36x36 question

[PDunn]

well so far all my small carved signs have been great I wanted to do a 36x36 sign for a friends shop but my dilemma was after reading tips and tricks jeffs post , my board size keeps changing , I placed it and used Rockwell extra bold and set it to 999 (not sure if that was right ) but wanted the letters to be clean and pop , since it is a text only sign figured it was simple , it was to say , "THE VARIETY SHOP
BUY,SELL ,TRADE
ANTIQUES,COLLECTABLES
NEW AND USED ITEMS
PH 518-568-8058
dilemma is getting 3 mpcs to total a 36x 36 sign any ideas or help would be grateful

[DickB]

Hard to help without more information. I always start with a scaled-down mpc - in your case it would be 1/3 scale. Please post your mpc so we can see what you are attempting.

[PDunn]

here is what I have SIGN TOP 1.mpcSIGN MIDDLE 1.mpcSIGN BOTTOM 1.mpcscaled down sign.mpc

[eelamb]

I see your text is 36x36 but each board is 36x11. This gives you a 36x33" board! Now the problem I see is there is no margin on width for each board. The cw needs some space on the edge or it will try to reduce the carve size. Here are examples of the same files showing the way I would lay it out.
I do not do many large signs, so others may step in and correct me.

NOTE: Make sure you have a board at least 7" longer than the 36" and choose NO to stay under rollers. I would make it 4" to be on the safe side. Board = 36+8=44" in length. The 12" width is fine.

[PDunn]

thanks for the insight , and I will do as you posted , my boards only measured 11 1/4 wide , so use 12 and it will be ok ,

[tcough3475]

I made a 24x24 sign and had a similar problem but I didn't want to try to trim the edges after carving because I was sure that I would trim too much off. The issue is the machine thinks it needs something for the rollers to "grab" on a full width carve. In your case, and mine, I didn't carve away material the full width of the board as I was just outline or V-carving so there would be plenty of material for the rollers to contact. In the waste end of the boards, I tack glued a 1/2" wide runner to both sides to trick the machine. After carving, they easily popped off and allowed me to edge glue the final pieces, worked great.

[eelamb]

thanks for the insight , and I will do as you posted , my boards only measured 11 1/4 wide , so use 12 and it will be ok ,

Yes, you need about .5" width extra so the CW has something to hold onto. Like tcough3475 said even placing a removable width edge will work. Masking tape can be used on top and bottom of board to hold strip strip of wood to give a wider width.