How to Use Routers for Sign Making

Use routers for sign making to create beautiful decorations and gifts. Handcrafted signs make ornate indoor wall hangings or door markers. Yard signs and mailbox markers made with a router last longer than simple painted signs. A router bit digs a path into wood that can be directed into the form of letters or numbers. Sign-making templates give router bits a guide for making perfectly sized, shaped and spaced lettering. Making signs is a woodworking art that takes practice to master, but it develops into a craft that really makes a statement.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sign making template kit Smooth board Safety glasses or goggles

How to Use Routers for Sign Making

1. Select a smooth board free of knots for making your sign. Be sure it accommodates the height and length of all lettering.

2. Find all the necessary letters in the template kit for spelling out your message. Most kits come with two complete alphabets and two of every digit.

3. Set the template letters in between the jig rails. The letter templates meet at the sides and ensure uniform spacing of the letters.

4. Clamp the letters firmly against each other in the rails with holding clamps. Center the jig over your board and secure it to the wood with the positioning clamps.

5. Put on safety glasses or goggles. A router bit throws wood shavings as it cuts swaths through the board.

6. Cut the lettering into the wood through the lettering slots. Use a router bit that fits through the slots and select the appropriate size router bushing for the letter size. Bushings for sign making come with the kits.

7. Finish the wood with stain, paint or clear coat.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice the craft by making a few nonsense signs containing difficult letters like "W," "B," "X," "U" and "P." You probably will overcome all the possible mistakes in the course of your first few signs.