public library. Design began earlier this year. I worked directly with Midway Iron and Metal Supply of St. Cloud, MN. The process requires some math and geometry skills. Then the plans are sent to Brian at Midway and he prepares the design for plasma cutting. The images featured are parts of that collaborative effort.
April 9, 2025
Today I made the journey to St. Cloud to pick up the metal from Midway. They were very friendly and helpful, loading all the metal into my vehicle for me. It was a great opportunity to say hi to the people I have been communicating with via email, and touch base about other projects in the works.
Work started as soon as I returned to the studio, it was time to prepare the workshop for the painting process.
April 15, 2025
All 5 metal pieces have been primed with 2 coats. The priming process is not as easy as spray and go, first the metal needs to be throughly cleaned and dried. If you skip this step the paint will crackle when you apply it to the metal. Looks like we are good to go, crackle free and ready for paint
April 20, 2025
The last coat of primer went on the letters today, and the first coat of blue on other sections. I’m so happy that the weather is cooperating. There is a small window of temperature and humidity that is required for ideal spray painting conditions, and we are projected to see a lot of that in the next week!
April 22 - May 1
So… spray paint is a finicky medium. I check the temperature and humidity projections every day before I head to the shop to spray. I properly clean the and prep everything before I start, and apply thin even coats…
And this still happened! See photo. Upon doing further research, this is a common problem with spray paint. If a butterfly flaps its wings in New Jersey your spray paint could have a texture issue. So I have spent this time sanding, cleaning, and reapplying spray paint to smooth the texture as much as possible. It is finally returning to an acceptable finish. New images coming with the next update.
May 18th
The weather provided a brief respite from humidity and rain on Sunday and I was able to adhere the logo sections of the sign. The adhesive used was an epoxy, E6000, meant to affix metal surfaces. The stats on this product are impressive! It is my understanding it should be more than capable of holding this type of project in place, but I am keeping the grinding tools and welder on standby. I have a shaky relationship with adhesives!
In order for it to properly adhere the pieces, masking tape was used to keep portions of the surface free of paint during the painting process. This tape was removed and the epoxy was applied to those areas, creating a metal to metal bond.
Once the clouds clear on this rainy week, I will be starting the clear coat on the three large sections and going to pick up hardware!
May 29th
My history with adhesives holds true…
The E6000 popped, yeah that’s the sound it made, it popped as we maneuvered the logo section to seal coat the back. This is frustrating, but I knew this could be a problem, so it is time to proceed with the backup plan.
Plan B will be to add mounting holes through the different layers of the logo sign. This is an acceptable solution because I did have concerns about the current mounting configuration. This plan will add structural support while solving the adhesive issues.
This plan has put the project behind schedule, and requires additional steps after the project has been mounted.
Watch the plan come to fruition in the next few days! Then I’ll apply a poly finish and it is off to Mountain Lake!
June 6th
I am on the final layer of clear coat for the sign!
To solve the problem created by the adhesive, and add structural integrity to the mounted sign, 2 new holes were drilled through it. This is not the route I wanted to go, but it will solve more then one problem. My hesitation was because it creates additional steps in the completion of the project, and adds to the complexity of mounting it. After the sign is hung I will need to revisit the location and spray the bolts so they do not interfere with the aesthetics of the design.
This week the project will be ready to travel! I will meet with the installation specialist and provide mounting instructions.