Wood Sign For Boat Yard

Nice programing :-)) Did you pay attention to the growth ring pattern and alternate them? That should help keep it flat. Can’t remeber the proper term for that right now ;-((

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

By carving out the front with the CNC you have changed the dynamics of the surface of the wood .,, ie different to the back thereby allowing the timber to dry out at different rates front to back.. ergo cupping.
as to a solution .. sealing both front and back will equalize moisture retention and evaporation.., ergo less change in surface moisture .. this should help.. also the temperature has an effect on the rate of change.. If the board was laid down on a cold surface it will warp also..timber is a living thing and will change . cleats on the back as you have done will also be of help.
Hope I have Given you something to think about!

-- Drink once, cut twice. New website up.... lazylarrywoodworks.com.au

Everything Larry said above is correct. Also you should be aware that pressure treated wood is not usually of the same quality as non-treated wood. I have been told that the fastest growing wood is preferred for pressure treating with more growth wood between the rings to facilitate penetration. PT wood purchased here in Norway is normally stored outside to keep it moist, as it shrivels up pretty fast in dry place. We have a lot of rain here. In dryer climates they would probably have to store it indoors to keep it moist.

-- Mike, American in Norway

Nice sign. I bet they’ll like it.

Pressure treated lumber around here is nortorious for being very wet inside. As DeGoose said, by removing the face as you did, you ended up with a relatively damp face (front) and a not so damp surface (back). Cupping would be expected then. If you didn’t alternate the annular rings as TS suggested, the thing would tend to curl up because the boards would all cup in the same direction.

Did you end up cutting through the treated part of the lumber?

Keep up the good work.

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Nice looking sign. The cleats on the back should do the trick.

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Thanks for the advice. I did alternate the boards, I also let the boards dry out for a month before gluing them together. But every thing Degoose said, I did wrong. I did not seal it after carving & I left the boards laying on a cold table over night. Live and learn! Thanks All!!

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Nice job on the sign. What kind of CNC are you using. I have been contemplating purchasing one to add diversity to my wood working.

-- Nubs,Reserve

nice looking sign

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Great looking sign. Having a “wanna be” CNC machine (Carvewright) I can appreciate the talent it took to design the carving in your software – Great job! The sign looks really nice – I think that in the future I would refrain from using PT wood for your signs, perhaps Cypress, or Redwood would be better choices for outdoor signs. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that all of the chemicals used in PT wood would be dangerous when you consider the amount of dust created by carving that much out – also, wonder what the long term effect will be on your CNC machine (from the chemicals). Don’t know for sure – just throwing out some “food for thought”.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

That’s a sweet looking sign well done it’s really eye catching.regards Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Hi George,

The CNC machine I have, is from a company called K2 CNC. This is a link to the one I have without the vacuum table: http://www.k2cnc.com/shop/proddetail.asp?prod=KG%2D9850%2DR&cat=18

-- Never Give Up, Never Surrender, www.cncdesignwork.com

That looks great! Do you plan on staining it? I have the CarveWright myself and I’ve done similar signs – I’d be interested to see how long it took on your machine and what sort of cleanup you had to do. also what kind of wood did ya use?

-rick

-- Carving