I posted this at the Garage Journal and someone suggested to try here. They said that there are some pretty decent artist's here so I thought I would give it a shot..... I am looking for suggestions on how to make a sign for my garage. Basically I'm trying to figure out what material to make it out of. Here are some of the ideas I've come up with: - Take piece of wood and routing out the letters - Having a sign made with vinyl letters at a local sign shop (like a banner) - Take piece of wood and painting the letters I want it to look nice because this is going to be the name of my garage so it will be displayed prominently in the garage (I don't want to reveal the name until the sign is done!). Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Doug PS The sign is going to be about 25 letters long __________________ Doug Swanson 1969 Ford Fairlane Cobra 428CJ 1993 Crestliner 1750 Sportfish 90hp Johnson 2003 Honda XR650L Dual Sport
Howdy - before ettiquette police find you, I suggest making an introduction, it will make your time spent here SO much more enjoyable. About your query, is this a sign that you want to last a while? Will it be exposed to the elements (rain, snow, direct sunlight?) All of these factors will affect your decisions. Painted wood looks nice ... for a while, unless steps are taken to really make sure it's protected/sealed and highest quality paints are used. If you're serious about this looking its best and lasting a while, I'd consider sheet metal or maybe a little more creative and use a piece of a car (hood, fender, door, etc.) But this is just me talking here. Look forward to seeing your intro.
I have been in the sign bussenes for 19 years, I will try and help you if i can but I need to ask a few questions first. How long do you think you will use the sign? How will it be mounted? ( against a building, free standing, hanging etc.) Do you want one or two sides? how many colors? How far away do you want it to be read from? will it be lighted? and the big question is, how much do you want to spend? appaRATus
Thanks for the response. What I'm looking for will probably hang indoors so it will be one-sided and it won't get any exposure to the elements. I was thinking about using an old weathered barn board or something similar but I would also like it to be unique. If it's something I can't do myself, I'd probably spend about $150-200 on it. I know that doesn't sound like much but I'm on a budget (like most everyone else!) Thanks! Doug
If this is going to be outside, my suggestions: If you want to use wood go with Cedar http://allwoodsignblanks.com/ To use an alternate material (HDU High Density Urathane) that is weather resistant use a product called sign foam 3 http://www.signfoam.com/ If you are going to letter it dont use vinyl, go with 1 Shot paint it will last longer Glen
Well if you are going to put it inside I would go with a skin from an older truck door and letter it like it was from an old shop/garage with your info on it, there have been some really good post here in the past about doing washed out lettering or making new lettering look old, find them and go from there. If you do not feel like you can do the lettering yourself you can find someone local to you and have it done, if you go that route try and find some pictures of old letering you like that hey can use as a idea. or, you could have a sign shop cut some vinyl for you and use it for a template and letter it yourself and remove the vinyl when done, just dont use vinyl for the letters as a finnished product, it looks cheap. Hope this gets you started, appaRATus
Thanks for the suggestions. Since I own a 1969 Fairlane, I might have to pick up a trunk lid and try it out. I did call a few places today about making something out of wood and one place wanted $450 to make a sign. This was either sand blasted redwood or cedar so the letters would have the raised appearance. That's a little spendy for me right now.... Thanks! Doug PS This board moves faster than any I've seen!
You can make it out of one side of a car.....but use a buddys car as it renders the other side useless.
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