Sign making - Frist time, any good reference to lear

[pedro]

Hi, 

I am going to set up a booth at a crafts fair, and want to create a sign to hang on my canopy. I have googled and searched here, and I think I have a rough idea but still a little bit confused about which bits are best.

I plan to do a 4 ft long sign, I guess 10 inches tall. And what I want to do is to have the letters raised. Meaning, I will need to do some pocket cuts.

My experience so far was only with 1/4 spiral bits cutting out smaller pieces on oak, cherry and walnut, besides plywood. But for this sign I think I need a roughing bit, and due to the size it would be 1/2 inch. And then finishing up with a 1/4 downcut. So that is the plan, never done it before, I want to go at least 1/2 inch deep. Ideally, adding some texture to the bottom (like hand carved marks).

My machine is an AR8. Using Vectric Pro.

Any idea, hint, youtube video, resources...appreciated.

Thanks!

[toddd]

Nov 1, 2021 10:07:40 GMT -5 pedro said:

Hi, 

I am going to set up a booth at a crafts fair, and want to create a sign to hang on my canopy. I have googled and searched here, and I think I have a rough idea but still a little bit confused about which bits are best.

I plan to do a 4 ft long sign, I guess 10 inches tall. And what I want to do is to have the letters raised. Meaning, I will need to do some pocket cuts.

My experience so far was only with 1/4 spiral bits cutting out smaller pieces on oak, cherry and walnut, besides plywood. But for this sign I think I need a roughing bit, and due to the size it would be 1/2 inch. And then finishing up with a 1/4 downcut. So that is the plan, never done it before, I want to go at least 1/2 inch deep. Ideally, adding some texture to the bottom (like hand carved marks).

My machine is an AR8. 

Any idea, hint, youtube video, resources...appreciated.

Thanks!

You will find good tutorials at Vectric.com they helped me with signs,

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[pedro]

Thanks, exactly that style is what I want...to create some texture to the background, and the text raised...thanks, will look at it.

[dadealeus]

Nov 1, 2021 10:07:40 GMT -5 pedro said:

Hi, 

I am going to set up a booth at a crafts fair, and want to create a sign to hang on my canopy. I have googled and searched here, and I think I have a rough idea but still a little bit confused about which bits are best.

I plan to do a 4 ft long sign, I guess 10 inches tall. And what I want to do is to have the letters raised. Meaning, I will need to do some pocket cuts.

My experience so far was only with 1/4 spiral bits cutting out smaller pieces on oak, cherry and walnut, besides plywood. But for this sign I think I need a roughing bit, and due to the size it would be 1/2 inch. And then finishing up with a 1/4 downcut. So that is the plan, never done it before, I want to go at least 1/2 inch deep. Ideally, adding some texture to the bottom (like hand carved marks).

My machine is an AR8. Using Vectric Pro.

Any idea, hint, youtube video, resources...appreciated.

Thanks!

I've done quite a few signs for a client, but I'm no longer in that line of work. I've attached a few images of one of larger jobs I did.

If you're looking to make something that lasts, here's what worked best for me:

1) I used HDU foam for my signage. Its thermal characteristics are similar to that of most exterior paints, so the sign will expand and contract with the paint, reducing or eliminating paint chipping for a long time. Additionally, it's a closed-cell foam that won't warp or split and it should last around 40 years (with fresh coats of paint every now and then). It's not very expensive at lower densities (20 lbs/cubic foot works well for exterior signage) and is comparable in cost to many woods you'd typically use.

2) For tools, I almost exclusively used the Amana 45708 90 degree v-bit (https://www.amazon.com/Amana-Tool-Carbide-Tipped-Groove/dp/B000P4O9K8). That tool has a small, flat area at the tip that you can use to clear pockets while keeping chamfered edges wherever the tool will fit.

The benefit of using the 45 degree chamfer on everything is that water/dust, etc. will not collect in the pockets of the lettering and details like it would if you used a flat tool (water will run right back out of the pockets and, even if it's an indoor sign, the chamfered edges make is very easy to keep clean.

Vectric Aspire (and any of the versions that let you generate v-carve tool paths) lets you do this very easily by setting the "flat depth" on the v-carve operation (though you may need to set up the tool in your Vectric library).

3) With cut depth, I've found that "less is more." Meaning, your half-inch depth is likely going to be overkill (especially if you're not chamfering the lettering) for a sign of that size unless your intention is cut all the way through the stock.

You'll produce more eye-pleasing results with less cut time shooting for a depth of around .2"-.25", max. Additionally, the more the letters "stick out" (especially with wood), the more likely it is that one of them is going to split and break off of your sign.

Again, a 45 degree chamfer works wonders here because it provides additional support for the raised lettering as well as helping to reduce the protrusions from catching on anything while you are physically handling the sign (setting it up at the booth and packing it back up) - which means damage to the sign is less likely to occur.

I am by, no means, an end-all-be-all expert in sign-making, but I offer this advice in the hope that something useful can be gleaned from my past failures.

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[pedro]

Great info dadealeus ! Thanks for all that data!