Old Blueprints as Wall art?
Old Blueprints as Wall art?
(OP)
Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone has come across any source of old engineering blue prints purchasable online? Our office has a big mural of the prints from the Brooklyn Bridge and I would love to have something similar for a skyscrapper or bridge (especially the Ravenel bridge in Charleston since I'm a SC Native) for my study at home.
Thanks!
-Huck
Just wondering if anyone has come across any source of old engineering blue prints purchasable online? Our office has a big mural of the prints from the Brooklyn Bridge and I would love to have something similar for a skyscrapper or bridge (especially the Ravenel bridge in Charleston since I'm a SC Native) for my study at home.
Thanks!
-Huck





RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
<tangent>
A while back, I was working on marine exhaust risers, which normally bolt to a Diesel engine, and we wanted a way to show off the product, nicely polished. ... and working. I had a carpenter make a roughly engine- shaped box, to which I glued full size blue on white prints of an actual engine, with the trade dress removed because I couldn't get permission from the engine mfgr. to show off his stuff. Some of the fine lines on the original print blew up to 1/4", so the print shop called about that, and I said that's what I wanted. The finished box looked pretty nice (I wish I had a photo), with the blue lines clearly suggesting an engine from tens of feet away, but not detracting from the shiny riser.
I also had the print shop laminate the prints on both sides, which added a little snap to the display, made the images more durable and smudge-resistant, and I think made them easier to cut, fit, trim, and apply over 3M spray contact cement.
Inside the box, I installed a high pressure blower and a water pump, so the business end of the riser could be seen in action. I fitted acrylic tubing downstream of that, where there would normally be stainless or fiberglass, and looped that around to the back of the display where a marine muffler discharged the air and separated the water, which drained into a concealed sump for re-use.
The box was pretty heavy to lug into a show, but a lot lighter than an actual engine, and it seemed to draw people near, which was the whole point.
</tangent>
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
http://oldblueprints.com/blueprints.html
Here's some more 'artsy' sites:
http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/old+blueprints/f...
http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2010/11/sponsor-sp...
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."
Ben Loosli
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
A friend of mine worked at the company that did the design 5 years before I bought the house.
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
Precision Blueprint
801 N Andrews Ave
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
(954) 525-0157
could do it.
Damn, time flies.
Same address is now listed as:
Reprografia
801 N Andrews Ave,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
http://reprografia.com
(954) 525-0157
(954) 525-0387 Fax
... which I found by searching "blueprints <my zip code>",
without the quotes,
in the search box at superpages.com.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
A blueprint (whiteprint) machine shines light through the original, which burns away the active stuff on the blueprint paper. It is possible to make blueprints from bond paper, but they look awful.
If you can convert your PDF to JPEG or PNG, you can load it into GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, and convert colours.
--
JHG
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
That's putting it mildly.
When we first implemented CAD/CAM back in 1977 (this was in a former life), we would make review plots using ballpoint-on-vellum, instead of ink-on-mylar and we thought people wouldn't have to be told that they were not finished drawings. The problem was that those old CalComp plotters did such a good job that people would occasionally take one of them down to the blueprint room and run a white-print which would end-up in the shop somewhere where is was mistaken for a real drawing. We finally ordered preprinted 'drawing sheets' on craft paper with the drawing border printed in red and with the word 'Preliminary' in large but light-red text displayed diagonally across the front of the sheet and that finally put a stop to people using review plots as 'drawings'. Of course, that didn't address people going into the drawing vaults and taking the ink-on-mylar original plots, scrapping off the ink, making dimension changes, adding a hand written entry in to the revision block, sending it to the photolab to be re-photographed and having a new aperture card made. Now the drawing on disk/tape no longer matched the one in the drawer. We finally solved that problem by simply destroying the plotted drawings after they were filmed and stamping the aperture cards with a big red notice that this was a CAD drawing and that the original had been destroyed. Sometimes it DID take a big hammer to get people to do things the proper way
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
The guy who runs it has made great efforts to get 'Blueprint' drawings reproduced to a good standard.
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
JohnRBaker: That's a funny story. Sounds similar to some surveys I have seen. Take a few pieces from one company. Some more from another. Some cutting skills and tape, and you have a survey. I can't believe what can be approved sometimes. I just recently had to edit a mylar from a City vault and couldn't find a local place that sold electric erasers so out came the blade.
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
Dik
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
I've just found the inkjet prints of my best project, currently thinking how to preserve them.
Cheers
Greg Locock
New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
I know that diazo discolours quickly, under UV, I believe. You can frame it behind a piece of UV resistant lexan.
My understanding is that blueprinting is a very different process, and that it is way more colourfast. I have a very nice watercolour print in my living room of an old Toronto streetcar. My old apartment was very brightly lit by sunshine, and the print is faded. I would put any valuable artwork behind a UV resistant lexan panel.
--
JHG
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
Not an advertisement, but oldblueprints.com is an interesting site offering pre-selected and custom work from A-size to wall mural
RE: Old Blueprints as Wall art?
I love the look of old patents! And google has a patent search mechanism (http://www.google.ca/advanced_patent_search). Some art made from old patents can be seen here:
http://www.etsy.com/ca/search/handmade/art?q=paten...