Custom Wooden Signs from Spring Valley Signs

Wooden Signs vs. HDU Signs

Discover the Benefits

A hand carved wooden sign speaks of traditional craftsmanship. It shows that you are well established, trustworthy, and reliable. There is no other type of sign on the market that has the same understated elegance and quality.

THE PROBLEM …with a wooden sign

A wooden sign is subject to split, crack, rot, and warp. If any moisture gets beneath the paint finish, the wooden sign swells, causing more cracks in the protective paint. A wooden sign requires frequent and regular maintenance to protect it from damage of moisture. Once you own an outdoor wooden sign, you will need to refinish or repaint it about once a year to keep it looking good.

THE SOLUTION …that looks just as great

In recent years, carvers of wooden signs have begun to lean in favor of synthetic wood substitutes. The most popular for carved signs is probably High Density Urethane (HDU), which is weather resistant. It feels and carves like wood. When covered with paint you would never know it was not a wooden sign. In fact, the only instance when it makes sense to use real wood is when you wish to lacquer the sign so you can see the natural wood grain. If you were to paint or solid stain a wood sign it would make sense to use HDU to begin with.

At Spring Valley Signs, we laminate HDU to foam core PVC for strength and bulk. When the sign is covered with paint it feels like wood, but it is far superior, as it will never crack, split or rot.

For technical data on HDU see www.signfoam.com.

IF YOU INSIST …on buying a real wooden sign

Wood is more expensive than HDU. If you require a real wood sign, we will consider purchasing wood for a specific project on a case-by-case basis. Your wooden sign will be more expensive.

Traditionally, wooden signs have been made of quarter-sawn redwood. A piece of quarter-sawn lumber is expensive because it is a complicated cut. The grain is more or less perpendicular to the face of the board. Outer cuts of lumber have concentric rings becoming nearly parallel with the face of the board making them less valuable and narrower. They also have more sapwood and are therefore more prone to warping.

The ideal plank is all heartwood redwood with vertical grain. Kiln-dried planks are machined and glued into panels to form a wooden sign. Because wood is “alive” it is very hard to predict and control warping of a wooden sign. The pieces may twist and warp to differing degrees causing the sign to split along the glue lines, or at weaker places in the grain.

HAND-CARVING …the traditional way

Most carved wooden signs are now being made with hi-tech machines. At Spring Valley Signs we enjoy carving with traditional hand tools; chisels and gouges. Most of the time visitors to our workshop will see several people stationed around a large table, each carving a sign and enjoying the company of the others.

When it comes to sculptures and other artwork there are more specialized hand-tools and brushes, but most of the work is still done with a gouge of some type.

When carving letters into a wooden sign the grain of the wood and the relative hardness of the wood are the main factors. Of course, properly sharpened tools are a must! A skilled carver will know exactly how deep and how hard to press the tool to achieve a clean cut with no splintering. Each stroke of the chisel must move out of the grain so the carver must develop several stances and hand positions and be able to change smoothly between these positions, even switching the tool between hands. When a carver works accurately and fluidly it is fascinating to watch!

SANDBLASTING …may not be the best

Many wooden signs are sandblasted. Typically the letters are covered with a thin adhesive rubber stencil and the background is blasted back. Sandblasted signs show off the beauty of the natural wood grain, but are difficult to maintain with lacquer or paint over a period of time. At Spring Valley Signs we prefer to incise carve the letters on a sign as the final product is more elegant. Carved signs are a cut above sandblasted signs because they are made by hand.