Sign Making 101- Tips for Wood Signs: Material, Finish, and Bit Selection

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Introduction to Sign Making with a CNC. Complete tutorial and how to includes different types of woods and materials to use, painting and finishing options, bit selection, toolpaths, and more. I include a brief look at the Vectric VCarve Pro Software to design the signs, as well as the UCCNC software to run the machine. If you’re on the fence and think a CNC is too intimidating, watch and see how simple, efficient, and accurate it can be.
This video was made possible by i2R (Imagination to Reality) CNC's. To take a closer look at my machine, the B.24, as well as their other machines and products, check out their website at www.i2rcnc.com
#i2rcnc #cncwoodworking #cnc
-⏱Timestamps⏱-
00:00 Intro to Sign Making
01:35 Wood and Material Selection
03:54 Using MDF
06:08 Using Melamine
06:54 Batching Tips
08:00 Using Plywood & Paint
09:02 Tips for Oramask
10:43 Using Oramask- Carving & Paint
11:25 Bit Selection
17:04 VCarve Tips
18:30 Using Hardwoods & Solid Woods
22:18 Framing Options
23:35 Sign Design with Vectric VCarve Software
30:34 Using UCCNC Software
32:01 Using Stained Wood & Full VCarve
32:34 i2R CNC
33:43 Final Tips
-📸Instagram🎥-
/ 6_8woodworks
-💲Armor Tool Discount💲-
Use promo code 2IOVMXAQ9W at www.armor-tool.com to save 10% on your order! Mobile workstations, clamps, pocket hole jigs, and more! (This is the mobile workbench I rolled outside and clamps I used to hold the pieces down)
-🔨Tools/Supplies I Use🔨-
Full List: www.amazon.com/shop/6_8woodworks
-As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.-
CNC Tool & Accessories List: a.co/dELwjrF
Oramask 25 ft: amzn.to/3MDT8o7
Oramask 50ft: amzn.to/39IqdRn
Masking Removal Tool: amzn.to/3MAXOey
Double-sided tape: amzn.to/3LxUvDm
Starter CNC Bit Set: amzn.to/38JkN8l
1/16" Downcut Bit: amzn.to/3NuJ2pQ
60 Degree VBit: amzn.to/3MxDnzd
1/16" Ball Nose Bit: amzn.to/3MAdwqg
1/4" Downcut Bit: amzn.to/3wwHQfH
Starbond CA Glue Kit: amzn.to/3l9fS4p
Sander: amzn.to/3ltO9ud
Table Saw: amzn.to/3sw2A2G
Incra Miter Gauge: amzn.to/3eKj2bi
Incra Miter Sled: amzn.to/3bmEtNl
Planer: amzn.to/3sutCaF
Wood Glue: amzn.to/3tYoxb8
Compression Bits from Bits & Bits
1/8" Compression Bit:bitsbits.com/product/425-cm12...
1/4" Compression Bit: bitsbits.com/product/425-cm25...
For more about woods I use, where to buy the wood, and other tips and info, check out my Wood 101 video: • Wood 101 For Woodworke...
-💻Website💻-
www.sixeightwoodworks.com

[@curveball99]

I really appreciate the videos you put out. You have a very clear and concise delivery of information. I also appreciate how you have sectioned off your videos with the bookmarks so it's easy to navigate if you're looking for something specific. I have recently bought a CNC and am going through the trials and tribulations of how to adequately finish jobs, so i came here for some insights! Thanks again, keep up the great work!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Thank you so much!

[@tswitz65]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and walking through the whole process. This was very helpful.

[@joseguevara184]

HACE VER ESTE TIPO DE TRABAJO TAN SENCILLO...You make this kind of job look so simple.... Amazing, Congrats.

