Will it's that time of year when the children go back to School, and I wanted to make something School related. This is what I came up with, a Classroom Birthday Calendar.

You will need the following:

Cad/Cam program ( I used Vectric Aspire)

CNC Router ( I used the X-Carve CNC)

Lumber ( I used a piece of common lumber 23" x 7 1/4" x 3/4" )

Yellow Spray Paint

Red, Blue and Green Craft Paint

Small paint brushes

A can of Matte Clear finsh

2 Triangle hangers with screws

Drill with a 1/16" drill bit

small shoulder hooks

Key Tags

sandpaper

Step 1: Design

I design the sign in Vectric Aspire, I first set my dimensions of my board, then added lines for the ruler.

Added the wording Classroom Birthdays, added ABC and the Apple. I then created boxes for the Months and put the abbreviations of each of the months in the boxes.

I then switched to the toolpath side and done the following toolpaths.

Done a profile toolpath for the lines using a 1/8" ball nose bit

Done a pocket toolpath for the ABC, Classroom Birthdays and Apple

Done a profile toolpath on the Months

and the done a drill toolpath for the sholder hooks, just making a pilot hole

Step 2: Paint

I painted my board using Rustoluem Sun Yellow spray paint, I used a couple coats.

Now let this dry overnight.

Step 3: Carve

Place your piece into the CNC, and clamp down. I inserted a 1/8" Ballnose bit and began to carve.

Note I carved the whole sign with the 1/8" Ballnose bit

Step 4: Sand

Once the sign was carved, I went over the carve lines and lettering with a piece of sand paper to get rid of the fuzzies. Then blew off and wiped down before continuing.

Step 5: Clear Coat

I then sprayed a coat of Rustoluem Matte clear, also letting this dry overnight.

Step 6: Paint the Lettering

Then I used Craft paint to paint the lettering, trying to be careful and not getting any onto yellow.

Have a damp rag handy to wipe off if any gets on yellow, this will help in next step.

Step 7: Touchup

Well I had to lightly sand the top where I had gotten some of the Craft paint onto the yellow. I wiped off again and use some of the Yellow spray paint to touch up the yellow. I just sprayed a small amount into the lid and brush on.

If I had use the damp rag more, i might could have save some time on this.