It was a great pleasure to make these 5 beautiful memorial plaques. My customer, Chris, asked if I could make a plaque for each dog and horse that she had owned and loved over the years. I designed the paw print and hoof print. The hoof print had to be for horses that did not wear steel shoes. Chris believes in natural horsemanship. Chris checked each of the dates and then I made computer drawings of each for Chris's approval.
The cherry we agreed on was grown on the land here at Hillsigns. It's about 15 years old and was felled 2 years ago. It has had plenty of time to season. I then cut the wood by hand using a Black and Decker electric chainsaw. I am to make the cut at 30mm +/- 0.5mm. It's tricky but the electric chainsaw is steady and smooth. I had to cut 5 pieces.
I managed this first time. The next stage is to sand each piece and decide the best side to carve in the CNC machine. One side will always be less damaged by the saw or have better markings.
During sanding it important not to generate too much heat which can start the wood to crack before I have even started.
The sanding process can also remove the bark which I want to retain on the finished product.
For this project there were 5 names, and 5 sets of dates. All were agreed with Chris sing a computer generated drawing before proceeding to start work for real. Chris had some research to do to confirm each date. There were 3 horses and 2 dogs to commemorate.
Ryan 1991 - 2018
Juno Wot 1991 - 2018
TJ 2000 - 2012
Maddie 2002 - 2018
Zac 2008 - 2013
We agreed the layout and the type face. We agreed on Comic Sans. This type face was originally released on Windows in 1994. It has a very interesting history. It has even been credited with relieving writer block by one author! I like it because it is clear, distinct and evenly spaced. The CNC machine likes it because there is a regular and sufficient gap between letters to prevent any breakthrough from one letter to another. The letters are cut with a 60 degree V bit which gives a nice deep crisp cut. The hoof print and paw print use a 1.6mm end mill cutter in a process that creates a "pocket". Each plaque takes in the region of 1 hr machine time. It has to be centred and I use a paper pattern to ensure that the machine is centred correctly before the process begins.
Each slice is slightly different but as you can see from the the picture here they almost form a matching set. By cutting each one from the same length of chestnut and making no errors, they are all very similar. A neat family of plaques.
Next I apply the first coat of varnish. This is diluted with about 5% white spirit to ensure it soaks in to the wood surface. The next coat similarly and then the letters are painted. The paint is water based and will lift the grain if applied too soon. The varnish prevents this happening and allows any slight error with the black paint to be easily wiped away.
The varnish brushes are cleaned very carefully with white spirit, then water and washing up liquid. Then allowed to dry under a cover. This prevents any dust getting on the brush. The varnish is stored in an upside down jar to stop air getting tot he varnish. This little trick really works and allows the varnish to be used down to the last drop. No waste.
After the first two coats the signs are gently rubbed down with wet and dry with water using a circular motion to follow the grain. After thoroughly drying another coat is added. Rubbed down very gently and a final coat added. The finish I aim for is a high, deep gloss. It should look beautiful, expensive and be a long term practical protection from the weather.
Finally I added to a thin tab to the back of each sign to enable the signs to be fixed to trees as Chris wised. I delivered the memorial plaques by hand and was met with a very warm and appreciative thankyou form my customer. It had been a wonderful project.
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