Visteonguy

Well, I got 3 pictures that look like they are going to show up as attachments. They are a double sided sign, I made for a friend of mine's wife who started her own newpaper. They are not done yet, in these pictures, but the majority of the heavy routing is completed. The borders have to be straighted out and squared up yet and then the sign had to be glued togther and a frame made to wrap around the whole bussiness . I wanted to put these up so you can see what I was talking about, by routing freehand. I used that tracing method I mentioned in an earlier post, to get the image on the wood and then just routed away what I did not want. The letters and the image of the eagle stand about a 1/4 inch up from the backround of the sign. It took a couple of hours to do each side, and I used a 1/4 inch ball nosed solid carbide bit to do the routing near the letters and image and then switched to a larger flat bottomed bit of maybe a 1/2 inch or so diameter so it would clear a larger area, faster.
The last picture is of 2 name plates I made for my barber and his apprentice, It was done using the same method as "the Eagle" sign.
As I said, when you use your router freehand,,, there are no limits to the designs or images you can put on a sign, unlike being tied to a template and have to always make that shape letters.

Well, here goes,,, hope the attachments make the trip.

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Terry

It seems like every where I go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there I am...

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GoonMan

Hello Terry,

Those Signs look great. Did you Freehand the Vet with the trim Router.

I see you were able to attache Images.

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Randy

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Glenmore

Terry very nice job on your signs did you do the lettering free handed or did you use a template to trace the letters. Now I have an idea didn't know you could a smaller version router for doing the lettering. I always thought you used it just for trimmg.

Julie

Great work, Terry.
I was just going to post a question about getting a new router that I can use to make signs like that. I have a big Hitachi M12V that is too bulky, I think, for free hand type of work. So, need that second router. Can you (and everyone else) please tell me what you use, what to look for in a smaller router that I can use to route signs??
Thanks,
~Julie~

Visteonguy

Hahahaha,,, sadly, the ol'vette could use a bit of routing,, but I have not had time to get to it, Randy. It was just the closest thing to the house that I saw to lean the signs against to take the pictures ,,, so it got used.

Glenn, I got the image on the wood by using carbon paper under a sign that my buddy had made at a sign shop, out of vinyl, that you would stick on the side of your truck or wall or what ever. I just laid it on top of the wood slab and put carbon paper under the vinyl sign and outlined the letters and eagle with a pencil. If you look closely at the picture,, you can see the outlines made by the pencil, on the blue letters of the vinyl. So when you take up the vinyl and carbon paper,, you have the outline in dark lines on the wood,,,, and the rest is easy,,,, just rout out what you do not want,,,
I made a blanket chest for a christmas present last year,, and I routed out the scripted letter H on the front side of it. I used the other method of using an Opaque Projector to shoot the image of the "H" on the front pannel of the chest, When you get it to the right size you want, by moving the projector closer or farther away from the chest,, just outline the image you are projecting on the pannel, with a pencil, When you turn off the projector,, you are left with an outline of what ever you were projecting on that pannel. It works fantastic..
And with those small routers,,, they are so easy to hold and contrlol with that larger base plate with the dowels at the edges, you will be amazed at just how much they will actually do. Also, the dowels at the edges,, keep your fingers a LONG way from the cutters, so not much chance of an accident between your fingers and the router bits. And like I said,, if you buy them from Harbor Freight,,, they are so doggone cheap,,, I just buy several of them and just leave the different profile bits in them so I do not have to change them ,, just pick up a different router and carry on with the sign.. But they are noisy little buggers,, so ear muffs are a good idea.

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GoonMan

Great Work Sir and no offence meant on the vet. It makes a great back drop for the signs.

Also thanks for the tips and Ideals you have given me and others. I was wondering how I was going to do my sign routing now I know.

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Randy

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Visteonguy

Dont worry, Randy,, I took it with the sense of humor it was ment,,,
Try making a simple sign like that and you will be ready to take on the world then in making signs,,, It is Sooooooooo easy once you finnish your first sign you'll have all the confidence ya will ever need then.
I took a few classes at work in the art of wood carving,,, we used Fordom tools,, ( where the electric motor hangs on a stand and the power is transmitted through a cable to the hand peice) It was a fish carving class and I never done that before,,,, once the instructor showed us the secrets to carving,,,, we each amazed ourself with what we produced,,,, the first fish I did was a rain bow trout,,, then we did a blue gill,, and the last one I did was a perch,,, all the fish came out better then I believed I could ever do,,, but you could see the improvments with each fish... I was carrying the last one to the car after the class was over and walked by a guy in the hall way,,,,, he took a look at the fish and was only about 2 feet away from it,,, and ask me,,, " Where did ya catch it"? and he ment it !!! hahahah He would not believe it was a peice of wood !!
I told you this story just to say that I think if you utilized that craft also in these wood signs,,,,, you would make some signs that would not be believed,,,,, like that one I made with the eagle off to the side,,,, if you took the time to carve in the feathers and details of the eyes and beak all in relief...
I bet once you displayed them ,,, you could actually make a good living off those signs,,

__________________
Terry

It seems like every where I go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there I am...

Glenmore

Well Terry it's all your fault. Had to find one of them little routers. Yes I found and bought one today. Grizzly's only plunge router had to explain to the loml that it was on sale that will make 6 router's I own now. Thanks good job I'm going to enjoy it. Now she already requesting signs and I don't even have it yet. Has me doing signs that say mine.

Visteonguy

Hahahaha,,,,,atta boy Glenn... as long as ya are producin for the little lady,,, she will probalby go along with the new tools,,, just show her how much you are savin by making it your self....

show me your sign when ya get er done,,,

__________________
Terry

It seems like every where I go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there I am...

GoonMan

ROFLMAO Terry.

I have always said the only thing I could draw was flies. Now I want to make signs. LOL

I had to take a closer look at the large signs to see that you were gluing your boards. It threw me for a minute.

I had bought a Sign Crafter and had problems with it so it went back for a refund and I was trying to figure out what to do next Now that you have posted your pics it has given me a whole new direction to go into. Is your base for the trim router home made? You may have already been asked this question or I missed it. Again thanks for sharing. I think HF may get a visit from me I have 4 signs to make now.

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Randy

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