MemKpr

My call responding to a message left from an old sign painter friend in Phoenix during my early travels for AT&T opened a new door of possibilities.

In 1974 a large double sided redwood sandblasted Jeremiah Steakhouse sign was completed by my friend Steve in Phoenix. The client was very pleased with it and wanted to know if Steve could also provide him with 50 redwood menu paddles, in time for their grand opening just a little more than 30 days away.

Note:The Cowboy Steakhouse picture you see above was the only redwood lettering sign I could find to help tell my story. No pictures of the original job exist Also the original Jeremiah Steakhouse in Las Vegas was torn down in 1996 to make room for a new resort on the strip.

How do you make a SANDBLASTED Redwood sign?
A sheet of 1/16" rubber with an adhesive backing is attached to the wood surface. The letters are drawn on the surface of the rubber sheet and then cut with an X-Acto knife. When all the letters are cut, the background rubber is pulled off the redwood, leaving just the letters and edge frame.

Then the redwood is blasted (not with sand but blasting abrasives). Redwood is the best wood for sandblasting signs.

The unique quality of 3D letters standing off the redwood surface is attractive. Redwood signs became most popular in the Western states back in the early 80's.

Now my friend Steve had to find a way to cut much smaller letters into redwood than he ever tried before.

The letters on the finished sign were 8" tall. The lettering for the menus would only be 1/2" tall. Next to impossible to hand cut in a rubber mask. Especially for 50 menu paddles

How was Steve going to make a happy client even happier? He started to consider every possible way but only silkscreening the lettering came close and he didn't have the equipment or the experience. What to do?

He remembered Ray Zukowski down in Tucson and knew I had experience with silk screening many, many bus bench backboards where we met years earlier. It took a little digging but found my number and called and left a message at Goudie Assoc for me to call him. Since I was on the road full time, I checked for messages daily.

Just so happened I was finishing up my AT&T exhibit management work in LA and would be heading down to Tucson and had more than 2 weeks free before my next show in Vegas.

I responded to Steve's message and set up a meeting with him on my way down to Tucson.

As a sign painter myself I was attracted to the 3D look of this new redwood signage I was seeing out West but didn't know anything about sandblasting.

Two days later in Phoenix, Steve showed me his new Jeremiah Steakhouse sign ready to be installed in Las Vegas. He shared the details of his clients need and a layout for the menu paddles. All looked possible for me to give it a try.

Note:Again to help explain what was requested of me, I added these pictures of a plastic cutting board that had the same basic shape plus an addition rounded top to be cut out of 3/4" redwood..

I was blessed to have Grandparents living in Tucson with a large house and garage workshop plus plenty of parking space for my RV and Porche. My Grandfather and uncle Ed had already built 5 duplex apartments plus the house I was visiting. Their workshop was filled with tools. Grandma was always happy to have me visit and stay as long as I needed.

On my travels out west I was impressed with the many sandblasted redwood signs I was seeing and wanted to learn more about them.

I got thinking about what Steve shared with me and the problem with hand cutting small letters. His suggestion about silk screening got my attention. If I could just silk screen a mixture of liquid laytex rubber mixed with white silk screen paint maybe it would repel the sandblast abrasive?

Time to get to work.

On a large workbench I set up my silk screen on hinges so I could lock it in place and rescreen over and over. After my first pass I quickly blew dried my paint & laytex mixture and screened it again two more times. A total of 3 layers. Ok let's get it blasted.

At the Tucson Monument Shop I shared what I was trying to do and the owner was more than willing to try something new.

He put on his blast helmet and covering and had me watch him from behind the glass window. The moment he started to blast the letters on the redwood I could see the wood begin to blast away from around the lettering ever so lightly. Then the white letters themselves were being eaten away. He stopped blasting.

He said that only hand cut rubber stencils would work.

Seeing that the laytex was holding for a few moments gave me hope. I told him I would be back.

The next day I tried 6 layers of paint mixed with laytex. This time his helper did the blasting. We got better results and I could see the redwood being cut away about 1/16 of an inch before the laytex letters were damaged.

My third try. Back to the monument shop with another screened piece of redwood with 10 layers of laytex mixed paint.

As the blasting started this time I held my breath...ok, ok, wow. The redwood is blasting away deeper than before.

The monument shop owner could not believe what he saw. He even turned up the blast pressure. The silkscreened lettering held and the redwood cut away deeply around the letters. It worked better than I hoped.

The lettering was cut as deep as you see above. No pictures of the original paddles were ever taken.

Up in Phoenix Steve was happy to hear the results and wanted me to finish the job as soon as possible.

My dad's old friend Pete Tarakowski, who had a cabinet shop in Tucson was happy to cut and shape all the redwood paddles and get them ready for my silkscreening the lettering.

My job was to build a 4 ft round table top that could spin under the hindged silkscreen.

This picture is only to show what a silk screen looks like and has nothing to do will my original setup.

On my round table top each of 8 menu paddles would rotate around under the silk screen and get another layer of laytex/paint mix. Two hair dryers helped speed up the drying process.

Each and every step worked perfectly from then on and I was able to deliver 50 finished blasted menu paddles on my way back to Phoenix. Everyone was delighted and I got my start with a new product, never seen before.

Steve paid for all the redwood, supplies and paddle cutting and I learned a whole new process. And that is how Rayzist got started.

BUT

Over the next nine years of trying off and on to sell my redwood blasted designs there was not a single sale for any of my creations. They did make great gifts for my grandmother and thanks for using her garage.

