Edge-lit acrylic sign

This project was a fun new adventure with my GarageWorX CNC. An old friend of mine is opening a bakery very soon. I wanted to experiment with cutting acrylic on my CNC, so I decided to make a sign for the new bakery as a gift.

I started the project with a 1/2" thick sheet of acrylic from Amazon. Once it arrived, I trimmed it to a perfect square on my table saw and then measured for final dimensions. I stole the bakery logo from the Facebook page, and then had to do a lot of manipulation to get it ready. I wanted the 'front' of the logo to face the flat side of the acrylic, which meant I had to mirror the image into a reverse. Then I used good 'ole Microsoft Paint to create a negative of the design, so that the negative space around the letters and design are filled in and the letters are empty. The last step was into a free image editor called InkScape to convert the JPG file into an SVG vector graphic.

I used the free CAD/CAM software Easel from Inventables to make the logo image into a CNC toolpath. Finally, it was time to start cutting!

I used a 60 degree V-bit to cut the pattern. There are some very fine details and this bit did a great job. Here is the cut underway:

Here is the final result after nearly 4 hours of cutting:

I couldn't resist holding the LED light strips up to the edges to check out the glow:

The frame is made from Red Oak that I got at my local Menard's. The inner frame is all 1x2 stock with a rabbit I cut on my table saw. I then cut lap joints into the ends to make a very strong glue joint. There is an extra channel cut into one side for the power cord.

The acrylic panel and the light strip fits into the rabbit and is locked in place on the other side by a 'face frame' made of 1/4 x 2" red oak strips.

The outer frame is also 1x2 Red Oak, but is turned up on end for a larger profile and to create a relief or shadow line on the inner frame.

I wanted to stain all of the wood before the acrylic goes in so I don't damage the crystal-clear panel. That meant the face frame couldn't be glued in place until after finish work. So, I carefully taped off the areas that would be glued and started staining. My card scraper set from Lee Valley/Veritas made the glue cleanup around the frame really easy.

The power jack for the lights exits the top of the frame near a hook. I used two separate pours of 5-minute epoxy to lock the DC power jack in place. Then I used some hot glue to keep the rest of the cord and light strip in place during final assembly.

I glued on the 1/4" face frame and let it setup over night. Here is the final product:

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