Build: Vintage Sign Board with Running Lights - Part 2

 

Part 2: The Wood Frame Board
The woodworking part was the easiest part of the project. With the right tools available, woodworking can be very exciting and fun. The wood materials are not difficult to find and is inexpensive. I bought a piece of 2 1/4 inches width x 1 inch thickness x 8 feet wood for the frame and I had left over of 2 cm thick plywood from previous project used for the back ground board. Then I used a heavy duty stapler instead of screws and nails to hold the pieces together and shellac for the finishing.

Here were the tools I used for this part of the project: jigsaw, palm sander, bench drill, cordless drill, mitre guide, tenon saw, ruler, protractor, palm router, workbench stand, shellac and heavy duty stapler. Total 4 hours time spent.

Build: Vintage Sign Board with Running Lights - Part 1

Introduction
I made this project for my cousin's wedding reception. I was working with his brother-in-law from the beginning on an idea of vintage display board with the "Now Showing" sign. To make it look classic, I use the incandescent light bulbs like the one we see at the old theater sign board. Then equipped with 4 running light patterns (including ALL ON) to make it interesting.

Me posing with the sign board at the wedding night

There are 3 parts in this project.
Part 1: The Paper Lettering
Part 2: The Wood Frame Board
Part 3; The Electronics & Wiring
This project involved arts & crafts, woodworking, wiring and electronics skills.

Maker Movement Documentary

If you haven't seen this, you should watch it. A documentary about Maker Movement. Be a Maker today!

Another inspiring Maker Movement video

My New Toy - Circular Saw

Buying a circular saw is not an easy task. It took me a few trips down to the hardware shop before I decided to get one. Even that day I have to make tough choices when the seller showed me a few brands with the price ranges from RM250 ~ RM800 each. To name some of the brands like Makita, Einhell, Skill, Bosch, Mintian, Quasa...etc and which some are China brands.

There are few tips you can find on the internet on how to choose the right circular saw for yourself. For home user like me and of course running on a low budget, I decided to get something less than RM300. The seller recommended Quasa which is a branded China product with a good track quality records so far. After a series of negotiations I bought it at RM275. So, here is the picture of my new circular saw, it has a 1450W output power, comes with 40 teeth, 184 x 20 mm blade size. The first thing I will use it is to build my worktable soon. 

Quasa Circular Saw