Hamilton Wall Art

One of the most popular musicals out right now is Hamilton. There is just something about it that is totally awesome and catchy. I personally, along with my friends are obsessed with it. We quote/sing it a lot. One of my friends recently had their house redone and was moving into the bigger room of the house so I decided to maker her this awesome sign to hang on her wall.

Step 1: Tools & Materials

1. Cnc machine or router

2. Wood

3.Paint/Stain

4.Saw

5. Spray lacquer

6. A helpful cat (watch video)

Step 2: Cnc Machine

I know not everyone has a cnc machine and that fine. You could print out the words and tape to a piece of wood and put a v groove router bit into your handheld router and make something very similar. I saved up my money so I could buy this machine and it has helped me out a lot.

I made sure my piece of wood was nice and secure and then used the computer to send the tool path to cut this out. It took about 45 mins to cut.

Step 3: Trimming the Edges

My wood wasn't the final size I wanted so I used a ruler to measure the sides and then made the cut on the table saw.

Step 4: Painting/Staining

Ok, so I should have stained the board before I cut out the words that will have saved me a LOT of time. But since I didn't I had to use a paint brush to carefully paint the stain in-between the letters. I did get a little in the letters though so I came back with some white paint to touch it up.

Step 5: Enjoy Your New Sign!

I love how this came out! Obviously, it took a little longer than I thought but this project can easily be customizable and have it say anything you want. I especially love the white/walnut color contrast of the sign.

Let me know in the comments if you make one or have any questions.

Comments

[Craft Genius]

Wow I love this so much, most Hamilton stuff if qouting the guys and it is good to see some qoutes from girls!

[stillash]

Glad you like it! It is one of my favorite quotes from the musical.

[ThrowawayL_K]

This is pretty cool. I'm gonna see if my dad can help me make this.

[gwlinn123]

Very nice, thanks for sharing!

I see you are using an Inventables XCarve CNC. Did you use their free Easel s/w or VCarve s/w to create the lettering?

[stillash]

I used easel, it was super easy to use.

[gwlinn123]

Thanks for your reply. I've had my XCarve for almost 2 years now but have not done any "complicated" carvings yet. I started with Easel, but, back then, it seemed to have its problems. I also don't like to be handcuffed to a web-based anything. Although it's pricey, I purchased VCarve desktop. It's a really powerful program although there is a steep learning curve. There are plenty of VCarve tutorials and you can try out a "crippled" demo before you buy.

Inventables has continued to improve Easel and now has some video tutorials that I found interesting, like how to do inlays. They have a strong user community and I often get tips there and there is plenty of information on the internet.

I think making "signs" is a good way to learn CNC. I started by just making "trial" signs on #2 pine from Home Depot since it's cheap. Now, I use their "clear" pine, more expensive, but "no knots". If I need a wider board, I edge-glue 2 6" boards together.

I found that, with pine, anyway, pre-spraying with acrylic reduces tearout. But, then I have the problem you had- how do you (easily) manage the different layers. That is, when you want to paint and stain. I think I saw that some have been using shellac. I don't know that I have this correct, but it sounds like you can stain, shellac (seal), carve, paint the letters, and remove excess paint (before it dries) with mineral spirits without hurting the shellac.

There is also some kind of "contact-paper" like material that you apply before you carve. Then you paint the letters, then remove the material. Regular contact paper doesn't stick well enough, I tried it. The material recommended is somewhat pricey but maybe worth it in terms of "labor-saving".

Thanks again for sharing your project. CNC expertise, like a number of things in life, has to be "built-up" by gaining knowledge from others and then by trial and error - "hands-on".

[Random-Guy]

You're missing one "look around"! Great job! Too bad I am too poor for a CNC.

[stillash]

Thanks! for the sign purposes i did leave out on look around but i figured it was alright.

[Random-Guy]

Nice ILTMS sticker by the way.

[Pumpkin59]

This is beautiful!

[stillash]

Thanks!