Live Edge Ash: Custom Unfinished House Number Sign
Live edge Ash makes for a wonderful house number sign, in this case, a woodworker hired CNCROi.com to do the first half of their job with them doing the rest.
Live edge Ash, or any other species actually, make for wonderful custom house number signs, the contrast is great, the sign itself is beefy and strong and will last a very long time outdoors in the elements during the four seasons this sign is going to be within.
For this live edge Ash house number sign, it began life out as a slab in a field sitting there for who knows how many years, as a result, it was looking rough and worn, bleached by the Sun and everything mother nature threw at it over time.
If Ash isn’t your “thing”, CNCROi.com can work on a variety of wood species, Cherry to Maple, whatever you want, we can source and make for you.
The first step to transforming this diamond in the rough was actually cutting it down to size, there is no point in cleaning-up surfaces that won’t be used in the final live edge Ash house number sign that this slab will become.
The position and measurements were put onto the Ash slab ahead of time so it was a pretty straight forward process of cutting it down to size using CNCROi.com‘s amazing bandsaw to roughly the dimensions required for the finished live edge ash house number sign.
Afterwards, it was time to remove years of grime and stains on the live edge ash house number sign slab, our planner did a quick job of that, revealing a very beautiful surface from which to work from.
CNCROi.com can make both finished pieces and unfinished, we work with what you want us to do.
Of course, the process removed quite a bit of material on the live edge Ash house number sign but those chips won’t be wasted, they are going in the CNCROi.com fire pit!
Here’s a good rundown of common questions CNCROi.com receives during live edge work specifically.
After planning the surface, both sides were labeled and the customer was asked what side they wanted to have it laser engraved as this isn’t a double-sided live edge Ash house number sign but will be mounted onto something at the house.
Laser engraving a large Ash slab is no problem, we have up to 13 inches of clearance so even the biggest and heaviest live edge engravings we have done at CNCROi.com comfortably fit in our machine.
Markings were made out of pencil which is easily sanded off by the woodworker, planning is a far more efficient clean-up method than sanding and produces a better cleaner result but it’s too rough on material to be used instead of sanding the finished piece.
Laser engraving the live edge Ash house number sign helps darken the wood and also adds a bit of depth which, with shadows, greatly augments the contrast that this number sign will have.
Live edge works great for a lot of other applications, from rustic memorial plaques to corporate gifts.
Laser engraving, unlike paint, does not add anything to the surface, CNCROi.com is just engraving into the surface and producing charcoal at depth, thus nothing will fade, crack or peel over time.
CNCROi.com has a full woodshop in addition to metal shop… and of course, lots of CNC equipment so just about any design onto any material can be accomplished on behalf of our awesome customers.
As the woodworker will be finishing-up this live edge ash house number sign, I added reference lines for them to cut through to get the proper sizing and proportions after the laser work is finished.
Other applications that CNCROi.com uses wood for include custom wooden stamps.
Just to add a bit more contrast, CNCROi.com then did a second pass onto the live edge Ash house number sign to add a bit darker charcoal in the bottom of the engraving site.
The difference is subtle but well worth it, it’s like teeth whitening, a shade “whiter” isn’t noticed until you put it right against the previous shade then you see the difference.
The process of laser engraving an Ash slab does add quite a bit of resin and smoke on the surface but as a woodworker myself, I can appreciate giving the customer a bit more grunt work to make the sign all the more theirs when they drive up to it every day to and from work.
Of course, if you want to get a little crazy, CNCROi.com can make simple movie props as well, having the machinery and expertise to use them optimally helps in all aspects of completing a project for our customers.
For an engraving such as this, it really makes little difference if it’s masked or not, using the power and speed settings used for this live edge Ash house number sign, it would fly off and have lots of seepage anyways.
The really nice thing about laser engraving Ash (or any other wood species) is that the results are permanent, although CNCROi.com could technically engrave straight through this slab, just going 1/8th on such a hardwood produces a result that will last generations.
I’ve been doing specifically laser work for 5 years now and it just never gets tiring seeing the result and the process, whether it’s roughed out wood or finished, it’s always fun watching our Austrian wide-format industrial laser do its work.
CNCROi.com is also able to mix and match other materials, for instance, if you want a gold looking laser engraved house number sign, we can make that too.
CNC lasers don’t have a two-way feedback system unlike our CNC router, as such, the grain densities in the wood effect the depth and the composition of the wood at that point effect the amount of charcoal and shade produced.
You can see in the image below how the laser engraving depth is directly affected by the grain of the Ash in this live edge Ash house number sign close-up.
Now that this live edge Ash house number sign is finished (our end of the work at least), you can clearly see the effects of charcoal and shadowing and the result they have for contrast.
Here’s the live edge Ash house number sign from another angle, I can’t wait to see what our customer produces based on where we left things off, once the sign is cleaned-up, sanded and varnished, this will really look amazing!
Whether you are looking for a cog in your production wheel or a finished piece, contact CNCROi.com for your required works.