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At first the usual application of routed signs did not appeal to Gorman as an idea good enough to warrant the outlay of cash for a router. The principal reason he felt this way was that the only routed signs that he could recall seeing had been on either mountain cabins, resort homes, ranches or along the trails through the national parks and on monuments. And these signs were usually used to display some catch name as: "Tuck-A-Way," "Bide-A-Time," "Idle-Daze" or some other oddly named vacation spot. These signs were usually cut on a pine log that had been cut at an angle with the letters painted black and the wood varnished to a high gloss or stained some light color.

However, on the way home from the fair, the headlights of his car picked up a sign board along the highway that had been glass beaded to reflect any light that struck it, making it more readable at night. Here was his inspiration. Why couldn't he, he wondered, develop a sign for private homes and bead the letters, the same as the highway signs, for easy identification at night. He could, by making a sign in this way, make it easier for visitors to find the right house with a flashlight or the spotlight on their car without bothering all of the other people in the neighborhood. Also it would answer the desire that many people had for a lighted door number. The more he thought about the idea of beaded signs for private homes, the better he thought the idea was. In the end he went down to the tool store and bought a router equipped with both a round type and a "V" type cutter.

He believed that pine or white wood of any sort would not make a suitable background for the type of sign that he intended to make as his idea was to paint the letters in white enamel before he beaded them. The least expensive dark wood that he could find was redwood. It was readily available in cutoff lengths that the lumber yards were more or less anxious to get rid of and even better yet, they were selling them at a reduced price. This suited Gorman fine. He bought several lengths to practice on and to find out how redwood would react to his router. His initial effort was successful enough that he decided to go ahead and complete a sign that he could use for display advertising.

GORMAN IS an inspector at the Rohr Aircraft Factory in Chula Vista, California, and he intended to display his sign over the inspection bench where he worked. So the first sign that he made identified his station and the operations that he accomplished there. That proved to be all of the sales talk or display that he needed. The first night he received enough orders to pay for his router and add some pocket money to his account.

From the very first, Buzz endeavored to design a sign that would be a decoration and a distinctive addition as well as a good identification for every home. He made them frilly enough to call attention to his work, but not so flouncy that they would be outlandish. That is one of his secrets for the successful marketing of his sign.

When he starts to fill his orders, Gorman cuts each blank to fit the individual length of his prospective customer's name and address. He never cuts off a lot of blanks beforehand from his material. By fitting each name to its own blank size, he is able to give all of his signs more balance and when completed they have a more professional appearance. His natural talent for laying out the sign in script helps him keep the finished product from appearing stiff and blocky.

WHEN HE has his blank cut out, Gorman roughs in the name that he is working on with a piece of chalk. He doesn't attempt to draw in the script exactly as it will appear in the final piece, but just uses this rough as a guide to work from with his router.

After he has laid out his sign, he adjusts the router cutter so that it will cut a groove about ¼ inch deep. By experimenting he has found that the round type cutter set for a ¼-inch cut gives the best results for the lettering that he intends to paint and bead. The "V" type cutter is the best for cutting a sign that he is going to leave natural—that is without any paint or bead finishing. He does get orders for signs that are to be left natural, but they are only done on special order. These signs are usually used somewhere inside the homes; in dens, private bars and work shops.

When his signs are shaped and routed out, Gorman gives the whole thing a coat of redwood filler and a coat of redwood stain. This is done primarily to protect the wood from weathering too fast. It also adds a semi-gloss to the finished product. He has to be very careful, however, when he has finished staining the sign to protect it from any dust that may be present in the air. Dust, if it were to get into the fresh stain, would destroy the semi-gloss finish. When he has signs that are drying after he has given them a coat of stain, Buzz doesn't route any new ones in the room until they are dry.