[@kevinwillis6707]

it was a steep learning curve, but i love my CNC, its use is only limited by your imagination. i must add that i think a drum sander like you have, is almost a must when signmaking, gets stock dead flat so you dont lose depth when carving, i found lots of prefinished boards can dip by a millimetre or two at corners and edges, my drum sander is smaller footprint and quieter than a planer, so i can use it on weekends. wish i had space for a larger machine but we work with what we have. cheers

[@michaelkeymont501]

You can also use a clearance tool within the v-carve toolpath window instead of doing a separate pocket toolpath. You can actually use multiple clearance tools if it’s a big area.

[@5280Woodworking]

This is a very important point made here for others watching this video. Great content, but this wasn’t covered.

[@whitehornstudio]

So many good tips across this video, I have just got a shapeoko 4 xxl and looking to make some signs so this was very helpful, thanks for sharing

[@Cobyvincenr]

Really great educational videos. Thank you so much for taking the time out to share your knowledge.

[@awl_in_woodworks]

Just getting my feet on the ground with my CNC. This is very helpful. Thanks!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Glad to hear!

[@aliabdiart]

thank you for all the information

[@LaserEngraving911]

cool to watch you work! THX!

[@MrPcl78]

Nice work, inspiring!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Thank you!

[@thomasswenddal772]

I sure like your videos. Also, having messed up my wrists but still interested in woodworking I can see the possibility of using CNC adaptions to get back into the craft/art again. I'll be watching thank you for getting my blood flowing a bit more than usual.

[@SixEightWoodworks]

I was definitely on the fence with the CNC and lasers. Really impressed and have loved their ease of use and potential applications.

[@benjiandmckenzie8269]

Best video ever. Helped me out so much!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

This is great to hear. Thank you!

[@raelynnreilly6787]

Great video thank you. I use a hand held router and cnc bits and do the same. You might want to look at Frisco brand stencil vinyl, it has a higher tack. I also use permanent vinyl 12x12 squares and on the rolls and it’s awesome.

[@paulaperry6917]

So any vinyl i.e for cricut cutting, can be used as a masking agent?

[@engravingworld]

Excellent bro

[@MyLifEcademy-sr4hy]

Thanks for showcasing the melamine...

[@fitybux4664]

Just don't put it in your baby's formula and you'll be fine. 😆

[@TheProjectHelpDesk]

I am currently 'Breaking My Way' through learning a CNC. Mine is home built. I built a 1500 x 1500 for about $1500. As a test I dumped a 3d relief bmp in and setup a a roughing and two finishing cuts. Went from 1/4, to 1/8 to tapered ball nose. Problem was, the tapered ball nose cut was 14M lines of gcode. I had to disable the visual toolpath just so Mach3 woulld stop crashing. The Vectric estimator was 843 hours at 100mm per second. I thought it was lying so I launched it. Even after cranking Mach3 up to about 300% feed rate I thought it was just running the same line over and over.

[@PacesIII]

Use a 15° engrave bit for super sharp corners as a perimeter route, although a more common 25° bit works well too.

[@wharfrat360]

Killer work, man! Love the abundance of information! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Really appreciate that! Really trying to go overboard on the info and options, then folks can skip around as needed. Would hate to leave out that one aspect someone needs to make a project work.

[@benster1993ben]

Carbide create has a nice advanced v carve where you can enable a separate bit along with your v bit to cut out those larger areas all in one go

[@pa.fishpreacher6166]

Great verse.

[@JohnWaclawski]

I can count on 2 hands how many videos past roughly the 12-13 minute mark I have ever watched in all my years on the internet. This just jumped up there to probably one of my top 5 favorites. Thank you for all the information you've put in here. I took notes, rewound, more notes, rewound and will probably watch again. This is great information and you have earned a new subscriber. Thanks for this!! Now excuse me....I'm off to see what other pieces of information treasure I can gather from you!

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear it helps!

[@doug9121]

Hello great videos learned a lot I am just getting started with cnc ,the question I have is how deep are you cutting. Thanks again.

[@ericdickson2248]

Like your channel. Started using an XCarve about 6 months ago. What lettering style is on the Collective Efficiency sign?

