Applying 23-karat gold leaf to hand-carved sign lettering in the workshop

Gill, Massachusetts · Since 2004

Pioneer Valley’s premier sign crafters

Carved gold leaf, hand-bent neon, lit channel letters and full vehicle wraps — designed, fabricated and installed by a small crew in Gill, Massachusetts since 2004.

Get a custom quote 413-774-5663

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2004Founded in Turners Falls

51Combined years in the trade

300+Local brands & businesses

2,600Square feet of workshop

What we make

What can we build for you today?

From a set of vinyl hours on a door to a lit channel-letter sign on a bank branch — all of it designed, fabricated and installed by the same small crew.

Wall & Building Signs Aluminium, PVC and dimensional wall signs that read cleanly from the road and survive the weather. View work Post & Panel Signs Freestanding roadside signs on wood, aluminium or ornamental posts — built to stand through a New England winter. View work Illuminated Signs & Letters LED channel letters, lit cabinets and backlit lettering that stay bright and stay serviceable. View work Neon Real hand-bent glass neon — new builds, restorations and transformer repairs. View work Carved & Gold Leaf Signs Carved wood and HDU signs finished in genuine 23-karat gold leaf. View work Sandblasted Signs Blasted wood-grain and stipple backgrounds with raised copy — texture you can read from the road. View work Dimensional Signs & Letters Cut acrylic, PVC, aluminium and formed letters mounted directly to the wall. View work Vehicle Graphics & Wraps Full wraps, partial wraps, fleet lettering and trailer graphics on 3M and Arlon film. View work Window Lettering & Graphics Cut vinyl, gold leaf on glass, frosted privacy film and full window graphics. View work Banners & Trade Show Printed vinyl and fabric banners, retractable stands, table runners and flutter flags. View work Directories & Message Boards Tenant directories, wayfinding and changeable-letter message boards. View work Menus & Specialty Signage Menu boards, A-frames, cast plaques, boat lettering and everything that does not fit a category. View work Custom Design & Graphics Logo development, artwork redraws and design that is built to be fabricated. View work Installation, Service & Repairs Installs, re-lamping, repairs and maintenance — including signs we did not build. View work

Made by hand, in Gill

Six things happening in the shop right now

Gilding, glass bending, wrap work, blasting, channel letters and bench fabrication — all under one roof on the French King Highway.

Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters Painted mural — Carved & Gold Leaf Signs built by Hale Custom Signs — Carved & Gilded

Zoar Outdoor — Vehicle Graphics built by Hale Custom Signs — Vehicle Graphics

RMP Hair Salon — Neon built by Hale Custom Signs — Neon

Dimensional Letters — How It’s Made built by Hale Custom Signs — In the shop

Australis — Illuminated Signs & Letters built by Hale Custom Signs — Illuminated

Demco Auto Sales — Sandblasted Signs built by Hale Custom Signs — Sandblasted

Watch how it is made

Hand-carved and gilded sign panel finished in the Gill workshop

Hand-bent glass neon sign lit in the workshop

23K gold leaf & hand-bent neon

Serving the community we live in

We have been custom crafting signs for over 25 years

Hale Custom Signs was started by Dan Hale in 2004, after eleven years working and training with a prominent sign maker in Hatfield. It began in a small garage in Turners Falls and outgrew it quickly.

Today the shop sits on the French King Highway in Gill with over 2,600 square feet of working space, and our designs can be seen on buildings, vehicles and storefronts from Greenfield to Amherst.

Family-run since 2004 51 combined years in the trade Our own crew installs every sign 300+ local businesses served

Read our story

Recent work

Our custom designs can be seen throughout the Pioneer Valley

Mirick Insurance Painted mural Shelburne Falls MACarved & Gold Leaf Signs

Amherst College PontypoolCarved & Gold Leaf Signs

Quality Fleet ServiceVehicle Graphics

Triple B BlastingVehicle Graphics

Adam Eve Channel lettersIlluminated Signs & Letters

Shelburne Falls Coffee RoastersIlluminated Signs & Letters

Mocha EmporiumNeon

R G Neylon InsuranceWall & Building Signs

Christinas PizzeriaWall & Building Signs

Hagars Farm MarketSandblasted Signs

See all 369 projects

Professional products, top quality results

Brands and products we can trust

We use the best, so you get the best. Every material below was chosen because it lasts, not because it was cheap this month.

Roland wide-format printing — Digital Printing

Wide-format printing Roland

Eco-solvent Roland printers lay down UV-stable colour that holds up to New England winters and full summer sun without shifting.

Arlon cast vinyl — Samson Trailer Partial Wrap

Cast vinyl Arlon

Arlon cast films conform to rivets, corrugations and compound curves, then come off cleanly years later without cooking the paint underneath.

3M wrap film — Hits Now 943 Wrap graphic

Wrap film 3M

3M wrap film with air-release channels means a bubble-free finish on a full vehicle — and a warranty that stands behind the install.

Graphtec precision plotting — Dimensional Letters Preparing the pattern

Precision plotting Graphtec

Graphtec plotters cut lettering and detail work to tolerances the eye reads as crisp from three feet and from thirty.

Over 300 local brands trust us with their signage

Greenfield Savings BankWalmartAmherst CollegeDeerfield AcademyShelburne Falls Coffee RoastersZoar OutdoorBart’s Ice CreamSamson ManufacturingDiemand FarmRistorante DiPaoloAtlantic Golf & TurfGreenfield Cooperative BankHerrell’s Ice CreamKestrel Land TrustBETE Fog NozzlePilot PrecisionNew England Natural BakersThe Shea TheaterBueno y SanoTravel KuzMount SnowWKNE Radio

Out on the road

Our own crew puts every sign up

No subcontracted installs. The people who built it are the people on the ladder — which is why there is never an argument about whose responsibility something is.

Signs that stay up

Built for the weather we actually get

Posts set below the frost line. Aluminium and HDU where timber would rot. Cast vinyl that comes off cleanly in year six instead of taking the paint with it. Every material decision here is made against New England winters, not a catalogue photograph.

It is the reason signs we made twenty years ago are still on buildings around Greenfield — and the reason we would rather talk you out of the cheap option than replace it for you in three years.

See what we build

Diemand Farm — post and panel sign set below the frost line

Main Street Bar Grille — all-aluminium wall sign built to last outdoors

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Already know what you want?

Tell us the job, we’ll tell you the price

Three fields to start. If it is easier to talk it through, the phone is answered by someone who works in the shop.

Family-run since 2004 51 combined years in the trade Our own crew installs every sign 300+ local businesses served

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We will be in touch within one working day. If it is urgent, call 413-774-5663.