All Guides - Start Here
Beginning
Setting Up Guide
Marketing Guide
Tools
Tool Guide
Tools
Wood
Wood Guide
Carving Guide
Finishing Guide
Sign Designs
Sign Shapes
Shape Dimensions
Methods
Background Guide
Design Guide
Layout Guide
Shipping Guide
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Methods
- Creating patterns,sign shapes and preparing wood ahead of time = huge time savings
- Check moisture (less than 6%)
- Use stickers for straight, flat, square
- Make sure the bits are sharp and skills are ready for different species!
- Check nominal sizes 1st! Nominal sizes may affect patterns and sign sizes
- Creating patterns, sign shapes and preparing wood ahead of time = huge time savings
- For signs strength is not an issue
- Wide boards should be backed with 3/8 Maple or Birch plywood and edged together.
Wood Choices
Species Selection:
- Clear Pine or Cedar (light, soft wood, inexpensive)
- Cedar: Red, Eastern, White, Spanish, Yellow
- Hemlock, Poplar
- Redwood (Red & White mix)
- Hardwoods
- Specialty woods
Quality and variety - next column
- Flawed boards with narrow stock, checks or knots are inexpensive alternatives
- Used cedar fencing for carving and boxes
- Light colored cedar pickets usually up to 1x6
- Inexpensive wood - 24" sign pays for wood
- Clear Pine or Cedar (best carving choice for general signs)
- Light colored Cedar pickets; 24" blank or 2 pays for the wood
- Clear pine 1x6, 1x12
- Laminate flooring is poor. vaneer, composites or glued dulls bits
- Hardwood flooring may bow, twist or bend if not held flat after carving
- Light color, soft wood comes wider but cups & warps easily
- Hemlock, Redwood - good carving but watch grain directions
- Laminations, joining - red / dark & White mix
- Hardwoods - Oak, Beech, Maple - difficult to carve and control fine lines. Sharp bits only and plan on re sharpening often.
- Specialty / exotic woods - watch the grain and color contrasts, hardness (Ironwood bends nails), costs.
- Check for light colors, good contrast, close grain, few knots
- Wider than 6" = cupping, cracks or warps. Wide boards should be backed with 3/8 Maple or Birch plywood and edged together
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Select for quality:
- 1 x 6 or wider (3/4 usually). Comes wider but cups & warps easily
- Hardwood flooring curls the ends and dulls bits
- Hardwood flooring should be joined together for stability
Check over each piece for:
- Cupping, warps (view lengthwise)
- Cracks, checks
- Twists, bends
- Knots: tight / locations, low counts
- Light color, good contrast, close grain
Grain direction:
- Flat sawn = less or no vertical grain
- Start with semi-finished 5/8 min
- Try to use a drying cabinet (30w bulb) for pre-cut blanks
Final check for:
- Quality, color, variety
- Grain direction (no vertical)
- Flat sawn = less grain
- Knots: tight / locations, low counts
- Light color, good species contrast, close grain
Plywood, laminates, Hardboard, MDF:
- Quality plywood (maple, Birch) clear 4 x 4, 1/8 for lettters & patterns, 1/4 for shapes
- Hardboard - 1/8 - 1/4 = patterns and shapes
- MDF 1/2 & 3/4 = templates & shapes
- Surface best side only to save thickness
- Do not run signs through any style of planer! Causes edge chip-outs and planes all surfaces evenly. Surfaces should be adjusted with a sander.
- Use sanding sealer before any layout or carving on all pine boards
- Use sanding sealer on any worn, aged boards or with divets or loose grain
- Cut to lengths
- Use stickers for straight, flat, square
- Removes too much wood to remove sprayed areas
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Cut to lengths; standard sizes:
- Rectangles: 4 x 18, 4 x 24, 6 x 18, 6 x 24, 6 x 30
- Live To Ride: 9.75 x 4, 6 x 15, 8 x 20
- Gone Fishing: 7.25 x 14.25
- Another Day In Paradise: 5.5 x 24
- My Favo(u)rite Hangout 5.5 x 24 (Edwardian Script)
- Dog Bones: 1.5 x 4, 2 x 6.5, 2.5 x 9, 3 x 10
- Ribbons: 3 x 12, 4 x 16, 5 x 24
- Welcome: 5.5 x 15
- Scrolls: 2 x 9.75 (and 9 inset outset pairs)
- Arches: 4x14, 4x18, 6x24, 12x24
- use standard shapes
- sanded and / or sealed
- edges done and sprayed in batches
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