Wall Hanging Wedding Guestbook

This idea came to me before my wedding when I wanted to let my guests leave us a note, but then display it on a wall in our home rather than hiding away in a book somewhere.

Step 1: Cut Out the Steel Name

I designed this sign to have the couple's last name and added a decorative pluralization and "The" to the beginning.

I used steel as my shop is a metalworking space and I have a CNC Plasma Cutter. A CNC Table isn't required though, you could draw your logo on steel or aluminum and cut it out with a jigsaw easily in such a thin sheet of metal.

I used 16ga which is about 1/20 of an inch thick, it's a good balance between strength and weight.

Step 2: Grind Your Metal Smooth

With a 4.5" angle grinder and some 40 grit flap disks I removed all the dross (melted metal "sawdust") from the edges of the cut piece. If you use a jigsaw, this will be a burr instead of dross.

After finishing the main grinding I switch to a NEW 80 grit flap disk to get a smooth, even finish.

Step 3: Final Finishing

To get an even better final surface I used a pneumatic die grinder with a surface finishing disk to polish the entire face.

Sand paper up to around 400 grit would work just as well but requires some elbow grease.

Step 4: Final Result

After cleaning up the steel piece I took it to a local powdercoater who gave it a satin black finish.

I also showed how my friend Chad uses his powdercoating gun and oven to powder coat some other pieces.

If you wanted to get something like this cut, a local CNC shop should charge around $85 for the metal cut out and powdercoating should cost around $40

If you'd like to purchase a wedding guest book like this I sell them at https://www.42fab.com/signage/wall-hanging-wedding...

Thanks for Stopping By!