Custom Bedroom Sign: 1/4″ MDF Laser Cut

Simon’s custom bedroom sign made using painted quarter inch 6 mm thick laser cut MDF might be a great distraction to prevent him from crying at night… will know in 2 months!

I’ve made lots of custom signage at CNCROi.com through the years, and I still get amazed at how amazing the power of paint is to transform any material from boring to wow.

For Simon’s custom bedroom sign, we will be using MDF, it paints great and I have plenty of it in the shop from a various signage jobs I’ve been busy doing at CNCROi.com.

Simon is picking-up his custom stash as his moment approaches, his door has a sign but I had nothing previously for inside his room with his name.

Having an industry-leading CNC laser makes what would be a rather difficult job, a pretty easy one at CNCROi.com, the precision we can achieve is second to none and this comes in great when we must make inlays as we can achieve a perfect fit every time.

For Simon’s custom bedroom sign, I decided to put moose antlers rather than mouse ears (he’s going to be born in the year of the Rat) because I think it’s a more noble animal and I wanted him to have a cool sign to grow-up with, not round little mouse ears or worse, rat ears, to enjoy looking at.

The middle character will be his middle name, it’s my wife’s family last name so he will always know his origins, from the meeting of two people on completely different continents and cultures, from literally opposite sides of the world.

Simon’s a lucky kid, already having his own towel holder as well, plasma cut no less.

The reason for using our CNC laser instead of our CNC router to make Simon’s custom bedroom sign was the inlays, I wanted a sharp inner corners for things to fit into, that’s only possible using the laser (and waterjet) but as waterjet is a wet process, for this MDF sign, laser was the only way.

The reason for going with inlays was color, I wanted contrasting colors with a black outline so everything POPS and I think I achieved that for his sign.

Our CNC laser efficiently and precisely cuts through this quarter inch 6 mm MDF, whether we had just one layer or hundreds for this sign, our CNC laser will cut it through methodically and properly for amazing inlays.

If you notice, there are only two sheets of material used for this sign at CNCROi.com, the solid backing and the front with the inlays, this means almost no material wastage as the inlays are made from the same part of the sign as the sign itself.

I’ve been using MDF cut at CNCROi.com around the house for a long while, it makes boring walls more interesting.

When it comes to design options, they are ENDLESS, especially when it comes to MDF inlays like Simon’s custom bedroom sign, I’ve yet to come across a design that a customer wanted that wasn’t possible one way or another.

Simon’s custom bedroom sign is now finished, the top layer at least, I didn’t mask the MDF because I was going to paint it all anyways, no point giving myself extra work that will produce no difference in the end.

Next step is the backing, it’s just an outline with 4 holes of the top sign, again, this is where absolute precision comes into play, this wouldn’t be possible if my machine was out of calibration or worse, junk – only good machines can achieve this level of precision and CNCROi.com started with the best!

MDF is also a great material for custom picture frames as well, again, any size, shape or style you want, CNCROi.com will make it for you and ship right to your door.

I like using double sided tape, it’s not your typical stuff you buy at the local market but solid industrial grade, it’s incredibly sticky and a dream to work with.

Another option for Simon’s custom bedroom sign would have been to just use regular wood glue, I didn’t use that because I wanted to make this a day job, not a multi-day job, waiting on the glue to hold.

The other disadvantage with tight inlays when glue is involved is that it tends to come-up and shift when pressed through the inlays and the edges, I don’t have that issue using industrial double sided tape and it being plug and play is also a wonderful feature, no waiting for drying!

The versatility of MDF is really limitless when it comes to signage, it makes really good product for the right application.

When it comes to custom sign production by CNCROi.com, keep in mind that this is just an example of what’s possible, any design, material or mix of graphics or fonts can be used – you are NOT limited to MDF, the font selection I used nor the paint color I employed for Simon’s custom bedroom sign.

As with the previous layer, the smoke you see on the front and back of the MDF makes no difference, hence not masked, as you’ll never see it, it’s either on the back of the sign or within the inlay of Simon’s custom bedroom sign itself, out of sight.

I employed four different colors for Simon’s sign, the Chinese characters were the finest, those were made in red because red characters look cool when contrasting against black.

Something you may not be aware of is that MDF actually engraves very well, though inlays and paint are a better step forward.

The entire outline of the sign was black to provide amazing contrast against against the colorful inside parts of Simon’s custom bedroom sign.

Just look at how different a look and feel the above RAW MDF has compared to the shinny gloss of the black paint below, it looks completely different, just a little paint goes an amazingly long way when it comes to esthetics!

Once I had all the elements painted at CNCROi.com, it was time to stick it all together, unlike glue, there really isn’t a massive rush, or the need to use clamps or hold-down methods, that’s what I love about using industrial double sided tape, the process of gluing everything together is seamless and a lot less messy.

Even at CNCROi.com, I make full wall signage using MDF and paint it metal.

After removing the industrial double sided tape (it’s clear), you can see the outline of the sign and the elements I just need to press into it to get everything to stick together.

And below is the finished sign for Simon which he’ll receive shortly, I really look forward to seeing what he thinks of all this, he’ll have a room full of custom made items waiting for him.

If you need a custom sign, contact CNCROi.com right now!