Carving individual, large letters

[undrtkr]

I want to carve letters about 5 inches tall and .5 inches thick, using Regency Script font to place on a wall. Can anyone tell me how to make the letters rounded (dome like) from the back to the front?

[bjbethke]

I want to carve letters about 5 inches tall and .5 inches thick, using Regency Script font to place on a wall. Can anyone tell me how to make the letters rounded (dome like) from the back to the front?

I would make the letters you want to use into a pattern with ShaderMap Pro and the CW pattern Editor to give your letters a 3d look. Cutting out the letters without a background with the Regency Script font would give you letters that would break easy.

[Digitalwoodshop]

BJB, VERY NICE !!!!!

Now for the Hillbilly .ptn Challenged guy's way..... As in I am POOR at patterns and do things a easier but more labor intensive way...

I would type the text on a board to the Exact way you need them for Height and Width.

Next I would Type the First Letter in the word and place it OVER the SENTENCE.... Making the Single Letter the EXACT Size of the Sentence Letter. Copy that letter. Open a NEW BOARD and PASTE IT. Go back to Board 1 and DELETE the Single Letter.

Next I would type the 2nd letter... Same Drill.... Overlay it with the Sentence and make it the CORRECT SIZE. Copy and paste it in Board 2.

Do this to ALL letters...

Move the letters to match GRAIN and FIT to get the MOST out of the Board Foot of WOOD.....

I did a KUHN Cut Out letters like this fitting the letters for best use of the wood or in my case....18 feet of 1 x 12 PVC Board for $100.00 per board Retail. I saw the letters TODAY.... They painted them and mounted them to plywood and mounted the plywood to the building. Looks GOOD.... I will take pictures and post the completed story... To get the ZONING Passed.... I placed a 4 foot Fluorescent Light BOX on the ground in front of the building. Took a big picture of the whole building. Brought the picture into COREL DRAW and made the picture HUGE.... Drew a 1 x 4 inch Rectangle in Corel Draw and Made the Picture BIGGER until the 1 x 4 INCH fit on the 4 foot long BOX in the picture. I then had a SCALE FACTOR.... 1 inch = 1 FOOT.....

Went through MANY FONT Examples, Typing the letters in WHITE on the building to FIT the WALL SPACE... The Scale Factor let me CALCULATE the Square FOOTAGE of the Sign on the Building and that was submitted to the ZONING BOARD and after a few changes approved... for SIZE and STYLE.... They ended up not using some of the smaller letters as the business changed slightly....

Be VERY CAREFUL cutting letters from GRAIN WOOD as the THINNESS of the WOOD and the GRAIN and the letters CAN SPLIT..... And be CAREFUL how you mount them...... ALLOW for EXPANSION and CONTRACTION.... NAIL both ENDS and when it SHRINKS it will SNAP in the MIDDLE..... THAT is WHY I Choose PVC BOARD..... LESS problems with GRAIN.... They mounted the letters on PLYWOOD.... That is GOOD.... Very STABLE.... IF you mount them on a Board with a CROSS GRAIN of the letters to the board something will GIVE.... MY LEARNING Experience was the CERAMIC TILE inlaid in a WOOD SIGN... The side to the SUN SNAPPED In HALF.... I need to make a new Sign and all out of wood....


SO back to the Script Letter above... MY answer or the Hillbilly Answer to the DOME on the individual Letters..... DO IT WITH A HAND SANDER.... BY HAND.... After Cutting out the letter....


O' yes.... On Board 2.... Select ALL the letters and then OUTLINE LETTERS.... Delete the copied and pasted letters leaving the OUTLINE... Assign the Cut PATH to the letters..... Cut them out... SAND the Dome.... DONE....

You COULD leave the Carve letter and design the DOME then Outline and Cut Path... BUT that would be a very long carve.... All the DOME Time in Raster Mode.... Followed by a Cut Path....

I just did a 2nd PVC cut out letter job.... This time I used the SENTENCE to cut the letters using a outline and cut path.... My REASON.... The PVC BOARD might be used at a later time as a Lighted letter sign.... AS in Colored Acrylic behind the board and a light source... Letting the Cut out letters show. He needs 3 sets of PVC Letters.... I cut one on the CW and he will use a Router Table and a BEARING BIT I supplied to duplicate the 2nd and 3rd set of letters. 2 sided entrance sign and a Score Board Sign I am STILL working on....


Good Luck,


AL