Router sign making question

[Tdog]

My wife gave me a Signcrafter kit a few weeks ago & I made house # sign for my BIL from a piece of cypress - - it came out OK, but here is my question. The lettering does not stand out from the background - - do any of you have any experience with using paint [or what?] to darken the lettering? And while the wood is cypress & will weather OK, do you think it should be coated with varnish or polyurothane?

Thanks

 

[EddieWalker]

One trick that I like to do is to stain the entire piece of wood a light, or neutral color that you like. Then I use dip a cloth into paint very lightly and rub it into the stain after it's dried. The paint is thin enough that it doesn't cover very well, but does change the color of the stain. More paint, more of a change.

The pictures are of a carving I made for my wife on Valentines. I stained it with Minwax in a color called Early American. Then I used a very small amount of red paint, and rubbed it into the stain. The color is subtle, but noticable. More paint would have made it more so.

Eddie

 

[ToadHill]

I made one for my place last year and painted the flat surface yellow and the letters green it stands guite well.

 

[kennyd]

You can paint the entire sign one color, then once dry-sand the sign with 80 grit paper. It will make the letters "POP" out and give the sign a weathered look.

 

[tallyho8]

I made a sign on an old cypress plank a long time ago. I pressure washed the plank to make it look new then cut the numbers with a router then used a small torch to burn the numbers to give them contrast. The sign looked good for a few years till someone stole it.

 

[GaryM]

The fellows I've seen make signs at craft fairs do it this way.

The use cedar and route out the letters and numbers. Then hit the sign with gloss black spray paint. Wait about three or four minutes for the paint to dry. Then hit the sign with a belt sander and sand the paint off the flat surface.

This leaves a clear cedar sign with gloss black recessed letters.

 

[Tdog]

Thanks, all for your input. I have not done anything yet and probably will not have a chance to tackle it till next week sometime. I'll try to post some pre/post pictures.

Jack