[@travisgoodspeed4400]

In the section you were talking about the v bit leaving a ton of lines, could you do something like a bulk material removal with a 1/4 inch down cut, then bit change to do the finer details?

[@kensolis2759]

Thank you for your informative video. Will this machine (or others) work on something this 3.5 inches thick?

[@ChrisVZ77]

I have played around with Vetric's software on a friends computer. Great software that simplifies CNC designing, but I can't justify the high cost to run my hobby grade machine.

[@rabo27]

Love your work, I don't have the space for a cnc, but my best friend has one I think I'll be asking him to let borrow it... Go hawks Greetings from 🇲🇽 🇲🇽

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Nice. Go Hawks!

[@gbresaleking]

Make sure you have enough money to replace his bits if you break any as a beginner

[@JoeLazzara]

I noticed that you set up your design in the center of your workpiece and zeroed XY from there and used the probe for Z. Is there any reason you don't use the probe on one of the corners and set your XY Z that way? I'm new to this and so far I have been zeroing from the center and used the probe for Z.. But I finally figure out how to use it, zeroing from the lower left corner, and it just seems a little easier to me. Can you please explain what's really the difference? Thank you so much.

[@thesplinteredfinger]

What do you like bout UCCNC instead of using the CAM section of V-Carve? I love the IR2, I have the 24 x 48 Axiom.

[@ifiwooddesigns]

Awesome video and makes me want to get a CNC. I’ll look through your other videos and if it’s as simple as you make it appear, and have plenty of in depth videos, I may just give in and get one.

[@SixEightWoodworks]

It really is a lot simpler than I realized. Hope to show all the possibilities

[@OGMann]

Imagine being that first guy to start learning by trial and error, and then teaching literally every one else.

[@TheShaggyfrog]

What grit sandpaper are you using at around the 20:00 mark?

[@johntromans]

Could you use the vcarve with a 1/16 DC as a clearance tool

[@jonwoodworker]

Just wondering why you put the Susuki Motorcycle emblem in your Seattle signs.

[@OGMann]

Aspire is like $3K US. It seems to be excellent software. VCarve/Pro is what, $700? I currently use grbl candle and gimp/inkscape. There's not much you can't do with those. In fact, there is much more that can be done with them than I have yet learned. Aspire does have a grbl post processor. It's an add on one must find and install. I'm guessing your setup was in the $10K range? For anyone wanting to make a business venture, it might be recommended to have a well thought out and researched plan to do that. I see a lot of people at craft fairs these days hawking the same product designs because they are not actually artists or designers. Spend enough time online and you will quickly see how many people buy these machines and snag the same designs to call their own. Anyway, nice video and kudos for sharing your knowledge.

[@AetherPirate1]

How do you see your design overlay on the wood? I use lasers mostly and they have a camera that let's me see my design over my medium

[@JohnWaclawski]

It's me again. Re-watching your video for, I think, the 3rd time because it's very helpful. I have a question for you: Oramask application. Do you have a trick for applying that? Seems when I use it, it's so curled up, I end up getting dust\debris under it. Not a lot but enough to bug the he|| out of me. lol I'm half tempted to cut out a series of 10x12 sheets (for a 9x11 cut) and laying them out flat and putting weight on them. I'll have to try it on one sheet to see if that works. Thanks again!!

[@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1]

Do the roughing with a down cut, then run a border with the v bit. You do a tool change & you get the best of both worlds.

[@JoeLazzara]

Hi there. I loved this video, it was super informative. I'm a newbie at all of this and I am still trying to learn VCarve Pro, so I was wondering if I could make a request? Can you please do more instructional videos so we can learn the software better? Your video is very clear and concise and I think you would be great at teaching us so much more. So, would it be possible for you to make tutorial videos? PLEASE. Thanks so much.

[@ronmisiura9169]

I see that this comment was 11 months ago and you probably have learned a lot by now. I recently bought the V-Carve Pro software and came across a VERY informative training program put out by Kyle Ely with Learn Your CNC. I bought into it and found it to be well worth the money. Check it out. Tell 'em Ron sent ya. Hahaha, JK.

