ALUMINUM, ALUMINUM, ALUMINUM: Day 11 of DDC Merchmas 2023! Three aluminum items today! “Fence Signs,” a new color and larger size of our “Decimal Equivalent Chart”…and, a cool “Nameplate Kit.”

Al-You-Min-Eee-Umm!!!

WE LOVE ‘EM: Old fence signs. Crustier the better. I was in Chicago at Field Notes headquarters a couple weeks back, waiting to be let into their parking lot. And was marveling at the crusty sign on their rolling fence gate thingie. You can see that here. Look at that beauty. Beat to shit, but holding it down.

Couple weeks later, I’m outside a print shop in an industrial part of Portland, and couldn’t help but notice how each sign on that big fence surrounding the joint was TRASHED with graffiti and krinkles (Someone backed into a sign six feet up in the air?) and whatever else. Couldn’t even read the things, but there they were…INDESTRUCTIBLE. And that’s what we made here. Signs to warn folks about messing your property, a stern request to keep from lighting up or welcoming every kind of person into a place. Just as burly as that “Midwest Fence” one back in Chicago and by that print shop here in Portland, and ready to be hung on fence, gate, door or design shop wall. Get it going!!!

01. Screen printed on durable aluminum.
02. Designs inspired crusty fence signs in junkyard, car lots and creepy private properties.
03. Colors inspired by WARNINGS, STERN LANGUAGE and/or PRINTED THREATS.
04. 12.0” tall x 6.0” wide in dimension.
05. Corner holes drilled in each corner for easy hanging on fence, gate or door.
06. The real deal here. None of that digital bullshit here.
07. Proudly made in the U.S.A.
08. Manufactured by Steve Oglesby at the mighty International Graphics & Nameplate Inc. in Vancouver, Wash.
$21.99+$7.50 Shipping & Handling (U.S.A.)

Colorways

All Are Welcome Here Get Cosmic Rabid Dog Cig Free Zone Private Property Beware of Owner

Oh man, are these AWESOME. And not like, 13/16 (.8125) awesome….like 100/100 (1.0) awesome.

It’s a couple times a day where I have to whip open up my little calculator app to get a decimal equivalent. Be it for a patch 3/8 (.375) of the day, or a decal 7/16” (.4375”) away from the edge. Or even a tolerance on a poster trap at 3/32 (.09375”) where the colors overlap. And it’s like 29/32 (.90625) embarrassing. I was raised by a dad who gave these to his machine shop customers. Handheld versions 11/64 (.171875) of the time, and wall versions 49/64 (.765625) of the time. And those bad-asses lived by them. I have a couple of vintage ones in the DDC Archives, but just know if I started using them, I’d beat the hell out of them like 17/32 (.53125) of the time and they go missing or whatever.

Fed up, I made my own. And friends, THESE ARE THE REAL DEAL. These charts proudly feature our mighty “DDC Hardware” typeface from top to bottom.

The EXACT same material and manufacturing processes as you’d see on a nameplate on a piece of Boeing machinery. Exactly the same. So proud of these. Already used mine twice today! Dang.

Special thanks to Steve from IGN in Vancouver, Wash. for the help on this one! Thank you, sir. They turned out PERFECT.

01. Printed on thick, anodized aluminum 1/32” (.03125”) thickness!
02. Screen printed.
03. 3” wide x 5-3/8” (5.375”) in dimension.
04. Perfect dimension for holding in your hand.
05. 3/16” (.1875”) rounded corners for ease-of-use holding/converting.
06. All the big ones, of course. But we’ve got the sixteenths and thirty-seconds, and hell, sixty-fourths too! We’ve got you covered.
07. Pairs well with your standard-sized Field Notes memo books.
08. Quick reference for tricky decimal equivalents.
09. This thing can take a beating!
10. Proudly made in the U.S.A.
11. Great for desk, tool kit, basement lair, cave, nook, lathe, machine shop, printing facility or fix-it shop.
12. Manufactured by Steve Oglesby at the mighty International Graphics & Nameplate Inc. in Vancouver, Wash.
$9.99+$3.99 Shipping (U.S.A.)

Colorways

Black/Raw Aluminum Black/Orange Anodized Aluminum

01. Screen printed on durable aluminum.
02. Designed using our time-tested DDC Hardware typeface.
03. Colors inspired by decimal equivalent charts hanging in a machine shop.
04. 6.0” wide x 12.0” tall in dimension.
05. Corner holes drilled in each corner for easy hanging on fence, gate or door.
06. The real deal here. None of that digital bullshit here.
07. Proudly made in the U.S.A.
08. Manufactured by Steve Oglesby at the mighty International Graphics & Nameplate Inc. in Vancouver, Wash.
$21.99+$5 Shipping (U.S.A.)

Colorways

Red/White Blue /White

ONE OUR ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THINGS IN THE WORLD: …is a simple, unassuming aluminum nameplate. Completely free of sweaty pretension, these industrial gems were simply meant to work, and withstand the wear-n-tear whatever drill press, electrical box, farm implement or sketchy generator it was tacked to was certainly going to experience. And yet, the typography on these forgotten gems is HANDS DOWN some of the most beautiful, balanced, legible examples of how to pack a lot of info into a small space. There’s a certain language to them that stands the test of time. Many lessons to be learned!

I have a sizeable collection of the things. Some procured legally, and some…shall we say…simply out, “procured by any means necessary.” If I happened upon some junk heap that was destined for the scrap yard or landfill and spotted something on something? Cat paw time, baby! Horked the thing off and beat feet.

Any number of times at one of my live shows across the land some rat kit would approach me in the merch line, smile a big shit-eating grin and hand me a little handful of mangled nameplates. “Got those from my Dad’s shop, Draplin…thought you’d like them!” YOU DID WHAT, PUNK? I’d quickly make sure we were in the clear before accepting them. That is some wild stuff, right there. Yeesh!

This little guy is the first of what I hope to be many nameplates made. And we made it into a little, spirited kit. Many more to come so please stay tuned!

01. One “DDC” nameplate, stamped with it’s own number: 001-500.
02. Two mounting screws.
03. One DDC nameplate metallic decal.
05. One DDC-031 “Reversible Screwdriver with Magnet Top.”
01. Screen printed on durable aluminum.
02. Inspired by nameplates across the land…silently holding it all together on tools, compressors, large implements and electrical boxes.
03. 2.75” wide x 1.125” tall in dimension.
04. Two holes drilled for easy mounting.
05. Each nameplate is numbered from 001-500. Stamped!
06. The real deal here. None of that digital bullshit here.
07. Proudly made in the U.S.A.
08. Manufactured by Steve Oglesby at the mighty International Graphics & Nameplate Inc. in Vancouver, Wash.
$13.99+$4 Shipping & Handling (U.S.A.)

For customers using PayPal, click the link above they’ll take it from there. For customers who aren’t using PayPal, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get back to you with an address to ship the funds to. We accept money orders and cold hard cash, so, get with it, man! All orders are shipped out as fast as we can. Usually a couple days after the order comes in. We ship everything USPS “First Class” rates. If you want quicker shipping, contact us and we can ramp it up to USPS Priority, or whatever you need. We aim to please! We cover the shipping in the states, but charge the basics for international orders. Before you place the order through our PayPal account, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get you a shipping quote for the goods you are interested in. As simple as that! Thanks!

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