Few questions about outdoor signs

[bob easton]

We'll be watching for pictures!

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Originally Posted by scrolling days

Thanks everybody for the great advice!

I'm sorry....I should have been more clear with what I meant by "relief." I am actually planning on making the sign exactly as Randy stated, by scrolling out the letters. The sign is to be double sided, so I intend to scroll my lettering into 2 separate 1" cedar boards, and placing a thinner layer of wood between as a backing (which will work in both directions).

The sign will be in a place where I won't be able to refinish it often, so I would like to leave it as natural as possible, I guess. In fact, the sign it is replacing is a weathered grey cedar sign, which has just become brittle with age and has fractured in places.

Thanks for the advice on the black......I had visited a wooden sign making web site, and they talked about using black pigments, and I wasn't sure what that was all about. Thanks for the great advice on that Claude.

Hi, Dave......I'm actually not a big fan of spiral blades. The vast majority of the scrolling I do is the creation of wooden jigsaw puzzles cut from 1/4 wood. (If you're interested, you can see my stuff at www.fergusonpuzzles.com . Check out my gallery) To get the fine/thin kerf I desire, I use a very thin (2-0) flat blade. The spirals would leave two wide a kerf, with pieces which fit too loosely.

For other applications, I hear the spiral blades are great, and some friends of mine on the scrollsaw forum swear by them!

Thank you Shawn, your work and website are very impressive, well done!

Dave

[chipmunk]

i've made about 2000 signs with raised letters i used a router to cut them out made of ceder ,pine, ect all was finished[cleared with spar] i have used flat black paint on the letters put a little on at a time it willn't wick into the base wood let each coat dry before adding more if u ,r doing to make of ceder let it gray then clear with flat,matte will add protection without shine i have grayed the wood with cig ash or wood ash but when cleared it will turn black fruit wood stain will gray too try all on scarp wood first

[Ripton]

Gold leaf makes letters really jump out. It's been a while since doing letters for outside signs. I always used BLO for a protectant but not sure how that would work on Cedar

[telecarver]

I use flat black spray paint drifted into the background rather than spraying in a solid color. I then sand off the surface to reveal the contrast. If you apply a sealer, which I recommend, the paint will look like a dark stain. It's quick, easy and lasts a long time because the paint soaks into the end grain. Most of the signs on this page, Hand Carved Custom Wood Signs, were done in this fashion prior to painting. Cedar is a better choice than pine because it lasts better in the weather. I use mostly redwood but I have to buy it on the Northern California Coast to get good quality.

[telecarver]

I use flat black spray paint drifted into the background rather than spraying in a solid color. I then sand off the surface to reveal the contrast. If you apply a sealer, which I recommend, the paint will look like a dark stain. It's quick, easy and lasts a long time because the paint soaks into the end grain. Most of the signs on this page, Hand Carved Custom Wood Signs, were done in this fashion prior to painting. Cedar is a better choice than pine because it lasts better in the weather. I use mostly redwood but I have to buy it on the Northern California Coast to get good quality.