What Tool Do You Use To Make This?

[fjl]

That piece of wood on the bottom right, what is used to cut wood in that type of shape? And what do they use for a template? I also saw something like that cut into someones name on a piece of wood. Like engraved but it was obviously cut. Also the wood I saw wasn't even cut all the way through. And it didn't look like they just pasted the words on anopther piece of wood. It was all once piece. Something like this...



Looked like it could have been done with a router but where the letters met, it was very thin. Making me think that it couldn't have been a router cause they don't make router bits that could cut so thin. At least not that I know of.

[fatfingers]

I don't have a clue, but just because I feel like guessing I'm going to go with a scroll saw.  No idea about a template though...

[BobA]

You could also make the second example using a scrollsaw if you cut the pieces out of one piece of wood and glued them back down onto a second piece of the same size.

A commercial shop could probably make it out of one piece using a laser engraver.

[Rusty]

I vote for making that second piece out of a good old-fashioned chisel! 

[bfauska]

or with your teeth.


I bet the top one was done on a scroll saw like others have said.  You could do it with a jigsaw if you had the right blades, enough patience, lots of sandpaper, and mad jigsaw skills.  The second one does seem like getting the inside corners of the text would be difficult with a router bit, you would most likely have a 1/8" radius instead of a sharp corner.  If you went back and cleaned it up with a dremel or rotozip I think you could get it there.  You could also do a majority of the work with a router and then clean it up with a chisel.  Many state and county fairs have people doing signs with routers and they end up pretty nice looking in the quality aspect, I won't comment on how nice or tacky the idea of said sign may be.

[kingflynn]

In signmaking they can create something like the second image with a sandblaster.  The border and the letters are cut out and applied with a special film, then they carefully sandblast it.  Material is removed anywhere that is not covered in the film, so the border and letters become"raised".

[ChadTower]

First can be done on a scrollsaw, but that second one I'd say CNC.  You could do the first on CNC as well.  That second one is about 15 minutes of CNC coding if that.

[fjl]

cnc?

[BobA]

Computer Numerical Control

[fjl]

I'm more interested in what type of bit is used to cut this type of thing. Or is the CNC a laser cutter?

[bfauska]

There are both.  I think the most common version would use an end-mill bit, possibly an assortment of bits, something large to do the initial removal and then a fine one for the detail.

[AtomSmasher]

The easiest way I can think to do it is to cut the piece of wood down the middle, cut out the pattern you want on one of the pieces with a scroll saw, then glue them back together.

[NiteWalker]

In the first pic it was likely scroll sawed. The template was probably drawn on a piece of paper and then stuck to the wood using spray adhesive.

For the second pic all that is needed is a router. Making a template for each letter would be tedious so I'd draw the desired text on the board and use a straight edge of some sort to guide the router (preferable a laminate trimmer) around the straight lines of the letters and the border. The curves of the letters can be done freehand. Then it's simply a matter of switching to a full sized router and removing the rest of the waste between the letters and the borders. A plunge boring straight bit would work fine. You can use other bits like a v-groove or cove bit for added effects. And once finished, you can go back around the letters with a t-slot bit with a top bearing to make the letters look like they're floating. Cool effect.

[DrewKaree]

I think it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that they used a scroll saw for the first one.  For the second one, you also could use a spiral cutting bit for some of the narrower things and cleaned up all the rounded corners with a chisel.  You COULD use a template for the word you're using (or templates for individual letters) and then, like NiteWalker said, cut out the initial design and use a larger bit to hog out all the excess.

Why do you ask?

[Chris G]

He wants to make his marquee entirely out of wood?   

[fjl]

lol. but no.

Actually, now that I've been buying wood working tools, not only did I get bit by the cabinet making bug but also a general woodworking bug as well. So now woodcrafts fascinate me. Everything from building house frames to furniture.

[DrewKaree]

Build yourself an adirondack chair.  Nice, the wife'll like it, and it's pretty simple to build.

[NiteWalker]

Perfect time of the year too. Very easy to build.

[spiffykyle]

Perfect time of the year too. Very easy to build.

I agree with the adirondack chair suggestion as well.

There are very simple designs out there plus its a great opportunity to try out different techniques, depending on your design. You can get plenty of practice on simple routing and joinery, as well as using your spiffy new power tools without risking a lot of time and effort.

Don't forget to take care with finishing. I've seen plenty of people do a bang up job in the construction, but rush the finish and ruin a job.

welcome to the addictive world of woodworking.

[Crax]

You could most likely do that second one with a pin router setup pretty easily I would think. 

[fjl]

pin router set up?

And where can I get plans for an adirondack chair? lol who came up with that name?

[DrewKaree]

who came up with that name?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adirondack_chair

I seem to recall reading that the name became commonplace because of the area they were commonly seen (Adirondack mountans?) and produced for. 

Plans?  Sheesh, take yer pick!

First, a metric plan (all the rest are non-metric): http://www.buildeazy.com/fp_adirondackchair.html



http://www.buildeazy.com/fp_adirondackchair_std.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/woodworking/1273151.html

http://www.treatedwood.com/project/achair.html

http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/496/adirondack-chair/

http://www.am-wood.com/june97/adirondack.html

http://www.am-wood.com/nov97/adrock.html

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Build/AdCh&topic=howToLibrary

http://pages.areaguides.com/ubuild/AdirondackChairs.htm

http://www.tulsawalk.com/projects/jakeschair/index.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/workshop/2919751.html

[Crax]

pin router set up?

http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=212
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/workshop/1274466.html

Basically, you would cut the letters out of some scrap stuff, glue them on another piece with rails along the edges and then use that as a template with your router set at the correct depth to cut it from a solid piece of wood.  There are other plans for the pin router as well.  I may try to build the one in shopnotes #57 eventually.