Custom Firefighter’s Plaque: Maple

Using live-edge Maple, let’s make a custom firefighter’s plaque at CNCROi.com!

Using live edge Maple, you can see how there is a slight warp in it, this is REAL wood, as such, these things are part of the process, so the first thing CNCROi.com has to do is flatten it on both sides.

Although I now have a jointer which could make quick work of this, and a planner as well, the best machine to do something this size is just to boot-up our Thermwood CNC router and flatten away in order to create the foundations that will become a custom firefighter’s plaque.

There aren’t really any limits when it comes to the sizing of your custom plaque other that material availability.

You can see the size of this machine in the photo below, the table, which moves rather than the overhead gantry, is 5ft x 10 ft in size, HUGE in comparison to the relatively small plaque I put on the table.

The advantage of our router to do this type of work over other power tools is not only the speed, but the quality of the finish… and it’s also a lot less manual work to transform this custom firefighter’s plaque into something not only flat but parallel at CNCROi.com.

Flattening live edge slabs of this size are no different than far larger ones, which I’ve done a lot of as well at CNCROi.com, the process is the same, just the time to completion is different.

Whether you want one or many custom plaques, CNCROi.com can get it done for you on time and within budget, from Corian to stainless steel, wood to whatever other material you’d like, we are the company to get it done for you and shipped right to your door!

You can see that I used screws to hold down the live edge Maple plaque onto the router table, this is done because vacuum systems are garbage with live edge material and without them, the soon to be custom firefighter’s plaque would go flying across the shop.

Once both sides are flattened, an absolute requirement for a plaque that will be laser engraved, it’s time to cut one side straight for proper alignment.

Cutting a straight edge becomes my reference for the laser engraving and as such, with the lasering of the custom firefighter’s plaque, I’ll add an additional reference so I can cut the other edge straight using my chop saw as well.

CNCROi.com has made lots of firefighting plaques through the years, big and small, thin and thick, we’ve done it all.

There is never anything straight or aligned using live edge material, by doing it this way, the custom firefighter’s plaque will be as straight as possible, in addition to being a consistent thickness and dead-flat to boot.

Laser engraving at CNCROi.com is another thing I’ve done a lot of, across a ton of different materials for an endless variety of customers through the years.

Of course, laser engraving introduces a new element that needs to be “fixed” for this specific project, and that is smoke, it will be sanded off, along with the rest of the custom firefighter’s plaque on both sides before the finishing process with Tung oil.

Corian is a very popular material when it comes to custom plaques because it’s incredibly durable and fantastic for outdoor use in all types of weather conditions, stainless steel is also right up there if that’s the look you are after.

When it comes to laser engraving, any font or vector image works fine, so the possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing a plaque however you like, design through material choices with CNCROi.com.

As there is no paint filling or resin epoxy filling for this specific project, just laser engraving, the custom firefighter’s plaque was pretty much finished after the laser engraving except for a few small additions required before giving this custom firefighter’s plaque to the customer.

I did do two passes over this project, just to give a bit extra depth in the custom firefighter’s plaque, this allows a bit more contrast as more charcoal is produced as the base layer and shadows play more at depth as well.

Now that the laser engraving is finished, you can see my reference cut line at the bottom of the plaque, I know the top is dead perfect, now having the laser doing the bottom line means that will be dead-perfect as well.

Plaques made out of wood have a certain warmth to them that just isn’t there when it comes to their alternatives out of Corian or stainless steel.

Employing the chop saw again, it’s an easy cut, the table saw could have done this as well just as easily but it was stored away and this was the next easy tool to use for the sizing of the custom firefighter’s plaque.

You can see the smoke and stains released during the laser engraving process, easily sanded off as they are only on the very top surface of the live edge kiln dried Maple slab.

Once sanding is done, next step is applying Tung oil on both sides and the edges of the custom hardwood plaque, again, something I’ve done a lot of in the past at CNCROi.com so there are no surprises in store.

The results of tung oil color change are minor in this case, but it still protects all surfaces from the general environment, and increases the contrast of the overall custom firefighter’s plaque.

Need custom plaques? Any size, shape or material? Contact CNCROi.com right now!