# A Distressed Wood Sign for MAXIM Magazine...



## Nice Carvings (Oct 15, 2011)

I was commissioned to produce this sign for Maximum Warrior Obstacle Course by MAXIM Magazine.

I had to have it out in 72 hours from the time of the order. 

What do you all think of it?




























There is more pictures and an article written on my site here...
http://www.nicecarvings.com/home/how-to-tutorials/distressed-wood-tutorial?Name=Value

Thank you for looking! :thumbsup:

Melissa Jones
Nice Carvings


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

It looks great. What kind of details or parameters did they give you for what they wanted, besides size etc. ? 

You really slammed it out. And those "weathered" edges look real!



.


----------



## RDufner (Jun 23, 2011)

are you beating the sign nwith a clamp?? what ever works i guess.


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Looking good!


----------



## buggyman1 (Nov 16, 2011)

Nice job.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I've been through many obstacle courses, and none had a sign that nice. Well done.












 







.


----------



## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Nice job! Done in 72 hours, very impressive.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Nice work, Nice Carvings!*

I'm thinkin' you have a large CNC .... probably about 5' x 10 ' bed?
What 's the brand? How do you like it? Give us a tour of your shop if you don't mind!  bill


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Very nice sign Melissa. You really no how to get the job done on time. And you weren't even sweaty :laughing:


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Very nice work! Your definitely and artist!

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

Looks great! I'm impressed with those weathered edges too!
--Matt


----------



## DST (Jan 10, 2011)

Like your name says... Nice Carving.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

The bullet holes really give the sign character.

George


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

GeorgeC said:


> The bullet holes really give the sign character.
> 
> George


http://www.nicecarvings.com/home/how...ial?Name=Value

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: I think those were made by the CNC machine, the ShopBot. I could be wrong. If you go to the web site and look at "distressed wood" you'll see the set up....cool! :thumbsup: bill

The first photo shows the sawdust from the mill still clinging to the panel, multiple boards glued together, then milled on a CNC.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

woodnthings said:


> I think those were made by the CNC machine, the ShopBot. I could be wrong.


That's what it says on her web site.:yes: A versatile machine. Would be a great way to do large surfacing...if nothing else.












 







.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> http://www.nicecarvings.com/home/how...ial?Name=Value
> 
> :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: I think those were made by the CNC machine, the ShopBot. I could be wrong. If you go to the web site and look at "distressed wood" you'll see the set up....cool! :thumbsup: bill
> 
> The first photo shows the sawdust from the mill still clinging to the panel, multiple boards glued together, then milled on a CNC.


Yes, those were man made(or woman). No one actually stood there and shot at the sign.

George


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Notice how the bullet holes in the 3 R's are identical? Same program used to make them all probably.  bill

A .45 would be a good choice for random hole.....just sayin.


----------



## marioleal (Nov 9, 2010)

I think it came out great. My initial reaction was you couldn't have done it in 72 hours unless you stayed up the entire time. Then, I realized a lot of the work must have been CNC. But, I think your sign rocks. Great Job. Since I read the magazine, I can't wait to see your work in print!


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Cool sign, the sight reticle in the O is a nice touch.


----------



## Nice Carvings (Oct 15, 2011)

Thank you all!

The cnc was used though we were having trouble with the collet on the router and the bit was cutting too deep. This problem alone caused a ton of extra finishing work.

I was up at least 60 of the 72 hours working on the sign, Friday-Monday.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*simply stated...*

The sign is "cool", the sign carver is "hot"! :yes: bill

BTW don't let my age fool ya, I know a good thing when I see it.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Awesome sign. Keep up the great work.


----------



## 240sxguy (Sep 13, 2010)

Gorgeous! 

Sign looks pretty neat too!


----------



## Adillo303 (Dec 20, 2010)

Great work Melissa


----------



## Nice Carvings (Oct 15, 2011)

Thank you all! Very nice :thumbsup:

It was a crazy project, I'm probably due for another one of those soon...