Between 1973 and 1976 I had rented my SW Washington, DC townhouse to a congressmen and his wife and lived in my Coachman RV traveling for AT&T.

1977 Sold my Townhouse in DC and purchased a cabin up on Mt Lemmon in Tucson, AZ. My goal was to continue work on developing a blast masking.

1978 Mt Lemmon Cabin Rental was started with the purchase of a second cabin and vacant lot behind my current cabin. Added the first Hot Tub on the Mt.

By 1980 I finished five rental units by splitting my two cabins and building a brand new two story cabin #3. I built my living space in the workshop behind cabin #1 and connected it to the side of cabin #3 allowing for my office/living room and upstairs queen size bed.

8/15/1983 Start of Rayzist

1st Photomask Order: Sterling Cut Glass for their customer Rhode Island School of Design

My 6/14/2021 email to RISD

Back in 1983 RISD rejected an etched drinking glass sample sent to them by Sterling Cut Glass in Cincinnati, Ohio. The rejection was because the RISD logo had been changed to a stencil style lettering. Back in those days metal stencils were the only way glass could be etched.

Looking back in time, my guess was the unknown person who would not allow any changes to the RISD logo had to be the person who created it.

It was that person who unknowingly opened the door that changed the history of lettering and designs cut into glass, wood and stone, not seen since the finger of God wrote the ten commandments into stone tablets for Moses.

It is that person I would deeply like to thank.

Their rejection of the RISD large glass etching order at Sterling Cut Glass, forced owner Berry Dyas to remember the deep cut glass, wood and stone samples I left for him 7 years earlier. My attempt to bring a new process for sandblasting was finally accepted.

Please take a look back into RISD history and help me find that person. The RISD logo was my first order and the birth of a whole new industry. From glass to gravestone, HonorLife.com all use the Rayzist Photomask process.

A BIG THANKS is waiting to be shared.

Sincerely,

Ray Zukowski

Founder of Rayzist.com

850 865-4045

rlzukowski@gmail.com

WAIT! Berry Dyas remembered I left a box of samples 7 years earlier and sent me a telegram to my grandmothers address: Are you still doing Rayzist?

YES, I was ready and looking forward to providing you with the best deep etch Photomasking available. No one yet had created anything that could do this kind of cutting into Glass, Wood or Stone before. Thanks for the start.

The blasted glass before removing the Rayzist mask.

It took about 8 months to get into full production and ready for orders. Sterling Cut Glass first order was for $2,000 to complete the Rhode Island School of Design etch glasses.

Thank you Rhode Island School of Design.

1984 First Glass and Crystal Trade Show.

Rayzist introduced the Glass Engraving world to a brand new product in Washington DC.

Multi dimensional depth cutting was now available.

After my seven years of waiting GOD did quick work introducing HIS technique of cutting into glass, wood and stone. Just like HE did when HE wrote the 10 Commandments on the stone tablets for Moses.

After moving down from Mt. Lemmon, my first workshop was in my two car garage at my new house next door to Pastor Joe Moats. We purchase the house for $70 K.

This picture was take 20 years after we left. The original garage was attached to the house. We had no pool or extra buildings on the property. When I needed more space I rented Eugene and Darline's garage 3 houses away.

In 1980 I met Randy Willis at Joe's church, The Temple of Praise and Worship. He was an out of work copper Miner who loved the Lord.

First picture of us was taken 2 years after Randy went to work for me in 1981 doing odd jobs and helping me take care of Mt. Lemmon Cabin Rentals.

At that time we had 6 rental units on Mt Lemmon to care for and keep rented. In 1984 Randy also began working for me full time in my garage when we started getting orders from Sterling Cut Glass in Ohio. It 1984 we out grew our garage space for Rayzist.

We were in this 1,500 sq.ft. Tucson rental on Klinedale Road from 1985-1988 adding over 12 great employees.

Rayzist's House Boat Vacation at Canyon Lake in 1986.

Read the News Paper article

In 1987 GOD continued to bless Rayzist and we were even able to take 16 employees to Hawaii with all air travel and hotel expenses paid.

Our planned moved to California was helped in a big way with the $40,000 sand blast lettering job we did at the brand new Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson.

All the directional plaques, guestroom doors, plus

directional signs and all that needed lettering at the resort. Since they provided all the stones we just needed our Photomasking and the blasting labor. We had it done in two weeks.

The building manager of the resort was delighted with our work and commented they had never had another property signed for less than $150,000. Perfect job in every way!

Last week in 1988... California Here We Come.

God blessed us with a 13,000 sq.ft building off the 78 freeway in Vista, CA (about 40 miles NW of San Diego) and we kept growing Rayzist with over 25 employees.

Our next addition was the birth of HonorLife Monuments and a new 5,000 sq.ft. building next door. We started building Niche memorials at cemeteries in CA.

At the end of 1995 Randy and I reached an agreement for him to purchase 90% of the Rayzist companies and I retired at 55.

In 1996 with over 60 employees, Randy continued to grow Rayzist & HonorLife and purchased a much larger 33,000 sq.ft. building just a few miles away from our first building in Vista.

In January 2020 just after we met in Las Vegas, Randy announced he purchased KMI Columbariums. For the past five years HonorLife had been fabricating the internal metal frames for KMI so it made sense to purchase the company when it became available.

KMI is a 20 year old construction company started in Canada. Selling most of its Niche and Columbium projects in the United States.

Thanks you Jesus.

What comes next?

I have a new idea for memories on stone. Let me know what you think.

Nugget Index

rlzukowski@gmail.com