GORMAN WAITS for about twelve hours until the stain and filler are completely dried before he starts painting in the letters. For this process he uses a regular camel's hair paint brush that doesn't quite fill the groove that has been cut out by the router. By using a smaller brush than the groove to be filled and a generous amount of paint in the brush, he can run the paint up to the edge of the groove by using enough pressure on the brush that a pool of paint is kept ahead of the brush. He finds that it is much easier to "cut-in" the line of the letters with the white enamel when he uses this method of "wringing" the paint out of the bristles and keeping the pool of paint in front of the brush. The enamel is applied in generous amounts because the more paint he uses the better the beads will adhere to the paint.

The glass beads that he uses can be bought at most paint stores. When the sign is ready to have the beads applied, Gorman pours them into the grooves and the wet paint until they completely fill the groove. By putting the sign on a large piece of paper he doesn't have to worry about losing any of the beads even when they run over, as he can pick up the paper and funnel them back into their container. As soon as the beads have set just long enough to give a beaded coat to the wet enamel, the excessive beads are removed by turning the sign over on the paper and letting them run off. The sign is then put away face up so the paint, and the beads will not puddle as they dry. It is left in this position until the enamel is completely set up and dried.

Even though every customer wants his sign done just a little differently from the rest, Gorman has been able to develop a few basic layouts that he can adapt to the majority of the orders that be receives. His most popular model is made in two pieces. A wide sign board is cut out and the customer's name is routed out. Then it is fitted with two screw eyes along its bottom edge. The address is then routed out on a narrower board and fitted with two hooks along its top edge. When the signs are completely finished they are put together with the hooks and eyes and the hooks are closed so the wind will not blow them apart. The next most popular design is one that has both the name and address on a single blank that has been cut quite a little wider than either of the two pieces that he uses in his two-piece sign. Either model makes an attractive and distinctive sign and is the basis for most of his work.

THE ORDERS that Gorman received at the plant where he works kept him busy at this avocation for quite awhile. In fact, it kept him jumping to complete all of the signs that were ordered in the time that he promised them. The new orders that he received from the people who saw the signs on their neighbors' homes also added to his work and profit.

After a little practice, Buzz became more proficient in producing the finished signs. Then, after developing some short cuts in his operations, he found that he could handle more orders. At this time he decided to add a salesman to his force. The only way that he could hire anyone as a salesman was to get one on a commission basis. He was lucky enough to have a coworker, Jim Kelly, who was interested enough in his signs to take on the job.

Kelly brought him enough additional orders to keep him busy. Kelly wasn't satisfied with individual orders. He took the signs directly to business people, and they sold just as well to them as they had sold to the individual buyer. Instead of a single sale to each customer, some businesses ordered them by the dozens. This was especially true at the real estate offices that Kelly contacted. The idea of signs that would show up as well at night as they did during the day appealed to the real estate brokers as better "for sale" signs than the ones that they had been using. The extra cost of the signs that Gorman made for the real estate people was offset by the fact that they would last much longer than the type signs that they were using.

Kelly also managed to put samples of the beaded signs in some hardware stores, nurseries and home furnishing stores. The sample signs that were left in these stores were routed to read, "Your Name and Your Address." The stores took the orders and turned them over to Kelly on a percentage basis.

GORMAN SETS his prices at a point where he can get a fair return and still low enough that his prospective customers don't think his signs are too expensive. He finds $5 for a one-piece sign and $7.50 for a two-piece sign is satisfactory to both himself and his customers. On the multiple orders he receives from real estate offices his charge is $50 a dozen, and on the signs he makes for store fronts, which are quite large, he charges $35. He maintains a margin of profit at these prices and as yet he hasn't had any complaints.

Gorman, who is single, is now working on a trailer that will be half work shop and half living quarters. By using a trailer he will be able to make his whole project mobile. This wouldn't be nearly as crowded as it sounds at first because the actual working space that he uses is very small. His present work bench is only two by four feet and it is situated in one corner of a garage. He believes that county fairs and home appliance shows offer unlimited sales possibilities for selling his signs. By working out the details of this operation at this time, he can turn his hobby into a full time job if by chance his present job should end any time in the near future.