Dave Tesch
06-13-2010, 7:04 PM
25 years ago i made my last nameplate; that one was for my grandparents lake house. its a pine board with their names on it in a nice half cursive/half printing kind of style. i wrote their names by hand on some lines i marked with a ruler, and used two different depths to route it with a 60 degree V bit. then i burned the board and sanded the burn off, leaving the routed names still burned. its pretty darn good for a 7th grade kid i think LOL. now i have it hanging in my shop; thats the kind of thing you dont want back but it was given back to me when they died.
i want to make three nameplates for young people in my family, two nieces and a nephew. the oldest is four years old. i actually had to go buy a V bit today because for some reason i didnt own one(?). i have a nice finish pine 1x6x8' in my shop with only a mild bow in it. i took a scrap piece and drew a name on it and routed it to make sure i remembered how - it went fine except i misspelled my wife's family's last name (oops....showed my wife with a proud grin....doghouse...)
when i was doing this i had an idea - i could find a really good font on the computer and print out a paper, fasten the paper to the board and route that instead of hand writing it - i think i could do a lot better job that way.
so, am i onto something? should i try and find sticky paper i can print on somewhere, or possibly use rubber cement on regular paper? i really dont know if anyone does this or not. my good carpenter friend has a projector that will take anything you put in it and project it on the wall or floor and he does this kind of thing like that, then would hand draw the printed paper. works awesome but i cant afford that kind of setup.
also i want to do a cove edge around the perimeter, and cut the corners of the board with a kind of cove shape, like a quarter circle missing from each corner (i hope i am explaining myself here). for the life of me i cant figure out how to work that cut after i rough cut it, it seems i would almost need a round drum sander the size of the quarter circle(?) i dont have a drum sander and cant buy one at this point. am i missing another idea on this?
my wife recommended i use a keyhole bit to mount the board to the wall (i get to buy more stuff!). i've never used a keyhole bit but i have had a good long look at several. seems like a very neat idea.
i want to make three nameplates for young people in my family, two nieces and a nephew. the oldest is four years old. i actually had to go buy a V bit today because for some reason i didnt own one(?). i have a nice finish pine 1x6x8' in my shop with only a mild bow in it. i took a scrap piece and drew a name on it and routed it to make sure i remembered how - it went fine except i misspelled my wife's family's last name (oops....showed my wife with a proud grin....doghouse...)
when i was doing this i had an idea - i could find a really good font on the computer and print out a paper, fasten the paper to the board and route that instead of hand writing it - i think i could do a lot better job that way.
so, am i onto something? should i try and find sticky paper i can print on somewhere, or possibly use rubber cement on regular paper? i really dont know if anyone does this or not. my good carpenter friend has a projector that will take anything you put in it and project it on the wall or floor and he does this kind of thing like that, then would hand draw the printed paper. works awesome but i cant afford that kind of setup.
also i want to do a cove edge around the perimeter, and cut the corners of the board with a kind of cove shape, like a quarter circle missing from each corner (i hope i am explaining myself here). for the life of me i cant figure out how to work that cut after i rough cut it, it seems i would almost need a round drum sander the size of the quarter circle(?) i dont have a drum sander and cant buy one at this point. am i missing another idea on this?
my wife recommended i use a keyhole bit to mount the board to the wall (i get to buy more stuff!). i've never used a keyhole bit but i have had a good long look at several. seems like a very neat idea.