UPDATED, weekend accomplishments

[Grant Davis]

The teaching staff at my wifes school has lost two long term teachers in the last two years. They are putting to gether a memorial garden to honor these teachers and asked me to build them an arbor for the garden. Our local 84 Lumber donated and even delivered the lumber to my house on Satruday morning. I decided to put it together in pieces (sides, top and stringers). One of the other teachers husbands is going to bring his truck over on Tuesday and we will go set the posts and return on Wednesday to install the top. Here are some photos of the progress so far.
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I got an email from the art teacher today who is heading up this project wanting to know if I could carve some lettering into the face of the front stringer. She wanted it to read...A "YOUNG" PLACE. I told her that I had never done anything like it before but I would try. So I sat at my desk during lunch and played around with Microsoft Publisher and came up with and printed off a banner. I got home and taped the banner together and tooka piece of transfer paper and copied it onto the face of the board. I then took my new birthday present and put in a .25 flat bottom bit and started very slow. It took me almost 2 hours to cut all of the letters but I am very pleased with how it turned out.
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[Craig Thompson]

Grant,

LATE POST

You did all those letters free-hand.... really? They look great

[Grant Davis]

Grant,

LATE POST

You did all those letters free-hand.... really? They look great


Craig,
I found the letters I liked in Word and printed it out as a banner. I stretched it out on my work bench and taped it together. I took a piece of carbon paper and traced the letters off onto the side rail of the arbor. I used a flat bottom bit in my Bosch Colt and cut them all free hand. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish.

You can see more pictures of it here.
http://community.webshots.com/user/gad5264

[Matt Meiser]

You have a much steadier hand at the router than I do. I have trouble making a router follow a guide rail. That looks great!

[Chuck Lenz]

Very nicely done, great router work.

[Evan Stockton]

Awesome! I love using a router for lettering - I use a dremmel on smaller projects, but have always thought of using a full or mid-sized router for larger work, similar to what you've done. Looks great, and the project has meaning, too...I say again, awesome!