Wood for plaque

[Glenn]

Hi all,

I want to make a wooden plaque to go outside our holiday ruin in the French Alps. I intend to "carve" the design using a router and dremel. The design I have in mind is an oval which fits roughly within A4 size paper and needs to be about 3/4 to an inch thick. The big question is, what wood should I use. The plaque (which will be thoroughly painted with several coats of JapLaq when finished) will be outside during summer (high 30's) and winter (very cold) at around 4,000 ft ASL.

All ideas gratefully received.

Glenn

[RichardS]

For stability and durability I'd have said iroko. You'd need a specialist hardwood supplier for that.

The idea of painting it goes against the woodworker's grain though (no pun intended..) and it's an oily wood so I don't know how well paint would take.

Not cheap either, but you don't need very much of it.

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[nick nelson]

For stability, and given it's going to be painted, I'd use exterior plywood. A whole sheet of 3/4 ply for one A4 plaque would be rather expensive though. Possibly you could build up the necessary thickness by laminating several layers of thinner ply.

Nick

[stuart noble]

They use MDF for this in Scandinavia apparently. A special grade of course but might be worth a web search.

[PoP]

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 10:38:18 -0000, "stuart noble"

[Pete C]

Hi,

If you want to use a slice across a tree trunk stabilise it with PEG (polyethylene glycol) to stop it drying out and cracking. Should be available from wood turners supplies.

You could use normal antifreeze (ethylene glycol) though it's highly toxic, and will stain the wood if it's got dye in it.

cheers, Pete.

[Rick Dipper]

Portwood Timber in Stockport, can supply blanks in a variety of woods. I guess many other places can too.

A hardwood with fine grain comes to mind.

Personnaly I like oak, its hard to work but you don't get splinters and cracks. Its easy to burn, and tough on your tools.

Rick