Makes sense. Those logs look a bit small and the wetness will acclimate to Houston's humidity pretty quickly. I mostly buy rough lumber. Got a planer but no jointer, made a few jigs to help joint with what I got. Wish I had space for a jointer!
what do you mean? only one side of the box shows the letters. 2 for $150 sound ok? based on the photo probably approx 25 inches width in the font. the box itself approx 40 -45 inches width. probably 20 inches height. hole in bottom to get light in. back covered try to look like a stand alone box. i will run light from extension cord to light up and look like the pic. 2 stakes im assuming around 14 inch visible. i can provide the light ( i already have it) wood , materials, translucent, black paint. if you can do that fine too. i think metal or acrylic would be great as well but again I have no idea what or where. i assumed wood to be easier to work with and along lines of the clean cuts like in the mango video. i was almost going to try to make one with cardboard but that will fall apart even faster and likely look like shi*t. the font is a bit tough since not a standard font and one that would be better to have something like a computer and the mango video. ...if going to effort want to try to get font close..i think a machine done clean lines font..if do the inverse as mango mentions.. put it as one side of the box and good to go? that simple? seems easy enough? haha thank you
Are you just going to have an extension cord on top of the ground or are you going to put in something more permanent buried in a trench? Is it possible that a solar setup will provide enough light that you could avoid having to run electricity to it? If the additional cost isn't too bad, then have more than one made.
Delta makes a reasonably priced 6 inch bench top jointer .... catch it on sale its $300ish. Good machine for the money. Beats the hell out of jointing with a router and a jig. Been there , done that .... ugh. https://deltamachinery.com/products/jointers/37-071
I have a simple minimalist set up, a Diablo ripping blade on a ryobi compact table saw , a hand saw for mitre cuts then 80/ 220 grit sanding is excessively good enough to me whenever I have the urge to inhale saw dusts
You mentioned the font, so you have done some background research. Have you done something on a computer using Inkscape or similar and then transferred to a mockup using cardboard or a piece of plywood so you can verify that is what you want it to look like?
That's where I was about 5 years ago .... along with a 12/20 mini lathe. I could do simple stuff but the capability to do complex geometry just wasn't there which is the bulk of what I do now like segmented and open segmented turnings where your angels have to be dead on . So I have upgraded the entire shop. Here's a small segmented bowl with polka dots in wood - Its walnut , maple and wenge. A pair of lamps done in segmented red cedar each made from 146 individual pieces
probably on top. a trench will be down the line. this for now is akin to an xmas light in yard i thought about this but Im in shaded and the light i have I think will show well behind the translucent lettering. yeah im thinking 2 of them 3 even better since a bit of a one off. mainly since I intend for it to get stolen. if stolen a 2nd or 3rd time then I suppose not meant to be lol no havent made it into jpg or png or anything like that..i looked for the font and couldnt find it although there are obviously tons out there and i may have missed it. my wife is quite skilled so I could likely get her to draw it and then make it more like a jpg image. i suspect if doing it inverse like you said and the video you posted it will give the clean lines and look based off of a data file. thank you!
If you have your project done by someone with a CNC setup, you should/could be able to negotiate a better price if you have a fair amount of the computer work already done. In the Youtube video that I linked to earlier in this thread, the actual time spent by the machine doing the cutting was 4 - 5 minutes. There was a fair amount of computer work done beforehand to get the cutting time down to 4 - 5 minutes. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/vector-vs-raster-graphics/ Vector vs Raster Graphics Last Updated: 08-02-2018 Before we begin with what vector graphics and raster graphics are, we must understand a few basic terms: Pixel : In Computer graphics a pixel, dots, or picture element is a physical point in a picture. A pixel is simply the smallest addressable element of a picture represented on a screen. A majority of pictures that we see on our computer screen are raster images. The selfie that you click with your mobile phone is another example of a raster image. An image is made up using a collection of pixels referred to as a bitmap. Bitmap : In computer graphics, a bitmap is a mapping from some domain (for example, a range of integers) to bits, that is, values which are zero or one. It is also called a bit array or bitmap index.The more general term pixmap refers to a map of pixels, where each one may store more than two colors, thus using more than one bit per pixel. Often bitmap is used for this as well. In some contexts, the term bitmap implies one bit per pixel, while pixmap is used for images with multiple bits per pixel. Raster Graphics Raster images use bit maps to store information. This means a large file needs a large bitmap. The larger the image, the more disk space the image file will take up. As an example, a 640 x 480 image requires information to be stored for 307,200 pixels, while a 3072 x 2048 image (from a 6.3 Megapixel digital camera) needs to store information for a whopping 6,291,456 pixels. We use algorithms which compress images to help reduce these file sizes. Image formats like jpeg and gif are common compressed image formats. Scaling down these images is easy but enlarging a bitmap makes it pixelated or simply blurred. Hence for images which need to scaled to different sizes, we use vector graphics. File extensions: .BMP, .TIF, .GIF, .JPG Vector Graphics Making use of sequential commands or mathematical statements or programs which place lines or shapes in a 2-D or 3-D environment is referred to as Vector Graphics. Vector graphics are best for printing since it is composed of a series of mathematical curves. As a result vector graphics print crisply even when they are enlarged. In physics: A vector is something which has a magnitude and direction. In vector graphics, the file is created and saved as a sequence of vector statements. Rather than having a bit in the file for each bit of line drawing we use commands which describe series of points to be connected. AS a result a much smaller file is obtained. File extensions : .SVG, .EPS, .PDF, .AI, .DXF If you have the design done in a vector graphics program, it will eliminate the step of converting a raster image to a vector file.
