A client reached out wanting a sign to go in the game room of their new house and requested it be something fairly large to help fill the space.
This is what I came up with…
I created the depth to the letters by stacking layers of different cuts. The backs were cut from .25" MDF and then different offsets were used to create the middle and face layers. The middle layer was cut once from .75" MDF. I then used the scraps from machining to piece together a second middle layer which was then flush-trimmed on the router table giving me a 1.5" thick middle section. This resulted in very little waste and saved me from buying a second sheet.
The face layer was cut from .5 MDF
The finished assembly measures over 10ft across.
I used LED strips around the inner perimeter of each letter which are dimmable by the included controller.
The wiring was a bit tricky because I did not want anything visible from the front. The lower mounting brace had a channel routed in the back of it and two strips of copper foil tape were laid in to serve as bus bars for soldered connections. The wiring for each letter exits through the back, goes through the bottom of the brace, and is soldered to the appropriate tape strip. I also installed the factory connectors for the LED strips to the ends of the braces so the assemblies could be unplugged for transport and easy hook-up.
The mounting braces were then painted to match the client’s wall so they blend into the background well.
Additionally, engineer grade reflective vinyl was applied to the letter backs to increase the light output and help with spread inside the letters.
