# Cursive lettering



## DAVEK (Aug 5, 2007)

Are there templates made for cursive lettering or am I stuck with free hand?Thanks


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## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

At this time I believe there are no commercial made templates for cursive. So yeah, either make your own templates... very difficult undertaking or free hand. Welcome to the forums by the way Dave!

Corey


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Dave just one work around

Open up Word or NotePad and select the Font you want to use resize it and then print it out on some Kodak Photo paper then glue it to some hardboard or some 1/4" or 1/8" MDF or what ever, put it on your scroll table saw and cut it out...use it that way or make a pattern so you can use your trim router...to make your sign...

Bj 




DAVEK said:


> Are there templates made for cursive lettering or am I stuck with free hand?Thanks


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## unlimitedwoodworker (Mar 3, 2006)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Dave just one work around
> 
> Open up Word or NotePad and select the Font you want to use resize it and then print it out on some Kodak Photo paper then glue it to some hardboard or some 1/4" or 1/8" MDF or what ever, put it on your scroll table saw and cut it out...use it that way or make a pattern so you can use your trim router...to make your sign...
> 
> Bj


or make it much much more simple and open word or photoshop and print your letters out to desired size, this may take a couple prints. And cut them out with a razor or scizors and then trace the letters to the wood, this is what i do.
jeff


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Welcome to the Router Forums DAVEK. Glad to see you asking questions right off. Good luck with your lettering.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

I print my signs out then use an engraver to trace them to the wood..
Freehand with the router is not hard at all.. Just take your time..
Here's a link to one I made..
http://www.routerforums.com/general-routing/2865-my-first-sign-project.html


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## unlimitedwoodworker (Mar 3, 2006)

yeah thats why i alwayse use my method, its easy to do freehand routing especially when you have traced the letters to the wood 

i am thinking about buying a dremel scroll saw and getting very thin wood and making templates so i dont alwayse have to print them, i can just go to a box and trace them.

Jeff


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I've just had another look a that great sign Mike, it looks like a ski set-up might be just what the doctor ordered, any thoughts?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I've just had another look at that great sign Mike, it looks like a ski set-up might be just what the doctor ordered for future ones, it would give incredible control of the router, any thoughts?


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

That would have been a great way to do it.. I didn't have one at the time..


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Any new signs in the pipe line?


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## Visteonguy (Aug 6, 2005)

The 2 methods that I use to transfer letters to my work peice, when making a sign, start out the same as BJ and Jeff have mentioned,,, print them out from a word program on your computer,, then I blow them up to the the correct size I want to end up with,, but when I get to that point,, I just lay a layer of carbon paper first on the work piece and then lay the printed letters on top of the carbon paper. No need to cut them out, because its still one sheet of paper or several taped together ( If its too big to fit on one sheet of paper ) That way, the alinment will be just as perfect as it was as it came from your computer printer. Now all you have to do is run a pencil around the outside of the letters or image, remove the printed sheet and carbon paper and you now have your letters or image transfered to your work peice exactly as it was printed on the paper. I bought a box of carbon paper at an office supply store like Office Depot or one of their competitors, a box of 50 sheets cost me only about $4 or $5 a couple of years ago and will last a LONG LONG time,,,

The other method,, I learned about from taking some art classes at work. The instructor showed us the secret behind using a projector to transfer your letters or images to a work surface,,, that really opened up my eyes to that machine,,, anyone can be an artist by using that machine,,,
All you do is print out your sign as you want it to look like,, size is now NOT important, actually smaller is better now, because a smaller image will fit in the viewing area on the projector. When you get it to look like you want it, on a piece of paper,, lay it on the viewing surface of a projector and shine the image up on your work surface,, if you want it larger,, just move the projector back farther from the work surface,, smaller,,move it closer,, once ya got it the right size,,, just outline the image with a pencil and when you have all the information up there,, shut off the light in the projector and see if the sign has all the information you need it to have,,, once you are satisfied, take down your work piece and get started with your trim router and rout it out freehand.

With either of these methods,, you can make a sign say anything you want with NO templates.

Templates do have their uses however,, if you have to make several coppies of a particular sign,, then maybe its worth your time to go through the trouble to make up some kind of template for that sign,,,

I have posted a couple of these pictures quite a while back but they show the first method I explained, with the carbon paper. Then, on the blanet chest, I used the opague projector to lay out the stylized H on the blanket chest I made a few years ago. Both methods work great, the carbon paper is almost free, but there is the cost of the projector if you use that method, but if you have lots of stuff to transfer, its an item you will find very usefull.


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## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Terry, thanks for all the photos. Beautiful work! I love that H on the mobile chest. Is that H carved in or scrolled and attached? My daughters name is Hailey and that is what I want to be able to do in a jewlery box lid. I don't know if it is possible with a template but I don't it's to small to do free hand, what do you think? Excellent work!

Corey


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## Visteonguy (Aug 6, 2005)

Hi Corey,,,, Thanks,, for the compliments. 

The H is carved in the boards of the blanket chest. If you look closely you can begin to see a rounded area around the H, because I laid out the H and then freehand carved it out to a depth of about 1/4 inch. then I used a disk grinder to grind back the wood on a taper back out to the surface of the boards of the chest. Then used a disk sander to smooth it even more to help hide the depression. They are about 1 1/4 inch thick boards so it was not a problem sinking the area some what. maybe I should have ground back the area farther to make it less noticable, but that was just a few days before christmas and that was the dead line,,, so it is what it is,,,

You can use that same method to route out some very small images,,, what you might try is setting up some kind of base on a dremmel rotary tool and find a bit that is small and agressive cutting,, It would be like having a "Mini" trim router and use it the same way as I have used the trim router. once ya have that,, you can do some very small letters,, I use a small air powered die grinder ( that I bought from Harbor Freight for about $15 ) with some 1/8 inch shank cutting burrs for tightening up the sharp corners of letters , I have some that come to a point,, that I can use to make perfectly sharp corners.

One thing about doing a sign or letter that small is you do not have to go 1/4 inch deep,, 1/8 or 3/16's will look very good on that size,,, 

Sharp chisels also some times are good for cleaning up corners,, One thing about this game is ,, there are NO rules,, ya use what works for you to get the job done,,, and have fun doing it... thats the whole reason to be doing it in the first place.


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## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Thanks for all the tips... it's a beautiful project! 

Corey


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## Drugstore Cowboy (May 17, 2007)

Visteonguy said:


> . . . .One thing about this game is ,, there are NO rules,, ya use what works for you to get the job done,,, and have fun doing it... thats the whole reason to be doing it in the first place.


*AMEN*

And what you did CLEARLY works for you --
BEAUTIFUL work.


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## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Terry,

COOL, C O O L, *C O O L !!*

That's my kind of procedure...!

The* KISS* principle!

Great! Thank you for sharing!


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## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Visteonguy said:


> The H is carved in the boards of the blanket chest. If you look closely you can begin to see a rounded area around the H, because I laid out the H and then freehand carved it out to a depth of about 1/4 inch. then I used a disk grinder to grind back the wood on a taper back out to the surface of the boards of the chest. Then used a disk sander to smooth it even more *to help hide the depression.* They are about 1 1/4 inch thick boards so it was not a problem sinking the area some what. maybe I should have ground back the area farther to make it less noticable...


Thank you for a Super nice technique!


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