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petricshone
I am interested in designing a wood sign for my outdoor advertising.I don't have any experience about variety of Woods.So which wood is perfect for my wood sign? I may use CNC services later from CNC cutting NY.
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When I was in the business 30 years ago the best possible wood to use was California Redwood.
I made some with hand held router and some sandblasted, the sandblasted gave a nice weathered look in the letters.
The router was very clean and smooth. Either took paint very well but gold leaf worked much better on the smooth surface.
Now there may be some synthetics or plastics that last longer but they don't have the same look as redwood.
If you can't get redwood in your area the next best would be Eastern red cedar. Cypress is also good for outdoors but can get a little fuzzy when sanded.
Teak is great but very expensive.
I made some with hand held router and some sandblasted, the sandblasted gave a nice weathered look in the letters.
The router was very clean and smooth. Either took paint very well but gold leaf worked much better on the smooth surface.
Now there may be some synthetics or plastics that last longer but they don't have the same look as redwood.
If you can't get redwood in your area the next best would be Eastern red cedar. Cypress is also good for outdoors but can get a little fuzzy when sanded.
Teak is great but very expensive.
Agree My family is from Redwood country. It is very easy to work with and moisture, rot and bug resistant . If you want a hard wood go with IPE (Brazilian Ironwood) It is a great wood 7 times harder than redwood roughly twice as hard as Hickory. BUT ........
It is pretty bland wood it will stain ok and takes oil ok, but it will weather dark almost black over time. Good luck
It is pretty bland wood it will stain ok and takes oil ok, but it will weather dark almost black over time. Good luck
There are a few members on here that do CNC work also. Hopefully they will speak up. Wood choice might depend on the choice of finishing, stain or paint. What is the final look you are going for?
There is a special plywood typically used with signs called Signboard you can use depending what your design is.
There is a special plywood typically used with signs called Signboard you can use depending what your design is.
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I use a lot of Sapele outdoors. It holds up very well, routes excellent. I use it for most wood signs, all exterior millwork. I also use a lot of HDU that I route for other signs shops. The HDU is excellent for outdoors, but you need to take into consideration of how it will be mounted as it's not structurally strong but paints well and holds up to the weather changes. Downfall to HDU is it is quite pricey.
You would need to have some ideas to be able to narrow down some other possibilities
You would need to have some ideas to be able to narrow down some other possibilities
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