Sign Carving
Doug Reynolds
>What kind of wood should I use to carve a hanging sign for a horse ranch gate? Sign will be about 12 inches tall and 10 feet long. Thanks
Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Sign Carving
Doug Reynolds
>What kind of wood should I use to carve a hanging sign for a horse ranch gate? Sign will be about 12 inches tall and 10 feet long. Thanks
Re: Sign Carving
Charles
>I would suggest redwood, cedar, spanish cedar, mahogany, purpleheart, white oak, and probably others I can't think of right now. The first four would be easier to carve. All I listed are pretty good at being exposed outside.
Re: Sign Carving
Brad in Ottawa
>What kind of sign are you carving? Is it going to be words only? Carving with horses? Are you going to paint any of it? What types of finishes (if any) would you like to use over top of it? Finally what area of the continent are you from or what weather extremes will the sign be subjected to?
Charles listed some woods that do well when exposed to the elements but some of those woods could be pretty pricy! If you could provide a few more details maybe a couple other alternatives could be suggested.
Brad
Re: Sign Carving
Doug Reynolds
>Brad: I live in the greater Seattle, Washington area. The sign would have the logo and name of the ranch and would hang from the entrance gate. We usually never have snow nor temperatures above 90 degrees but, we always tell people it rains nine months of the year just to keep Southern Californians away. Their imigration tends to artificially increase real estate prices.
Re: Sign Carving
Brad in Ottawa
>I would suggest the Redwood based on the availability alone...
Also, check out the handtools archive. The link is on the left. Do a search for "sign" and "carve". There are two helpful threads with gorgeous signs.
The one by GolfSteve in Calgary explains the process to make a beautiful sign. Try contacting him to see if he has any suggestions!
I hope this helps!