My friends recently bought their first house together and I thought it would be nice to make something as a house warming gift. I scrolled through Pintrest and some DYI websites but couldnt find the perfect gift. In the end I told them I was planning to make something, they suggested a new house number sign. I thought this would be a nice challenge but also a project that could utilise my jewellery making skills (you'll see what I mean later)
I started with some left over wood from a previous young farmers project used for making placemats, which were kindly cut for me. Using the electric disc sander and a lot of noise later the top had a perfect smooth finish revealing the grain.
The next step was to make the numbers for the sign. I printed out the door number (yes they did purchase a number thirteen house!)
Luckily I had a panel of brass which was donated to me when I bought all of my second hand jewellery tools and it seemed to be the perfect size and thickness. Most door numbers seem to be made from brass, so it is obviously great to use as an outdoor metal. Using the piercing saw and the bench peg I cut out the two numbers, neatening up the edges by filing and sanding.
Next I polished them, first with the tripoli (to remove all the scratches) and then with the rouge to give it a shiny finish.
You can't quite tell from this picture but the wood colour was too light for the brass to show up, particularly if you were looking at the sign from a distance. As the wood needed to be treated to protect it from the weather anyway, I decided to use a dark wood stain rather than a clear one which would help the numbers to stand out more.
It took three coats in total. The wood stain I borrowed which was specifically for outdoor use. The first coat is mixed with water to help it soak in and show the grain better. I wanted the sign to have a rustic feel to it since they were both young farmers.
Although my friends are clearly not superstious at all - obviously if you are buying a number thirteen house.) I however, am, so I thought it was best to add a horse shoe. And since I have another friend who makes horse shoes, it was the perfect addition to the sign. She happened to have a super small horse shoe, which fitted exactly in the space. I painted it black with Hammerite (an outdoor paint for metal) to work better against the colour of the brass.
To enable the sign to be hung I fitted a brass hook and I have supplied them with a rawl plug and a screw to fix into the brick (which will hopfully be strong enough to hold the heavy wood!)
The brass was coated with Metal laquere to protect it from the weather and keep it looking shiny. I used my favourite glue (yes I do have a favourite glue) Alardite to sick the letters and horse shoe as it is a bonding adhesive (epoxy resin) it's a lot stronger than any kind of superglue (it literally sticks anything together)
I was really pleased with the finished result, it looked exactly how I had pictured it. The best part was that it didn't cost me a penny to make! I really wanted to prove you could make something for free which I managed, so I'm happy.
Good luck in your new home guys!