Old Blueprints as Wall art? 1

[HuckleberryFinn]

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

 

[MikeHalloran]

There are still a few places that do engineering prints (and posters and wall art and such), so if you can get the blueprints you want as PDFs (or other graphics file formats), you can have them plotted at any size you like (making a better fit in the room, with a little planning), within the limits of their plotter's roll feed.

<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

 

[JohnRBaker]

Where I used to work in Michigan we took old 'ink-on-cloth' Drawings from 50 or 60 years prior (from when they were still doing ink-on-cloth drawings) and framed the actual original drawings and placed them in our lobby and conference rooms. Many of them could have passed as original art with their fancy lettering and occasional use of colors for emphasis. Many of these Drawings appeared to have been used for presenting proposals to our customers for a particular machine or bakery layout (we manufactured large commercial proofers and ovens as well as mixing and other dough handling systems for bakeries).

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.

 

[JohnRBaker]

AS to where old, at least architectural, blueprints can be purchased, try this site:

http://oldblueprints.com/blueprints.html

Here's some more 'artsy' sites:

http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/old+blueprints/framed+prints

http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2010/11/sponsor-spotlight-old-blueprints.html

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.

 

[looslib]

I know one ex-formula one driver hung his old racecar on the wall of his house as decoration.



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[jgailla]

They're not old, but I have the drainage plan for my section of the neighborhood on the wall in my library.
A friend of mine worked at the company that did the design 5 years before I bought the house.

 

[brandonbw]

Does anyone have a link to a place that could take a PDF and put it to blueprints? I went to the local large repro place near the movie studios and asked about this. The person in front looked at me like I was crazy and said we haven't had one of those for a long time. But for movies they just did color plots. I want to get a project we did for Ferrari framed. =) I get asked too many times what grading plans are and would like to point to that one.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer

http://bwengr.com

 

[MikeHalloran]

As of 2003, "Kenny" at

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

 

[drawoh]

brandonbw,

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

 

[JohnRBaker]

It is possible to make blueprints from bond paper, but they look awful.

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.

 

[IrishMariner]

If blueprints of Aerospace or Spacecraft are of interest, then you might like the website

http://aerospaceprojectsreview.com/

and its specific Blueprint/'Cyanotype' page

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

The guy who runs it has made great efforts to get 'Blueprint' drawings reproduced to a good standard.

 

[brandonbw]

Anyone know what the color code is for blue? I might just take that easy route then.

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

 

[dik]

The old ammonia blue prints discolour with time when exposed to light... maybe find a scanner and turn it into a *.pdf or something and see if there is an 'art' type shop that does custom wallpaper.

Dik

 

[GregLocock]

Yup, azo prints are pretty much useless after 5 years or so, however you store them. That's why the originals are mylar.

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

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[drawoh]

dik,

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

 

[MikeHalloran]

I had my 'whiteprints' plotted in a diazo-ish blue on a wide inkjet. The last time I saw them they were a couple of years old. ISTR the blue looked pretty good, but either the paper or the laminating film was drifting toward amber.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[truckandbus]

I've seen wall calendars featuring different engineering drawings each month, from bridges and lighthouses to propellers and pump involutes.

Not an advertisement, but oldblueprints.com is an interesting site offering pre-selected and custom work from A-size to wall mural

 

[kacarrol]

It's not exactly what you are looking for but I thought I'd add my two cents to this conversation for other readers.

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=patent&ship_to=CA&ref=auto2&explicit_scope=1