My First with many more to come!

Nice looking signs. Good job

-- Glenn, New Mexico

you did a fantastic job!!!
beautiful signs

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Did you use stencils and free hand it? or did you have templates and bushing guides?

-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.

Nice signs. Welcome to LumberJocks.

-- "A goal without a plan is a wish."

Beautiful signs. what’s the secret?

-- There is no such thing as a mistake. Its called a design modification Rick Kruse, Grand Rapids, MI

GO CARDS!!!

-- Wipe the blood stains from your blade before coming in.

Great start keep it going, porter-cable rocks!!!

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug

I drew the pattern and just went at it. You have to start somewhere and thats what I did. Grabbed the router and started. It worked for me.

-- Your not a true woodworker until you blow your nose and saw dust comes out! (WoodWorker Rule)

Great job!

Thanks for the post

Callum

-- For wood working podcasts with a twist check out http://thetimberkid.com/

they look so good you’d think they were done with a stencil or machine very well done the third one looks more hand done than the other two,there’s few people who can do such a good job freehand.Alistair

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

the red and blue was my very first one then the black came later but the one in the middle was done with a c&c machine called the carvewright

-- Your not a true woodworker until you blow your nose and saw dust comes out! (WoodWorker Rule)

Nice work. It’s nice to see another Cards fan here.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

Clever hands you have.

-- Jiri

I will back Nathan on this. I am his shop teacher, hence the username he chose. The STL sign was his first and it was all patience and hand work. Probably took him 3-4 class periods of 40 min each working time to complete. The other students that just hurried through it, showed in their work.

We print out the design using word art or just large font. I then take all the class’s designs to the photocopier and hit 200% and the template is designed to fit on a board that is 7” x 18”. We then use carbon or transfer paper to transfer the design to the board. I tell the kids to go slow and take their time since burning isn’t really an issue because we will be painting the letters. We use typical craft paint from walmart or whatever is laying around. The painting doesn’t have to be too neat, because the sign is ran through the planer to clean up the surface.

Sometimes if the depth is not correct on the router to make a narrower letter or the painting soaks into the wood too much thererfore requiring more passes through the planer, sometimes a letter will disappear as in the estimator on the last sign.

Take your time, have fun, and be creative.