iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Largest Wood Sign to Date - step by step pics from raw board to completed sign

Started by Busy Beaver Lumber, December 27, 2013, 01:07:46 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Busy Beaver Lumber

This is our largest wood sign we have done on our CNC to Date. It measures 32 inches wide and 18 inches tall and is a solid inch thick

Mrs. Schlatter ordered it as a Christmas gift for her husband for the entrance to a new piece of property they recently purchased. The previous owner had a sign hanging at the entrance but took it with them when they sold the property. She wanted to replace it with a sign of their own.

I had the sign back to her in three days. The majority of that was a day for the glue up to dry and a day for the application and drying of the polyurethane finish.

Below are pictures from start to finish. Not shown is how I had to joint and glue up three boards to make the larger panel.

The raw panel ready for routing:



 

Just after Routing on the Digital Wood Carver CNC machine we own



  

  

  

 

Apply some spray ink, not spray paint to highlight the routed areas



 

Then some final sanding and three coats of spar polyurethane to give it a high gloss finish



  

  

  



Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

mesquite buckeye

Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

thecfarm

Love that verse and love that sign just as much. You have that machine mastered!!!!
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

samandothers


Magicman

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Busy Beaver Lumber

Thank you all for your inspiring comments. I truly respect each and  every one of you and your associated opinions. In addition to your words of praise, one of the most rewarding aspects of doing this signs was seeing the face, and hearing the comments of the woman that ordered it when she came to get it. She actually began to tear up and gave me a hug just before she left. Always nice when you get a hug from someone you did not even know 4 days earlier and who just found you from a craigslist ad.

30 years ago, I could have routed something almost like that by hand...maybe just not as precise or with as much detail. The two auto accidents and associated muscle and nerve damage have left me with only about 30% use of my left arm and left hand and regrettably with frequent muscle spasms and cramps in the left arm and hand. I just cant take the jarring and counter the rotational torque of the router and cant route a straight line by hand to save my life any more.

Thanks to the Digital Wood Carver CNC and now the Epilog Laser, I am still able to be creative, stay in the game, feel productive and create works of art. There are some, even at my local woodworking club, that consider this cheating by having a CNC machine do the routing for me, and to some extent, I may be inclined to agree with them. I would have to respond and say that there are still elements of wood working that I am still doing when i use the CNC on a sign like this. I still plane and joint the lumber, glue up the panel with bisquet joints reinforcements, re-plane and re-sand the final blank and cut it to size on the saw. After routing, i still sand,  and apply accent color and high gloss finish. And then there is the programming aspect which does take some learning and talent to do, so it is not like you are just printing a flyer on the printer. There still are some wood working skills involved, and at least those are within my physical limitations. My other alternative would be to miserable and sit an cry about what I used to be able to do before the two accidents, but that is just not my style. Thanks to these two machines I cant wait to get to the work shop and be creative and in many ways it allows me to do things I never would have attempted by hand.
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

mesquite buckeye

Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

thecfarm

There are purists in any hobby,collection, or really anything in life. Enjoy yourself and as long as it's not promoted as free hand work,so what.  ::)
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Bill Gaiche


Left Coast Chris

The end result is a lot nicer than free hand work.  It will also advertise your new capabilities.  Get ready for more customers!
Home built cantilever head, 24 HP honda mill, Case 580D, MF 135 and one Squirel Dog Jack Russel Mix -- Crickett

Banjo picker

Very nice.  I have built a few out of concrete...sandblasting...and stencils... the wood looks much better.   Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

isawlogs

 That is one nice looking sign right there.

Can you tell me why use ink rather then paint, well you don't have to share trade secrets, just wondering why one rather then the other.  :P  Inquireing mind needs feeding  ;D :D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

WDH

You matched those cedar boards very well.  That is a gorgeous sign. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

clww

Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

ChuckinVa

Beautiful work. Thanks so much for sharing. The talent on this forum is simply amazing.

samandothers

I agree with Cfarm's comments.  You are enjoying, being productive and making great looking stuff carry on! 

bedway

Let me say that is one beautiful sign, regardless how it was created. We each work within our talents and abilities. Years ago when i had my health and youth i went from sun up till sun down. Now i go for ten minutes and rest for an hour. Also sneaking in a two hour nap to get me thru the day. ;D My son in law likes to kid me about using power tools for everything. I tell him its called working smarter, and some day he will understand. :)

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Omg.....you are getting better and better at your work. I can see now you have a talent.
This is really, really very nice. Keep the pics coming!  smiley_thumbsup
I could get $300.00 for that sign.  ;D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Cedarman

Busy Beaver, you do know how to make a wondrous sign.  Hugs are good!!
Was the person chiding you for cheating using a mallet and chisels to make their signs? :D :D
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Busy Beaver Lumber

Quote from: mesquite buckeye on December 27, 2013, 04:49:03 PM
I'm glad you are still in the game. ;D 8) 8) 8)

Thanks much my friend. Not going anywhere real soon as far as I know. Woodworking is my #1 hobby since i was 14 and took a wood shop class. Never turned back and kept looking for new challenges
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Busy Beaver Lumber

Quote from: thecfarm on December 27, 2013, 05:10:10 PM
There are purists in any hobby,collection, or really anything in life. Enjoy yourself and as long as it's not promoted as free hand work,so what.  ::)

Nope, I am dead honest about how i do it. Most people come right to the house and watch me layout their sign on the computer and I show them the machine that will route their signs. I think it kind of makes them have more confidence by seeing the quality equipment and how little is left to chance
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Busy Beaver Lumber

Thank you Bill, Left Coat, Sam, Chuck, Bedway, Wdh, Clww, Isawlogs and Banjo for the kind words of encouragement.

Cedarman.  I have never seen one person that has ever criticized me for using a CNC ever make a sign of their own. By the way that is your wood in the picture that I sent my worker to get last year. Takes Quality wood from a great sawyer to make a nice sign my friend.

Poston40lt -  Dave If you can sell them for $300 then we need to talk. We will both be rich real soon. I'll keep that router going night and day.....heck I will even buy a second one.

Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Warbird

Wow!   :o  It's beautiful!  Absolutely stunning.

How heavy is that thing?  I'm wondering what shipping cost would be like to Alaska on something like that.  One of my best friends is a forester and something like that would make an awesome birthday gift.

Hilltop366

Nice work on the sign BBL


Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on December 28, 2013, 03:46:38 PM
I could get $300.00 for that sign.  ;D

I can see it now......  "Velvet Dave's sigh Emporium" ......On the spot financing OAC.

What's it gona take to get you to take home the sigh? ;D

Thank You Sponsors!