Back when I first started creating dimensional signs I crafted them from edge grain redwood. I would first laminate the wood blanks. Once glued and planed smooth, a rubber frisket would be carefully glued to the surface of the wood. The layout was done by hand and eye. Then, using an exacto knife the heavy rubber frisket was painstakingly cut and peeled away where I wanted to blast into the wood. Although sandblasting was far from a favourite task, it was pure magic as the beautiful grain of the wood was revealed with the pressurized air and flying sand. The remaining frisket was then carefully peeled away and the glue residue scraped off the wood. These days we no longer use redwood. First growth redwood is extremely hard to source and prohibitively expensive these days. Instead, we use Precision Board high density urethane. It comes to us in virtually any thickness we require. This HDU won’t warp, split, or delaminate over time. It is every bit as strong and holds paint much better than the wood of old. As for that beautiful edge grain pattern, it can be easily duplicated with a CNC router, exactly as I imagine. Rather than hand cut the frisket, and then sandblast, hoping for the best, the woodgrain and letters are designed and cut with amazing software and the computer controlled router. The creativity is still present - without all of the drudge work which I didn’t enjoy so much. We’ll still hand paint the sign as in days of old but using modern long lasting water based acrylic paints instead of those stinky, old-fashioned enamels. Just as I was delighted with the sandblasting of the redwood grain back in the day, I am still amazed as the magic is slowly revealed with each router pass.
