Here are a few signs I’ve made recently for a few friends that were recently married. I’ve tried to do this in Aspire and did not get the results I wanted. These were all done in Easel with a 1/16" bit.
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Can you describe your finishing technique on the third plaque
I love that second one, can you provide some pointers on how you did it?
@ Darryl, basically I just stacked the text on top of each other and adjusted the depth of cut. The first names and date is set to not cut at allm the last name is set to cut at 0.1", and the back ground is set to cut down to 0.2". Rectangles were placed on all four sides to create the borders on all four sides. 24" X 7.25" pine from lowes, took right at 6 hours to cut.
@ Stacy, this was my third attempt at trying to finish one of these. I’ve finally figured out that I have to stain first and then use a small brush on the last names.
- I use minwax polyshades bombay mohagony over the whole board,
- wait around 4-6 hrs to dry,
- cut (2.3 hrs for this one),
- sand away fuzzies and tool marks(toothbrush sander).
- 10-15 coats of Amber Shellac (cut with DNA) on the last name with a small brush.
- Several coats of heavily diluted shellac over background to blend in dark shellac that overflowed.
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The last two signs look a little different now. I’m still experimenting with shellac. I’ll post pics of how they look in a few. I’m gonna try and do one for my parents in the next few days and I’ll upload the finish product here also.
They look great. When watching the Easel Live yesterday about multiple tool paths I thought about these types of signs as a good use of the new enhancements.
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They look great. I’ve got some I’ve made that are similar. How long did that take you with just a 1/16" bit? 2 stage carve will save you a good amount of time!
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A little over 2 hrs for these last two I did. They are only 16" X 7.5" and I adjusted my depth of cuts to speed things up. I noticed that I can get the same effect with shallower cuts as I did with deeper cuts. I’ve tried 2 stage carving and whenever I do, I get a lot of tool mark and random defects (my Z is good, my system is square, spoil board flat). Things just don’t line back up even though I use the 3 axis touch plate. With the 1/16" bit, I have minimal sanding to do and it only takes about an extra 30 or 40 mins to carve.
I have some more of these to make, so I will try the 2 stage method again on some scrap wood first.
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I don’t have a 3 axis plate, just the one from inventables. My problems with the 2 stage were a slight depth difference between the carving area of the 2 bits. Drove me nuts, then I noticed that my plate is not uniform thickness. I get .587-.59 or a little more variance depending on the exact spot I measure. I measured a specific spot at .588 and put a mark in that spot so I probe on it every time. I also use a sharp pencil to mark exactly where I place the plate so there is no variance in that aspect either. I don’t do many 2 stage carves, or haven’t in a little bit, but I’ve got a few in line in the next couple weeks. Hopefully that still works for me.
I’m going to try it again in Easel this weekend. I’m also going to learn how to finally do it in Aspire with textured backgrounds. Textured backgrounds will eliminate having to sand 99% of the sign after carving. Its a shame I paid all of that money and don’t use the program to its full potential. Military obligations keeping me from having the time deep dive into it.
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Hats the exact reason I want Vcarve. Textures so I don’t have worry about maybe sanding lol. Maybe the first two large pocket cuts with raised letters or images I had to sand a bit, but ever since then got things figured and no need. Looks like your signs are pine, stay away from pine if possible. I’ve never sanded poplar or oak. I’ve got some walnut, cherry, and maple boards to play with now.
Those are excellent Ivan, I hope the newly weds appreciated your work. Also on an aside La Velton is possibly the most awesome first name I have ever heard.
My all time favorite first name is “Grit” - big dude from Belgium, so it was fitting. He pulled it off well…
Great looking stuff Ivan, I want to add some stacked text wedding signs to my offerings, so far I’ve only been doing wooden album covers and clocks.
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Those are awesome. A bit long on the carve, but looks like it was worth it in the end. Great job.
I thought the same thing when I got their wedding invitation! My wife is a teacher and she keeps a list of “unique” names. One is a young lady named Crystal Shandal Leer, like the crystal chandelier lighting. I could name some others but I don’t want to get in trouble for picking at kid’s names.
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Darryl I would love to see some of your album covers.
Going slightly off topic but I have a Belgian colleague called ‘Tony De Bos’, Belgian’s have the best name. That Crystal Shandal Leer name is hilarious! A friend of mine was a teacher in the US (South Carolina I think) for a few years, the best name he came across was Ledasha… She spelled it “Le-A”, no joke.
Going back to your signs, have you refined your workflow since you last posted pictures?
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Can you explain your finishing process please?