I've been considering doing just that .... but I just don't have the tech know how to do it (Well). When I've don video's with the intention of posting them on youtube the lighting is terribad and the camera angles are poor. They just don't look very good. Those people who make good video's on youtube don't really have to put out a great piece to profit .... its all about the video being high quality and they are able to sell those pieces for a fortune as a result of the video. My work is better than all but the very best people on there .... but my videos suck ass. We started doing 60 second bits on Tick Tock recently , will be uploading a new one probably tomorrow.
I'm gonna have to agree with Mango. Regardless of material , its probably going to be more cost effective to have someone with a CNC do it. If I do it , I'd be cutting the letters out on a jig saw , they'll look fine but it'll take much longer. I know a guy that has a machine shop that does one off stuff - out of metal which would be much longer lasting and you could anchor it so its not stolen. I'll dig up his number if you want it , just let me know. I've had him do a few things for me in the past and he does good work. Its off of Pinemont and 290.
Do you advise that he do a mockup with cardboard or a piece of plywood before committing to spending money on the actual sign?
Sure couldn't hurt ... Honestly he could do it himself with minimal tools if he chose the proper material. To do it in wood or acrylic all he'd need is a drill and a $30 hand held jig saw to cut out the letters. Make a mock up to size and lay it out on the final piece , sharpie the lines and cut them out. The "box" part is easier than that.
if you can give the info that would be appreciated i already started to do that and didnt go so well. this sounds good but gets back to idea that Im good at some things and not at diy. i will likely contact the guy on 290 pinemont
@Corrosion I've been wanting to get a lathe for long time now. I've been looking at a Grizzly or one of the lathes at Harbor Freight. I know big difference in quality of brand there. I was thinking maybe save some money on the lathe and then buy a higher quality set of chisels. I've never done any kind of turning so I'm hoping a cheaper lathe with really good chisels will still be a decent tool that runs really smooth and is enjoyable to work with. I've learned on lower end tools before (enjoyed them too) but if a cheaper lathe runs like some cheaper DIYer's table saws then I will not like it or use it. Once I spent the money on a top notch table saw I couldn't stop using it. Wondering if it might be the same with a lathe.. any insight for someone wanting to learn is much appreciative.
DO NOT get the harbor freight model .... Depending on the model , the Grizzly isn't terrible but their full sized lathes are as costly as some higher quality models. First question is what size you are looking at , mini or full size ? I have two lathes , a Jet 21/20 and a Laguna 18/36. The Laguna is far and away a better machine , I highly recommend their tools. They have a 12x16 mini ($800) and 18x36 ($2500) or 24x36 full size ($3750) machines competitively priced. The only two machines I'd recommend over Laguna are the really high end Powermatic or Robust Tools , both of which start at double the cost of the Laguna. I think the RT American Beauty is $8500 or more. The fit and finish of Jet tools by comparison (I also have their band saw) is poor. I had to replace the pulley on the lathe within a month , the guide bearings and the fence assembly on the band saw in the first year. I actually started with a set of Harbor freight tools .... they are decent , they just don't hold an edge as long as the expensive HSS tools. You gotta sharpen them often and that's not such a bad thing since you gotta learn to sharpen them anyhow - Better to do that on cheapo's than screwing up a high dollar HSS tool. You can add new gouges and scrapers as needed after you learn to sharpen them. Keeping your gouges , scrapers and chisels sharp is probably the biggest key to turning out nice stuff ....
