DIY Wooden Sign W/ Woodburning

Welcome to my Instructable Tutorial!

I created a Wooden sign and created a special logo on it using wood-burning. I will be showing how to create a sign and the process of wood-burning and shading, Keep in mind that this is more challenging than it seems as a lot of effort has to be put in, in order to create a nice appearance. There is a short video that can be used for visual learning and to see exactly the process of the wooden sign.

I will provide all the necessary steps and tips required to help you create the same high-quality product to use as a decorative piece or give as a gift!

The Materials and Machine work required for this are =

• Scroll Saw
• Replacements=
• Coping Saw
• Band Saw
• Jig Saw
• Saw Knife
• Sanding Block
• Sanding Paper
• P60
• P150
• P320
• Wood-burning/Pyrography Toolset
• https://www.asigo.eu/en/pyrography-tool-kit.html
• Wood Varnishing
• https://www.rustins.ltd/rustins/our-products/indoor/danish-oil
• Basic Tools =
• Pencils, To create an outline
• Eraser, Remove any mistakes
• Plywood
• 0.5cm in Width

The first step is to create an outline of the sign shape you want. I would recommend choosing the top of the sign to start with the design. Also to first create the outline barrier of the plywood which allows you to make the lines inside of the barrier keeping it neat and having guiding lines for the next step: The scrolling saw

For the wooden sign I decided to make the edges curved and the top curves larger to provide better structure, as the bottom of the sign has a straight and non-bumpy texture which will help it stay up better.

The Second Step is to start cutting out the outline using the scroll saw. In order to be able to cut the plywood, you have to push the wood into the blade to be able to cut it. Firstly you should cut out the barrier outline, so the big pieces are out of the way and you can cut out the intricate lines easily and quickly. A small tip is to let the scroll saw guide it, and if you make a mistake in a line you can get the blade out of the line by carefully pulling the wood out of the blade.

Precautions =

• Press onto the board, Because when cutting it with the blade the board will start vibrating which can break the board.
• Do not bring the fingers/ Hand too close to the blade, The blade is quick, sharp, and can lead to an injury. If your hand is coming closer to the blade reposition it somewhere else and maintain the control
• Wear Safety Goggles to avoid Saw Dust and Splinters getting in your eyes
• Work in a focused environment, and stay focused on the scroll saw

The Third Step is to sand the edges, and sanding paper is fine but if you want to be more precise firstly sand the edges using the sanding paper P60, It will leave the edges rough but will sand out any mistakes and create straighter lines, the second sandpaper that should be used is P150 which will begin to smoothen the edges and create a nicer curve on the edges finally the Sanding Paper P320 which will smoothen the edges and make it easier to cut.

When sanding the edges go in a back and forth motion and do it quickly, The edges won't be smooth enough if you sand in a slow-motion and in an irregular motion and the splinters at the edges will become more relevant.

The fourth step is to create the logo, which is up to you. But in order to create a neat and presentable logo, I recommend having Guidelines for the text to keep a common size and a balanced text. Make the outline light so it's easily erasable and won't smudge. Additionally adding slight shading in a few parts of the object can be a guide for wood-burning. This step is up to you.

I decided to make the text bigger to make it easier to play around with the wood-burning additionally to fill up the sign more and avoid empty spaces.

The Fifth Step =

Setting up =

Every kit should have at least wood-burning tips, a pyrography pen, and a Pyrography stand. Set up the pyrography stand up and put the tip on before turning on the pyrography pen as it can get up to 400 to 565 Celsius. The tip has to be screwed on well enough as if it is not screwed stably in the wood-burning won't be effective. It takes up to 3-5 minutes for the pyrography pen to warm up. !!!Do not hold it on the metal piece, that's where it warms up and does the wood-burning!!!

Practice and Changing The Tips =

Before beginning wood-burning I would recommend practicing on an extra piece of plywood, to see if the tip is workable for you and also looks good additionally to be able to get the hang of it. If you have no experience and begin with no testing or practice the result will be harder to fix or maintain.

If you want to change the tip of your wood-burning pen, Do not screw it off with your own hands only do that when it is cold and not turned on. While waiting for it to cool down you can unscrew it using a clipper, this is a tedious process and takes a lot of time but is a safer option. This goes the same way with applying a tip on a warm pyrography pen you will have to screw it on which can be tedious with some tips

Wood-burning Pressure = Depending on the force you apply on the wood there will be a darker pigment, additionally depending on the tips if you apply pressure the line will get bigger/thicker

How to make lines & what pyrography tips are best to use =

In order to make proper and nice lines you could either

• Make small dots on the line and connect them all together, this tragedy is helpful as the dots provide guidance to create a straight line, additionally, it helps with wood-burning pressure practice and is helpful for beginners
• The second strategy is to put pressure while making the line, it helps the line stay in place and will look straight as there won't be a change of pigment or squiggles of a lighter pigment. Additionally doing it slowly and not rushing the wood-burning process will look neater.

I would recommend cone point to outline lettering and designs, cone point is a solid point tip and has multiple functions creating circles, dots, lines, and squiggles. It can do lettering but can be challenging depending on the point and shading is challenging. But I used the cone point for shading and I will share how I did the shading technique

If you would like to use a different tip for shading there are the=

• Shading Point
• Calligraphy point
• Universal Point

Those tips can be also used for line work but I would recommend the cone point for beginners who are struggling as it is the easiest to control

How to Shade =

Shading around the outlines/rims =

Shading is a challenging process, depending on what tip you use, but if you are using the cone point, light shading will be harder to pigment. Firstly you begin to make short dark lines at a horizontal angle by the side of the outline. Make them bigger at the places where shading is more required. This is a good shading technique as it gives a good 3d texture. Make those lines short and make sure they connect with each other. An example would be the W or the rim of the plate where you can identify the lines.

Different Shading Pigments =

The pigment/appearance of the shading can be changed based on the speed you use when making the lines. If you want the shading to have a dark appearance you create the lines in slow motion. If you wanted the pigment to be light go in a fast direction. You can also start with a dark pigment and then speed up the line making an ombre for shading.

General Shading =

If you look closely at the ! or the image of the food on the plate you can see the lighter shading, this can be done by moving the cone point tip back and forth in a fast direction creating a shade.

Note =

I would recommend watching the video to see more in detail how I did the shading process as visually it's more clearer on what to do.

The sixth step is to add the varnishing. The varnishing depends on you, but if you want natural varnishing this is how you do it. You have to open the tin/varnishing can. Depending on how much you want you can either our it in a bowl or use it from the tin, you need a piece of cotton, napkin, or tissue paper and fold it all together. You put a little bit of varnishing on the napkin/tissue paper or cotton and start applying it on the sign and the sides of it. Make sure to apply it in a left and right motion and then let it dry. Depending on the size of the sign it will dry at a different rate. Waiting 5 minutes is enough time for it to dry and then apply the second coat of varnishing and then the third.

After completing the varnishing the sign is finished!

Note = Test the varnishing on a sample of plywood to check how the varnishing will look on the wood