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Painting a Wood Sign by Rex Rothing

 

After you have routed your sign, it is an easy and fun project to paint the sign the way you will like it. There are many choices when you want to paint a wood sign. Letters, background, and edges can be different colors, clear coated, or left natural. If the wood is left natural in the Sun it will eventually turn gray, so it is good to paint the letters a darker color. The background can be painted or clear coated a variety of ways. Artwork paintings can be added. The edges can be painted matched the same or different. The following paragraphs will explain the four basic ways to finish a wood sign.

 

One, the easiest way is, to leave the whole routed sign natural unfinished wood and allow it to weather as it will, or it could be oiled several times a year to keep it sealed from the weather. Most any oil will work but teak oil would be best. Makes a nice simple and readable sign.

 

Second way is to paint just the letters and leave the background natural or oiled. In this case, the letters can be painted in a sloppy and quick way, then after drying, the surface is sanded off and the excess paint is removed, leaving the paint perfect in the routed letters. The same treatment can be applied to the edges leaving a color border or frame routed around the sign.

 

A third way is to clear coat the whole sign with varnish or polyurethane several coats, sanding between coats, then painting in the letters in a neat fashion. This is the hard way to make a sign but the results can be worthwhile if the time is taken in preparation coats. A final clear coat can be applied after the lettering is finally painted to protect the paint. This type of sign, like a name on a boat, should be varnished twice a year as maintenance.

 

The fourth and most difficult way to paint a wooden sign is to paint the letters and sand them off, and then paint the background a different color. It seems easiest this way to primer and paint the whole sign first, then paint the letters, then touch up the background, then touch up the letters again. Putting several coats on can make this type of sign look good for a long time. It takes the most time and patience to paint a sign this way but with good exterior house paints a finish can last for years without so much maintenance as a varnished sign.

 

When painting the letters in a neat way, it is good to keep a good artist brush loaded with paint and push it to the ends of the letters and roll it along the sides of the letters. Rather than a normal brush stroke painting it is more like pushing or swabbing the paint around in the letter. It takes some practice and technique. I have also seen some sign painters put the paint in a squeeze bottle and fill the letters that way, touching up with a brush.