Wooden Garden Sign

beautiful wooden garden sign using a Dremel 3000.
  • Difficulty
    Medium

Introduction

Create a beautiful wooden garden sign with Leo and Jane Windham of Cottage at the Crossroads. Learn how to craft with Dremel 3000 for personalized outdoor décor.

You need

Step by Step Instructions

Step15

Creating Custom Birch or Cedar Designs

Using various cutter bits score your design on the wood alternating speeds

Draw or trace your design and lettering onto the birch board. Our featured bloggers of the month, Leo and Jane Windham, decided to trace printed lettering and draw an original sunflower design onto carbon paper which transferred onto the birch board behind it. Note that cedar would also work well for this project as it typically withstands weather conditions outdoors.

Step25

Carve Your Design

Using a finishing abrasive buff clean the carvings

Attach the 192 High Speed Cutter to your 3000 rotary tool. Run the tool at speed 10 and carve out the traced design. Leo and Jane used the 192 cutter to carve out the body of the letters and stem of their sunflower design. When carving out fine areas of the design such as the outlines of the sunflower leaves, they'd recommend switching to the 193 High Speed Cutter.

Step35

Smooth Your Carving For Finishing Touches

finish your garden design by painting or polishing the back

Place a 511E EZ Lock Finishing Abrasive Buff onto the EZ 402 EZ Lock Mandrel and attach it to your 3000 rotary tool. Run the tool at speed 6 and lightly sand and smooth the carved grooves in the flower and letter engravings as needed.

Step45

Finish Your Garden Sign

Add acrylic paint for a glossy finish and to highlight details
finish your garden design by painting or polishing the back
Add acrylic paint for a glossy finish and to highlight details
finish your garden design by painting or polishing the back

Finish your garden sign as desired. Leo and Jane decided to stain their birch garden sign, sanded it lightly, and then followed up by painting their sunflower design and letters with acrylic craft paint. If pursuing a similar aesthetic for your sign, allow the stain to dry completely before sanding the piece lightly with fine sandpaper as desired. Finally, apply acrylic craft paint in several light coats to add detail and color to the sign.

Step55

Seal and Display

stake hang or mount your sign at desired location
Seal the wooden garden sign by spraying it with a polyurethane sealer
stake hang or mount your sign at desired location
Seal the wooden garden sign by spraying it with a polyurethane sealer

After your chosen finish has dried, seal the finished wooden garden sign by spraying it with a polyurethane sealer. Allow time for the sealant to dry, following the instructions provided on its container. Place the completed wooden garden sign in your desired location. Leo and Jane decided to place theirs on an old wooden easel in their garden and surrounded it with flowers and gourds. Other display options would include hanging or mounting the sign.


Warning

To reduce the risk of injury user must read instruction manuals for all tools used in this project. Wear eye and respiratory protection. Use clamps to support work piece whenever practical.