Hardwood words of wisdom

The past week been a busy one. I’ve tried my hand at making hardwood signs and engraving them with some choice quotes. After a good bit of searching, I found some nice Mahogany to test making signs. I started by adding a decorative edge with my router. A bit of sanding and a nice light stain was then used to bring out the colours and grain in the wood.

Sign edge profile

Next was to add some varnish for protection and assist with cleanup of the smoke from engraving process. I tested on several different pieces with a range of colours.

Beware of dog… and cats

The lighter colours seemed to work better. The smoke would be blown back into the wood grain for a nice contrast on the background. Hard wood also provided a very nice medium for fine detail as seen in the leaves of the trees.

Tree engraving detail

While darker wood or more pink tint looked wonderful stained, it didn’t provide enough contrast for to easily read the lettering.

Darker wood grains

I tried to experiment with white paint filling in lettering the lettering. This proved a bit more difficult to keep out of the surrounding wood grains.