Any sign makers here?

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Jim Smith

Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
2,008
Location
Lakeland, FL
I am in need of a sign to place on my property to help people understand that it is private property. It should be made from a 2 feet long piece of 2x12 pressure treated wood. It would say something like -

Private Property
Please do not use the dock
or go on the lawn - Thank you

I would prefer to have the letters stand out rather than routed in which I could do myself. This may require a CNC machine to do it properly.

If you have this capability and are interested, please send me a PM.

Thanks

Jim Smith
 
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You might be better off seeking out a hobbyist looking for a fun project with their cnc, rather than a sign maker. A sign maker's price for your project may (or may not) be a bit of a shock to you.

In my opinion, pressure treated wood is not a very good choice for this project. I wouldn't carve it in my shop (who needs toxic dust everywhere (even with good dust collection)) and I wouldn't want a sign made from it (unless I found signs that quickly warped, cracked and looked really ugly to be attractive (and I don't)).

The dense rigid foams used by sign makers would be durable and produce a nice finished product. But, the foams are expensive.

For my "family plan" (aka family freebie) signs for in-laws that wouldn't leave me alone until I made them a sign, I've used construction grade untreated lumber and then painted the sign with exterior house paint. Looks ok and lasts a long time. I've also used the fake wood decking materials without paint. They are ok.

If you don't get a taker here, you might check out the shop bot forums or sawmill creek forums. There a are lot of cnc owners there and some might be interested in making you a nice sign for beer money.

Here's a sample of the kind of thing someone could do for you with a slab of wood (not pressure treated) and some paint. The letters are raised.


ED
 

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Ed,

Thank you very much for your insights and recommendations. I will do a bit more research and check out those website to see if I can find a hobbyist with a CNC machine interested in earning some extra money to support his woodworking habit.

Jim Smith
 
Hey Jim
I don't have a link but saw a custom wooden sign maker on etsy a while back, don't remember details but seemed to be a great price. Hope that helps
 
There's a site that catalogs CNC businesses and what kind of work they do...you can search its listings at: 100kGarages - Where projects are made by digital fabricators (fabbers) working with 2-D or 3-D digital fabrication tools

Finding a local source would let you skip shipping a bulky package cross country and would let you see the proposed design before it's cut.

You could probably hand pick the material and bring it to them so you're certain to have it cut on what you want...

You could potentially even get just the raw sign and paint it yourself (so you're certain it's covered in good quality UV-resistant paint/varnish).
 
A well crafted sign can take quite a lot of time to do right. There's layout, resizing, tracing, routing with more that one bit, painting, sanding, finishing, and adding any hardware. It's no wonder sign makers charge so much. It's a lot of fun and very satisfying though! :)

I made one some time ago using a handheld router (no CNC). It turned out good enough and proved to me it's not hard to match the "raised letter look" found on a lot of signs. Many sign makers have switched from wood to foam plastic and once painted it's hard to notice the difference. Foam will outlast wood under harsh weather.

If I find the photo of my sign I'll post it.
 
I make my signs here out of granite. 1 1/4 inches thick. 24"x12"

Lettering can be raised, Highlited, skinned into the polish. I also have the plans for cutting treated posts for placing them anywhere.

My signs prices are $150.00 +/- any details. If all you are looking for is lettering, then $150.00 plus shipping by FedEx.

If you are interested......contact me here.
 
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BTW, I've bought from Dave's Signs in Arizona via internet. Service was fast and I was very satisfied. If you're not going with granite from a fellow pen turner ;) you might check them out.

They'll sell you the supplies they use so you can make your own sign or custom make you what you need. Find them at Wood Letters - Wooden letters - Wooden Numbers.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
 
Jim; A fellow I used to work with had a great sign on his property, wasn't very fancy, but I believe it got the message across.

Private property- No trespassing
survivers will be prosecuted !!!

Jim S
 
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I made my own on a piece of 2'x2'x 1/4 plywood and got a small stencil set from either Wally World or the $ store. It read:
Warning! No Trespassing!
Violators will be shot!
Survivors will be violated!
It hung on my shop for years. I think I need to make another one. :)
 
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