Patrick Kagan

I have been considering getting into making custo wood signs, lots of sites on the internet; nothing with good advice about equip. feasibilty, marketing, etc. has anyone done this or is doing this kind of work? I am looking to retire soon but still would like to keep busy.

Welcome Patrick!

I suppose a lot would have to do with the kind of signs you are wanting to make and the type of customers you are looking to attract.

I've done a few signs , but most of mine have been fairly simple, just letters and in most cases a cutout of the letters outlines. I've done a few that had some multi level carvings in them. For those I just used the plunge router with a spiral bit to do most of the waste removal, sometimes with multiple depths. Then used the wood carving chisels for the detail work.

I also built a CNC router table a few years back that I use for doing signs and other detail work on projects. Depending on your budget; familiarity with a computer and cad software; and shop space, these can be very useful.

Marketing depends on your target customers, but start with some examples of your work on a web page, selling on ebay (perhaps an ebay store), the yellow pages, and word of mouth. You might look into doing generic signs that might be popular (like the parking signs..."Harley Parking Only") and mass produced, or customized with a fill in the blank area.

Good luck, Post a little more info about yourself on the introduction forum when you get time. Hope to see some of your work soon.

Thanks Darren. I was thinking more of custom signs, Both Raised & Routed letters. I would prefer a more upscale look, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at a plain look sign if the work & income was there.
Again thans for your quick response and good suggestions,

Patrick Kagan

There was an old salt quite a few years ago that would roll into town, make some signs for businesses, and then roll back out of town...only to appear in another few years. I say "roll" literally as he lived in a caboose and had the railroads pull him around, dropping into towns such as ours. When he felt he had gotten all the sign business he could in the surrounding area, he would knuckle up and move on.

Now this is a good story unto itself, but I wonder if there is also a sign lesson to be learned here. And that is do you live in an area that can support alot of sign making, or will the business soon be "signed out"?

My father did it for awhile and got very good at it, but like the guy who lived in the caboose, the business soon was saturated and he was out of luck. Something to think about.