Woodcrafts for outdoors

[kalipbean]

Does anyone have any experience on making things for outdoors?

A friend wants a plaque with their last name and some other things like trees and animals. Was thinking of cutting out all of the letters/animals and glueing them on a birch backboard and then having a wood frame. I want to avoid any warping. It will be hung out of the rain but will still endure cold winters and hot summers (will be underneath roof, above doorway) I live in Buffalo, NY.

Few questions


1. Does the wood have to be treated at all, i know it is not good to cut treated wood?
2. Any special glue I will need, or will regular wood glue be fine for the cold/warm winters. I dont want the pieces to become so cold and crack right off the backboard.
3. Any woods I should avoid?

Any input would be great!

Thanks

[Chachi]

I would cut it all from one peice so no worries about cracking and breaking no use for the Glue There is alot of Patterns on the net for welcome signs so all you would need to is replace it with there name.
 As for the wood I like to use red Ceder for alot of my outdoor signs but I live in Texas we don't have harsh winters like the north does..
  As for treating it I always use a clear water seal and then seal with outdoor Poly Now that is just what I do not saying it is the right way or anything like that just saying that it is the way I do my projects when I don't use paint... Painting I use a good outdoor Paint or I paint it flat black and seal it with the outdoor Poly. Now these As I said are my way of doing such things I'm sure that others on here will have better ways of doing such things.
 

[BilltheDiver]

I use titebond 3 or Gorilla wood glue (not the polyurethane glue) for outdoor projects as they are the most waterproof.

[Rapid Roger]

I live in Kansas. We have extreme weather both hot and cold.
I recommend cedar or fir wood and Titebond III for glue. I usually don't finish it at all and it turns an old looking silver/grey. I kind of like it but when I do finish it, I use BLO and then several coats of 'Helmsman Spar Urethane' varnish. The weather will wear the finish out after two or three years but, a quick sanding and a re-coat of varnish will bring it back to life if that should happen after awhile. The UV rays will ruin any finish after time.
Pay close attention to the end grain and be sure to soak as much finish into the end grain edges as it will hold and then add a little more.  That is where it will start cracking first.

Rog

[dunk]

I've made dozens of these signs and I always make them out of Western red cedar, and finish them just like roger if there is a finish on them, some customers like them to turn grey naturally.  I always use titebond lll for outdoor projects.

[kalipbean]

Thanks for the tips. Only issue is they wanted their name and some pine trees and wolves... Doing the name as a sign is no issue, just the trees and wolves pose a problem. Any ideas on how to make that work?

[Gabby]

Post your needs on the Pattern Request page of the forum, more likely to get a response there.
We have some great designers here.
Welcome aboard,
Gabby