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This is one of my favourite nameplates, which I made for the daughter of some close friends. Will she still like it once she's in school? I hope so! The letters of the name are glued onto a back panel of five connected stars, illuminated with white LEDs. The back panel is made of Baltic birch plywood, laminated board, and Lexan sheet. The letters are made of maple.
This design is easily modified for almost any name: simply cut out different letters and arrange them on the same back panel. Of course, you may also change the LED colour, and stain/paint the wood a different colour to match the room.
This design is easily modified for almost any name: simply cut out different letters and arrange them on the same back panel. Of course, you may also change the LED colour, and stain/paint the wood a different colour to match the room.
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Signing UpStep 1Materials and Tools
You should be able to find most of the materials at any hardware store.
- One 12x24" piece of 3/4" baltic birch plywood
- One 12x24" piece of 1/8" white-laminated fiber board (or unlaminated board, painted white)
- One 12x12" piece of 1/8" transparent lexan or acrylic sheet
- One 4"x1"x24" piece of quality maple (or almost any hardwood)
- Clear finish (I use Minwax Polycrylic)
- Oil or Water-based stain (I used "Cabernet" - a deep red colour)
- Two-part epoxy
- Carpenter's glue
- Five white LEDs (I buy mine on eBay)
- Five 510 ohm resistors (minimum) - for use with a 12V adapter
- Some bits of wire
- A 12VDC "wall-wart" adapter (minimum 200mA)
- A matching DC jack
I made this nameplate by hand on a scroll saw and band saw, but you might be able to do some of the parts with a CNC machine. I'd only recommend using a laser cutter for the plastic parts, since the wood is too thick to cut with a laser and I dislike the burnt edges that result anyway.
- a variable speed scroll saw (I use a Dewalt 788)
- a bandsaw (optional)
- a drill press
- an overhead router (I used a dremel with a router bit, mounted in a drill press stand)
- a vertical sander
- an X-acto knife
- a small chisel
- skip-tooth and crown tooth blades for the scroll saw
- soldering iron
- sandpaper
- paintbrush
- One 12x24" piece of 3/4" baltic birch plywood
- One 12x24" piece of 1/8" white-laminated fiber board (or unlaminated board, painted white)
- One 12x12" piece of 1/8" transparent lexan or acrylic sheet
- One 4"x1"x24" piece of quality maple (or almost any hardwood)
- Clear finish (I use Minwax Polycrylic)
- Oil or Water-based stain (I used "Cabernet" - a deep red colour)
- Two-part epoxy
- Carpenter's glue
- Five white LEDs (I buy mine on eBay)
- Five 510 ohm resistors (minimum) - for use with a 12V adapter
- Some bits of wire
- A 12VDC "wall-wart" adapter (minimum 200mA)
- A matching DC jack
I made this nameplate by hand on a scroll saw and band saw, but you might be able to do some of the parts with a CNC machine. I'd only recommend using a laser cutter for the plastic parts, since the wood is too thick to cut with a laser and I dislike the burnt edges that result anyway.
- a variable speed scroll saw (I use a Dewalt 788)
- a bandsaw (optional)
- a drill press
- an overhead router (I used a dremel with a router bit, mounted in a drill press stand)
- a vertical sander
- an X-acto knife
- a small chisel
- skip-tooth and crown tooth blades for the scroll saw
- soldering iron
- sandpaper
- paintbrush
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You can use a metal cutting blade! I've done so myself. I've used it to cut aluminum plate and brass tubing. The resulting edge almost always a little jagged though, so be prepared to sand the edges. Perhaps I was using lousy blades...
Oh! As for blades, I usually get mine here. Super-nice guy, great prices, lots of selection.