Thanks, DocWheeler

[cnsranch]

Got the inspiration for the attached from Ken......

I really like the "Black Chancery" font in these deskplates. This is the third one I've done for new engineers, and an MD.

They love them.

BTW, the wood was painted first, and then carved. Small (THIN, THIN) shim placed in the machine when the bit's touching down so as to ensure the machine stays above the surface of the wood when carving.

[dcalvin4]

EXCELLENT TIP ...FINE JOB
Denny

[KeystoneChuck]

Thanks for the tip! I could not figure out how you guys were painting then routing and still leaving the paint on the board. I was in the woods and couldn't see the trees. Did you route the base to accept the plaque or are there screws holding it in place? I am going to make one tommorow; I've been shown the light...lol...

[TerryWinslow]

Beautiful sign and thanks for the tip!! It never occurred to me to paint the wood first.. Duh!!

When you say shim, just exactly where would that go? Don't like to seem like an idiot, but I really need to know.. lol

Got the inspiration for the attached from Ken......

I really like the "Black Chancery" font in these deskplates. This is the third one I've done for new engineers, and an MD.

They love them.

BTW, the wood was painted first, and then carved. Small (THIN, THIN) shim placed in the machine when the bit's touching down so as to ensure the machine stays above the surface of the wood when carving.

[cnsranch]

Hi, guys......

The plate itself is put through the machine, then I beveled the bottom at 15 degrees, glued it to the base and used 2" pin nails through the bottom.
Fairly light, no need to attach it any firmer.

Others should chime in, but the reason I use a very thin shim is this.......

The text is brought to the surface of the board in Designer - check to make sure that the surface of ALL of the text is at 0.00 height. When carved, the bit barely passes over the the surface when carving the project. If you don't paint the board first, you would never know the difference of the following potential problem - the project would look great.

BUT, if your board isn't PERFECTLY flat, and if the top isn't PERFECTLY in parallel with the bottom, the bit WILL scrape the painted surface of the text in places when carving (ask me how I know that).

Think about it - when the bit touches down, the machine then believes that the entire surface of the board is exactly that thick. If it's a tad thicker in one place or the other, the bit WILL hit the surface at that point.

So, as the bit is getting ready to touch down on the board to find the surface, I hit stop, then jog to touch, and add my THIN shim (probably less than 1/64th"). Bit touches on the shim - effectively telling the machine that the board is thicker than it actually is. Benefit is that the bit is further away from the surface of the board when passing over the surface of the text, missing any high points, and effectively leaving the paint in place.

Watch it, though - if your shim is too thick, the text won't look right. Not enough of the wood will be carved away, and the text will look less than professional (assuming that mine does). Take a close look at the text in my plaque - the letters aren't designed to touch one another - they do, though, because of that shim.

I can't get it right any other way, and I have a surface planer, drum sander, blah, blah, blah. I'm usually ok, but sometimes I get caught - so, the shim is added insurance that I don't have to throw away another blown attempt.

[bergerud]

On my machine, 0.00 is really a few thousandths below the surface. It could be that machines are different. It might be worth while to experiment and find what your "vertical" offset is and make a custom shim. There are other reasons besides painted lettering to have 0.00 not touch the board. For example, when making an object by slicing with the STL importer, you do not want the nicely planed gluing surface to be carved. Another would be carving acrylic and not wanting the smooth surface roughed up by the bit as it passes over.

[farmer]

I like the font, great job! I told my daughter a few days ago that I was thinking of making some but she said she didn't think they sell, said nobody used them anymore. Have to tell her she was wrong!