Wooden Plaque 2

The final plaque hung on the wall

This was the second wooden plaque that I recently made. It is a verse from the Bible, John 17:19, also a gift. This was easier to make as I was working on a deadline and I had already learned valuable lessons while making the wooden plaque 1

Equipment used :

Proxxon Scroll Saw DS 230 E
Skil Jigsaw

Base : Vengai wood 1.5 inch think, thinned down on a planer in the lumber mill to about 1 inch thick to decrease weight. The curves were drawn free hand and then cut out with a jigsaw at a 45 degree bevel. The base was then sanded using an orbital sander to get a smooth finsih.

Insecticide : Applied with a brush and wait for it to dry compeletely.

Stain : Sheenlac walnut stain. I decided to go for a brown finish. Applied with a brush and then wiped off within a minute. I applied about three or four coats of stain to get a darkish brown color. The grain stains nice and dark.

Varnish :  Used 'touchwood' clear varnish. I applied three coats of varnish with sanding inbetween with 400 grit paper.


The letters : Used thin plywood (about 3-4 mm) with a laminated piece stuck over it. I made the initial design using MS powerpoint, and then printed it out. I traced the letters out with carbon paper.

The MS powerpoint plan of the plaque.
Printing it out life size simplified the  drawing process

Cutting the letters : This was done using a scroll saw. It was very easy to do this, although it did take a bit of time.

Cleaning : The blue carbon remnants were removed using thinner

Fixing the letters : With fevicol initially. Then all thick letters were hammered through with headless nails.

Hanging it up. Two small hooks across which I attached some Galvanized Iron (GI) wire. This centers automatically.

Impressions.  : This whole project took about a week to make. The longest time taken was actually waiting fore each coat of varnish to dry. The first coat of varnish never dried in 24 hrs. I wiped it off with turpentine, and diluted the varnish a bit. This dried in 24 hrs. Subsequent coats dried faster. I am not sure why. Perhaps the already dried varnish hastened the process. Perhaps the opening and closing of the varnish tin caused it to be more easily dried. However I stuck to three coats. Dust did settle. I noticed the last time that if I went for many coats of varnish and sanding,  I got a smooth mirror finish but  the final dust was very prominent. Now there are slight depressions in the varnish over the grain. Thus the dust is not very visible as it is camouflaged.
 I did try using the PILOT airless spray gun, but the project was too small to bother cleaning the gun every time.

The final plaque