[@JoeLazzara]

@ronmisiura9169 Hi Ron, thanks for responding. Yeah, I've learned quite a bit since then, enough to get me by at least lol. 😄 It's funny you mentioned Kyle's course because I ordered it last week!! I have done a couple of 1 on 1's with him and we've chatted on social media and email, so we've gotten to know each other pretty well. He's a really great guy. I'm looking forward to get into the courses. 👍👍

[@JoeLazzara]

@ronmisiura9169 I also wish that this guy would have responded to my post on his video. it would have made the learning process a lot easier. It's really a bummer that some guys don't respond when you compliment their videos and ask them a question. I could've used his advice and guidance. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@ronmisiura9169]

Funny how we both bought into it just last week. I have been working through it and am on lesson one. I like how one can pick right up where they left off. I'm pumped.

[@JoeLazzara]

@ronmisiura9169 Yes, you can't beat that black friday sale. 😃💲💲 I've actually been wanting to get it for some time now, but things always got in the way. But this time with the sale and everything going good, I finally was able to pull the trigger. 👍

[@AnwinUrsign]

What is your feed and speed for those projects?

[@ilc-nl3yy]

I want to start making a few items and make it a little business, but this all seems overwhelming..... from learning how to use the software, positioning the wood in its proper spot and operating the machine.

[@vicstewart4849]

What’s the “little tool” you use to remove masking. I use an exacting knife but works so so

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Here’s the tool: amzn.to/3MAXOey Works great!

[@ronhensley8549]

What CNC machine are you using?

[@SixEightWoodworks]

This is the i2R B.24 Amazing unit!

[@jimvrxfishing3974]

Figured it out, Micah 6:8 💯

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Striving to live by it. 🙏

[@pa.fishpreacher6166]

Greetings, is the shop your own or at your school?

[@SixEightWoodworks]

This is my garage shop

[@turnenman]

Hi There, where did you get your file for your washington state

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Etsy had a lot of great options

[@pascoaldasilva8275]

👏👏👏👏

[@SixEightWoodworks]

Thank you!

[@DrgnSlyr]

One you tuber I watched used water based wood filler thinned and spread evenly on the surface to mask instead of oramask. Just sand off the wood filler after the carve and paint.

[@adamemmert7112]

Go Hawks!!

[@joseluizrosa4136]

Por favor, fale mais devagar, É difícil acompanhar com a tradução automática . Obrigado

[@bennygonzalez5719]

How much was the machine

[@SixEightWoodworks]

You can see all the options at i2rcnc.com

[@chaqula_]

come to kenya

[@fredfowler4364]

Good video, but HDR blows them out so much info is lost.

[@LiqdPT]

Mariners logo in Huskies colors? Weird..

[@SixEightWoodworks]

It’s their throwback meets modern logo. They use it for their Sunday home game uniforms. But do plan on some purple and gold for UW soon.

[@LiqdPT]

@@SixEightWoodworks I've noticed a number of Kraken logos pop up in the shop. I've got seats in 214

[@HarryBalzak]

MDF? That is surprising to me. I manage a sign/wide-format department and almost never use MDF(only upon client insistence). It is always MDO(when I have my way) because it is much more durable and looks great. $30 bit? All the bits for my CNC cost $35-$80. Well, except for the 0.6mm bits. Those are petty cheap.

[@fitybux4664]

0:45 "For those of you that don't have one yet, WTF is wrong with you?" 😀

[@lindasocha998]

MDF: Use a wood sealer before painting and it won't take much to paint it.

[@golfprocrastinator9519]

Nice low VOC can of KILZ LOL

[@PacesIII]

.050 = fifty thousanths of an inch. Or, "fifty thou."

[@davidhall6452]

No need to use latex paint

[@Hay-ez7uq]

pքɾօʍօʂʍ