We are putting a display in a car show in about three weeks. I needed some display signs that would appeal to this special interest crowd. I didn’t have to go far for inspiration. I just looked in my toolbox. Every car nut has a shop of some kind - a personal space that always needs a sign to mark the spot. What could possibly cooler than an oversized wrench? I knew I wanted one for my shop. So I set about making one. I grabbed a wrench out of the wrench drawer and used it as a model. The vector file was the first step and it only took a few minutes to create. I used EnRoute, my 3D program to create a 3 dimensional file and a second reversed file for the back side. I would glue them together after they were routed. The four foot long wrench ended up being for a 5” nut.

I sent the file to my MultiCam and set it in motion to carve the piece. Once it was done I glued the pieces together back-to-back. When the clamps came off I used my die grinder to quickly give the wrench a little character. When I painted it I added a little grime and dirt to make it look well used - like my own wrench I had used for the model.

The end result is a sign any gear head would love to hang on his or her wall and be the envy of all their friends. Or so I hope...

-grampa dan