----------



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Just gorgeous
:thumbsup:


----------



## Texas Sawduster (Apr 27, 2009)

*Very Nice !!!*

Very nice work on the sign. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## CasinoDuck (Jun 15, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> Just gorgeous
> :thumbsup:


 
And the sign looks pretty good too:thumbsup:


----------



## beelzerob (May 2, 2010)

The weathering on that back piece is exceptional. It looks like every piece of plywood I've ever left outside for extended periods of time. If I didn't see the before pictures I'd have sworn that's what you used instead of something new. Very nice.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

CasinoDuck said:


> And the sign looks pretty good too:thumbsup:


You guys are like a bunch of vultures circling for the chance to pick meat off of the proverbial carcass. 

You guys are also a bit biased, I must say. I've been here for months now and have not received even one comment about how incredibly handsome I am. :laughing:


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> You guys are like a bunch of vultures circling for the chance to pick meat off of the proverbial carcass.
> 
> You guys are also a bit biased, I must say. I've been here for months now and have not received even one comment about how incredibly handsome I am. :laughing:


Hahaha... That just funny.

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> You guys are like a bunch of vultures circling for the chance to pick meat off of the proverbial carcass.
> 
> You guys are also a bit biased, I must say. I've been here for months now and have not received even one comment about how incredibly handsome I am. :laughing:


Glad you pointed that out, Steve. When I saw how much attention this thread was getting I thought "I wonder how many posts would be here if it were a burly dude working the CNC machine."

:no::thumbdown:

BTW, the sign looks cool, but I'm more impressed with the distressing procedure honestly. Nice design work!


----------



## Nice Carvings (Oct 15, 2011)

Funny stuff! :laughing:


Any aspiring 3D sign makers? My husband and i started a forum about 2 months ago just for that. The response has been so good! Almost a half a million page views in 2 months. 



Come on over if you want to try some 3D signs... :boat:

www.3dsignforum.com


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Nice Carvings said:


> Funny stuff! :laughing:
> 
> Any aspiring 3D sign makers? My husband and i started a forum about 2 months ago just for that. The response has been so good! Almost a half a million page views in 2 months.
> 
> ...


Wow!!!! It's been a while since you've been around. Good to see ya here. Hope you've been busy in a good way.


----------



## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Nice Carvings said:


> Funny stuff! :laughing:
> 
> 
> Any aspiring 3D sign makers? My husband and i started a forum about 2 months ago just for that. The response has been so good! Almost a half a million page views in 2 months.
> ...


May have to go there. I've always wanted to get into that. I would love to make little 'tags' to put on the speakers I build or something to put on any custom cabintets I make. Also, anything else I could carve. Those router templates just look cheesy for signs and obviously would never work for tags. Looks like that would be right up my alley! The only thing that's kept me away from it is a total lack of know-how and tools. When I get home and tell my wife about this, she'll be thrilled thinking "Sweet, more tools to buy" :no::thumbdown:

That sign looks awesome! Very nice work and you're obviously an artist. The distressing is fantastic!


----------



## Wood4Brains (Jul 25, 2012)

Noob question here;

Was there a reason to use glue / biscuit joints / vertical wood cross pieces instead of using mend plates to join the cedar planks together side by side?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Wood4Brains said:


> Noob question here;
> 
> Was there a reason to use glue / biscuit joints / vertical wood cross pieces instead of using mend plates to join the cedar planks together side by side?


You're asking a question comparable to "is it better to weld this steel to that steel or duct tape them together?" Tape (mend plates) works, sure, but welding (gluing) is a much tidier way to go.

Gluing essentially makes the boards one and is invisible (for the most part).


----------



## jaydawg74 (Nov 24, 2011)

That's pretty cool work!

I'd stop in the middle of the course just to check out the sign!


----------



## Horatio (Apr 4, 2012)

Very nice!


----------

