Creating an amazing floating-logo lightbox sign

Video Description

This video gives you a look at what goes into creating a truly unique custom lightbox. You’d be surprised how much is involved – from laser cutting a mix of materials like stainless steel, aluminium and acrylics to metal folding, welding, and precision finishing – right down to stud-mounting the logo for a floating, 3D-lit effect. The result? A visually striking, one-of-a-kind piece that showcases what’s possible when creativity meets craftsmanship.

Video Transcript

Today we thought we’d do something a little bit different, since signage is the theme for May. We’re going to be attending PacPrint in the middle of the month, and we thought we’d create a working version of a lightbox to showcase our capabilities — not only with the metalwork (cutting and folding) but also with acrylic, and how we can bring all those components together to make your job easier.

You can handle the final assembly, add your lighting and any finishing processes, and create a finished product that’s perfect for you or your customer.

From the top, this all started as flat sheet or flat material. We laser-cut each of the materials so we could fold and weld the edges. With the stainless, we’ve welded pin fixings to the rear, which act as mounting or fixing points.

In addition to cutting the metals, we’ve also cut the acrylic. The first part we’re cutting is 2mm metal-finish aluminium — this will be the front panel or cover of the lightbox. It’s designed to incorporate intricately cut acrylic to create the backlit opal effect.

Once the product is developed, we laser-cut the panel. Steve has preloaded the correct tooling to ensure we get the perfect finish. It’s then folded, with countersunk holes on the side prepared for later installation. This is the rear section, where you’d typically mount your lighting and other electrical components. If everything’s developed correctly, the pieces should slot together perfectly — like a glove.

In addition to laser cutting and folding, we also handle fabrication and welding in-house here in Silverwater. One of the final steps for the lightbox is sealing it off before it goes off to be powder coated.

We’re using 316 stainless steel at 2mm gauge. The reason for this thickness is that we’ll be welding studs to the rear, and from 2mm upwards, we don’t see any blemishes or imperfections coming through to the front face.

Here we’ve set up some CD-welded studs — M3x20s. We stock a variety here at O’Brien. This size is ideal because it will pass through 10mm acrylic.

You can see the 2mm stainless has been welded on the rear — super strong, and no blemishes on the front face. Completely seamless and ready to be used for mounting or other applications.

Next, we’ve cut 6mm opal acrylic. One of the big advantages of having so many machines in our inventory is the ability to cut with precision — not just for metalwork, but also for acrylic. We can take the cut metal, bring it over here, cut the acrylic, and check all the offsets to ensure great clearance. It’s tight, but not too tight — allowing for powder coating or other processes. It means excellent fitment and easy installation or assembly for the customer.

The reason we built this box was to showcase the range of materials, finishes, and processes we can handle. While we don’t do powder coating or full assembly in-house, what we are great at is metalwork and cutting. This project highlights our acrylic cutting — whether it’s 6mm, 10mm, or even up to 25mm — as well as aluminium cutting, folding, and stainless steel fabrication.

We’ve welded studs on the back specifically to show how pin fixings work, and how we can achieve that unique finish without any blemishes to the front surface.

By combining processes and materials like metal and acrylic, you can create something truly unique — with layers of texture and contrast — that really makes your signage a standout feature.