Routed Signs

I rout signs with the same sort of hand-held router as used by cabinet and furniture makers. Different bits are available to remove underlying wood to achieve many different effects. The latest trend is toward large-scale, computer-guided machines that can cut many levels and achieve a sculpted look. It is still quite feasible, however, to achieve the same effects by hand, at least on a smaller scale.

Left: Basic routed letters (using a round bit) in redwood.

Right: A combination of routing and hand carving. The outside edge, as with the sign above, has been shaped with a cove bit.

Signs may also be routed in relief, by removing only the surrounding area, leaving the image area highest:

Left: The background here has been removed with a square bit, using a clamp-on guide for the straight edges. The tightest areas, where the letters were closer than the 1/2" diameter of the router bit, I handcarved with chisel and knife. (The name is a double pun: there was a Lois living on this lane.)

For another router job, see my Vehicle Signs page.

Sequence of Events for a Router Job

←The job as conceived...

...and as drawn with a plotter on paper, then transferred by hand with carbon paper→

←The wood is painstakingly cut away with a standard router...

...leaving the wood sculpted into letters→

←The client wanted the recessed background stained, and the rest painted; here we see the border primed...

...and the result—the sign and its mate mounted between two posts→

Back to Scott Leslie Signs page