Laser Engraved Wood Signs: Home, Business and Wedding Signs

Wooden signs cover a huge range of products: family name signs, house numbers, wedding welcome signs, shop signs and office plaques. They let you charge more than small items because of the size and personalization.

What you need

• Plywood, pine, or hardwood boards. Smooth, flat boards give the best results.
• An open-frame laser if your signs are larger than an enclosed machine’s bed. Some open-frame machines can sit on top of a large board.
• A riser kit for thick boards.
• Optional: acrylic paint and a clear finish.

Steps

1. Design for wood. Use bold fonts with thick strokes. Thin lines disappear into grain.
2. Prepare the board. Sand smooth and wipe off dust.
3. Mask with transfer tape if you plan to paint the lettering. The tape becomes your paint mask.
4. Focus and frame. On large boards, check focus at several points.
5. Engrave. For signs you will paint, engrave slightly deeper with two passes so paint sits in the letters.
6. Paint. Brush or spray paint over the still-masked board, let it dry, then peel the tape.
7. Seal with a clear finish for outdoor or kitchen signs.

Large signs on a small machine

If the sign is bigger than your work area:

• Split the design into sections and use alignment marks.
• Move the board, re-frame on the marks, and continue.
• A camera module makes repositioning much easier.

Settings

Start from the plywood or hardwood settings for your machine. Deeper engraving for paint fill comes from extra passes rather than much lower speed.

Related projects

• Laser engraved cutting board
• Laser engraving ideas