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Thread: Alphabet Blocks

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Brisbane
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    9

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    Thanks for all the comments. Progress has been slow due to the demands of the eventual recipient of the blocks...!

    The story so far.

    I have bought the wood (42 x 42 DAR pine from Bunnings) and done a fair bit of prototyping on the alphabet part. My findings in brief are:

    1) Laser printing (single colour letters) on paper, affixed with PVA glue. The quality of image is excellent. The finish is good after enough (14) coats of varnish. Downside is the visible white paper.

    2) Inkjet printing (single colour letters) on paper, applied with fixer, affixed with PVA glue. Pros and cons as per laser printing.

    3) Painting directly onto the wood. Upside is that there's no need for varnishing. Downside is that I'm no good with a paintbrush so it looks rubbish.

    4) Using Fiskars Easy Stamps with ink and paint. Consistent letters and a font I liked. Downside was that they were a bit small and fiddly to apply to wood.

    5) Inkjet printing (single colour letters) on transparency, applied with fixer, affixed with PVA glue. I hoped that the varnish would seamlesly blend into the transparency paper so that only the printing was visible. This was not the case and it looked funny.

    6) Inkjet printing (single colour letters with black outline) on paper, applied with fixer, affixed with PVA glue. The black border gave me a good solid edge to cut to but the insides fo letters like 'A', 'O', etc were a nightmare to cut out. As a result the letters looked pretty rough

    7) Inkjet printing (single colour letters with black outline) on transparency, applied with fixer, affixed with PVA glue. This was the winner. Again, the black border gave me a good solid edge to cut to but this time I could leave the middles of letters thanks to the transparency. The fact that it doesn't quite blend in is not an issue as the two areas are apart.


    Using method 7 I made a prototype letter 'C' block which I am quite please with.

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  3. #17
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    North of the coathanger, Sydney
    Age
    68
    Posts
    9,417

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    regards
    Nick
    veni, vidi,
    tornavi
    Without wood it's just ...

  4. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Brisbane
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker View Post
    Well, the printout was a little jaggy and the cutting less than perfect but as a proof of concept I was quite pleased. Especially after all the previous mis-steps!


    Side 1: Upper case C


    Side 2: Lower case c

  5. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Buderim Qld
    Posts
    22

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    Sorry about the late reply Angela.

    I was recommended to use Vindo paints by Livos. I think perhaps I must have done something wrong as it went on all oily and the colours were not bright.

    Just love the Livos Countertop oil and use that heaps on all the other 'wood grained' items.

    Cart turned out fine, well for a novice woodworker with no painting skills. At least I think the 1 year old grandaughter will think it is beaut.

    Cheers

    Sharon

  6. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Chambers Flat
    Posts
    136

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    Hey Banz I can sell you a nice trolley for your blocks standerd one holds 24 at 42mmx42mm but I can make it bigger to hold 26 as per alphabet.
    Cheers Phil.

  7. #21
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    Jul 2011
    Location
    Brisbane
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    9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Prime mover View Post
    Hey Banz I can sell you a nice trolley for your blocks standerd one holds 24 at 42mmx42mm but I can make it bigger to hold 26 as per alphabet.
    Cheers Phil.
    Thanks for the offer Phil but I plan to make a little box for the blocks as well. I am going to make 30, with the extra four letters being those the recipient needs to spell their name. Also, 30 is a lot better number than 26 for packing!

  8. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    gold coast QLD
    Posts
    1

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    Hi Banz,
    I make and sell alphabet name blocks and use pine & artist acrylic paints. The lettering is the most time consuming task for the blocks. Try Frisket to create a stencil of the letters you would like to make. You can print the lettering you would like onto the back of the frisket (mirror image) and cut the lettering out with a hobby knife. A painful task but the stencil will give you nice sharp edges. Rub-on lettering also might work but I have yet to test whether it would hold up to being varnished.
    Kirsty

  9. #23
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

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    I wonder how the very old ones were done. Somewhere in this house are a set of wooden alphabet blocks that are about 60 years old, I must have a look at them and see.
    CHRIS

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