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    Local Businesses Turning to Craftsman Matt Bowman to Make Ideas Realities

    When Josh and Niki Quinn moved Tigertree into its new home at 787 North High Street, they knew they wanted a beautiful hanging sign to display outside the store.

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    Six layers of Tigertree logo equal a great sign!

    “We knew exactly what we wanted,” said Josh. They worked with Matt Bowman at Columbus Laser & CNC – the internal production wing of The Columbus Idea Foundry, to make their idea a reality.

    “The sign is a duplication of the Tigertree icon, so the design process went very quickly,” shared Matt. “Machine time was only a few hours, as well. The project duration was about six days, but most of that time was in the curing of the paint and sealant.”

    Matt goes into more detail on the making of the Tigertree sign. “The sign is made from six duplicate pieces of birch that were cut on the ShopBot CNC machine. The four interior panels were painted with Tigertree’s brand colors, and the outer two have the typeface cut away and are in black. The individual parts were laminated, covered with teak veneer, and sealed with polyurethane.”

    Raised “Lifeguard” style chair. Nationwide Insurance Columbus Marathon 2011

    As a child, Matt spent time tearing apart everything from construction equipment to stereos. Fitting work among his family of civil and mechanical engineers. Later, he worked for ten years in broadcast television and as a freelance audio technician. In his spare time, he did remodeling jobs and art installation design.

    The move to fabrication came after his initial involvement with the Columbus Idea Foundry in 2008-2009. The group was looking to explore “the manufacture of higher-end products, as opposed to the melee of re-purposed, one-offs, and up-cycled products associated with hacker-spaces.” He uses his “experience with electronics, digital and technical design for multimedia installations, and metal fabrication” daily.

    Columbus Laser & CNC was created to demonstrate the capabilities of the shop as “not only a community workspace, but as a manufacturing facility.” Matt’s job is to “handle most of the intake and a large portion of the fabrication,” but there are many times the group’s collective expertise of Jesse Mills (ARTillery), Joe Sharp (Sharp Trim Ltd, Little Alouette) and Mark Lamson (Metaldelphia) is consulted to address all types of projects.

    You may remember Rivet’s holiday display of gear and cog shaped snowflakes last year. That was a project that Rivet’s owner Laura Kuenzli worked on with Matt and Alex Bandar. Other projects Columbus Laser & CNC have done include: stage decorations for the CMA Game Show events, Ohio pendants for What the Rock?!, inventory shelving and display for the Candle Lab’s Short North location (designed by Tim Lai Architect and worked on with Joe Sharp) and a raised “Lifeguard” style chair for the 2011 Nationwide Insurance Columbus Marathon.

    Shelving for Candle Lab's Short North location. Collaboration with Joe Sharp. Design by Tim Lai Architect. Shelf detail (inset).

    Although the Tigertree sign was the first project Josh and Niki worked on with Idea Foundry members, it won’t be the last. “We have plenty of other ideas to work with them on,” said Josh.

    [Read more about the Columbus Idea Foundry in their At Work feature on The Metropreneur.]

    Visit Columbus Laser & CNC on the web here. Like them on Facebook. Matt also shares projects and ideas on his personal blog, Squelch Latency. Columbus Idea Foundry offers many classes for you to learn skills. Check the calendar here.

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    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
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