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ARCHITECTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL 96 • September 2014 • S I G N & D I G I T A L G R A P H I C S S ome might say that Dale Tamura's sign company has gone to infinity and beyond. The owner of Lazer Image, Inc. in Inglewood, Calif., has used his exper- tise in laser engraving to become a go-to vendor for big names in the Hollywood movie industry, including Disney. Lazer Image recently was asked to update Disney's Star Wars-themed Star Tours ride by making laser-etched instru- ment panels to encase the ride, making visitors believe they are on the bridge of a star ship from the famous sci-fi saga. When illuminated with the right LED lights, the ride is very convincing, Using Lasers for Signs Cutting sub- strates to fit your client's needs B y P A u L A A v e N G L A D y C H Paula Aven Gladych is a freelance writer based in Denver, Colo. She can be reached at pgladych@ gmail.com. Tamura says. The company also makes movie sets and props. Tamura's shop does a lot of work for Disney's theme parks in Tokyo, Florida and California. Lazer Image recently used its Kern HSE100 laser engraver, which is 52 inches by 100 inches, to laser cut leaves out of special screen material to cover the speakers on the jungle ride at Tokyo Disney. "We had probably over 1,000 yards of material for laser cutting these leaf pat- terns. That was cool," Tamura says. The shop also cuts a lot of fabric for window coverings at Disney. Its machin- ery can work with steel, stainless steel, acrylic up to one-inch thick, solid woods up to ¾" thick, plywood, leather, stone and rubber. Working for big names like Disney and Mattel has propelled the com- pany from a small sign shop based out