Now that I have my MPCNC up and running, it was hungry for a project.
We recently expanded our office space at work so we have a bunch of new meeting rooms. Currently, there are a bunch of ghetto signs identifying them – handwritten on a sheet of paper, written on the window with dry-erase markers, etc. I figured I would make some nice signs for them!
We’re a tech startup, so we have quirky names for the rooms. I customized not only the name, but some clipart for each one. The blue blob on each one is hiding the company logo just because I’d rather not make it too easy to associate with me.
Wood is just pine, stained and shellacked. Some vinyl paint mask was applied, then into the MPCNC for carving. The cuts were lightly coated with poly to seal the grain, then spray painted (except the white on Route 66 – that was hand painted since I didn’t have white spray paint handy), vinyl removed and then touchups/cleanup.
There are keyhole mounting slots on the back – also CNCed out – and I also CNCed an installation jig to make drilling the holes for the screws easy to line up with the slots.
Artwork was set up in Inkscape, and the CAM was done in Fusion 360.
That looks great. What’s the name of the paint mask product you used? I’m searching for it but I just get the protective masks you wear while painting, lol.
The specific product I used is manufactured by Oracal, and the product is Oramask 811 Stencil Film. You can buy the smaller rolls (~12" wide) off of Amazon, but you’re MUCH better off going to a sign supply place as it was MUCH cheaper – I bought a 24" x 20yd roll for CAD$95 shipped.
When I was researching what to buy, it was a tossup between the Oracal stuff or the Avery SF100. Opinions seemed pretty split on which one was better. I ended up going with the Oracal because it was significantly cheaper at the supplier I was using, and I’m extremely happy with the results.
I will give you this bit of advice though: when applying the shellac layer, use the brush-on kind. My first sign was made with a spray can, and it ended up with a slightly rought texture; my vinyl didn’t stick anywhere near as well. The brush-on stuff made a super-smooth finish and the vinyl stuck to it really, really, really well.
