Shopsmith Forums

I do volunteer work for a local non-profit. Each year they have an event to raise funds. The event entitled Power of the Purse includes an auction. The director asked me to make a display of their logo to use as a centerpiece. See image.

So the display will actually have a real purse hanging off the middle arm of the "F".

SCALE: Looking at it - if the purse were say 12" long by 9" high it looks like the "F" would be about 24-26" and the backer would add another 4"-8". Does that make sense?

MATERIALS & CUTTING: I envision cutting the "F" from 1/4" or 3/8" Baltic birch plywood and the backer 3/8" or maybe 1/2". I thought I'd take the file to Kinko's and have the pattern enlarged to the size needed and cutting with a jig saw. Sand and paint them individually.

MOUNTING: Then I have to mount the "F" to the backer with a space so that the strap of the purse can be placed on the arm of the "F". So I need to make spacers that won't be too visible. I suppose painted that blue? So how much space should I allow, 1/4? 3/8? 1/2? And should I use wood for the spacers or maybe styrofoam?

I'm looking for ideas and suggestions. As always thanks for reading!

Would it be easier to make the whole "F" full depth (1 - 1 1/4") and then bevel the back of the center bar, top, serif to make the hook.
Using thicker material, the bandsaw might be the tool of choice.

rpd wrote:Would it be easier to make the whole "F" full depth (1 - 1 1/4") and then bevel the back of the center bar, top, serif to make the hook.
Using thicker material, the bandsaw might be the tool of choice.

This!

I would cut the interior of the "F" like a bandsaw box (glue the exit slot) and like rpd suggests, make it full thickness. Finish the inside with small drum sanders.

Looks like a fun project!

Hey Berry!

So it looks like from my messing around anyway - that logo would be about 33"x33" square, and the "F" would end up being roughly 26" by 24" wide. So my scaling and yours seem to line up.

It might be interesting to make a ~2.5 dowel that you can use to make the eyes of the birds, and then just cut a few more, paint them blue, and use them for your standoffs. Three birds and standoffs for one dowel as it were.

P.S. its rough and dirty - but I blew a version of the logo I found up and converted it to an outline at full scale (33in square). might take some cleanup work in the lines because the computer just ran an approximation, but it's close. The corner radius works out to be a 9.5" circle as well, FYI.

I kept reading, and rereading your post and kept thinking, "What birds is he talking about?" After opening your attachment they became clear. What program did you use to convert the image to an outline?

farmerwd wrote:Hey Berry!

So it looks like from my messing around anyway - that logo would be about 33"x33" square, and the "F" would end up being roughly 26" by 24" wide. So my scaling and yours seem to line up.

It might be interesting to make a ~2.5 dowel that you can use to make the eyes of the birds, and then just cut a few more, paint them blue, and use them for your standoffs. Three birds and standoffs for one dowel as it were.

P.S. its rough and dirty - but I blew a version of the logo I found up and converted it to an outline at full scale (33in square). might take some cleanup work in the lines because the computer just ran an approximation, but it's close. The corner radius works out to be a 9.5" circle as well, FYI.

Dowels, absolutely. I just can't see the forest for all the trees. Glad the scaling makes sense to someone else.

WileyCoyote wrote:I kept reading, and rereading your post and kept thinking, "What birds is he talking about?" After opening your attachment they became clear. What program did you use to convert the image to an outline?

All I did was open the file (jpg) they sent me and place it on the desktop. After writing the text I dragged that over to the message area. Kinda surprised it worked so easily.

WileyCoyote wrote:I kept reading, and rereading your post and kept thinking, "What birds is he talking about?" After opening your attachment they became clear. What program did you use to convert the image to an outline?

All I did was open the jpg they sent me and place it on the desktop. Then after writing my description I pulled it over to the message square. Surprised me that it worked.

WileyCoyote wrote:What program did you use to convert the image to an outline?

Adobe Illustrator actually