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having wood engraved- question - goaliedad - 04-20-2019

A good friend passed recently. Her partner asked me to build an urn. Short turn around of course. The memorial is Wednesday- I have the urn done, but not completely finished. I used cherry, and have stained it cherry to enhance the grain. No haters please. 

I talked to a local trophy place this past Thursday. I had started the urn, but did not have the top piece done at that time. They were closed Friday ( Good Friday), so I had them do a plaque- brass, painted black. It is nice but not "right" 

I am going to see if they can engrave the top of the urn on Monday. He said that would give them enough time. 
A long way to get to my question: should I lacquer it now, or wait until it is engraved. 

I am thinking that I want to paint the engraved lettering so it stands out- and having the top lacquered first will make it easier to clean up any paint that gets out of the lettering. 

Any input is welcome.


RE: having wood engraved- question - packerguy® - 04-20-2019

(04-20-2019, 04:12 PM)goaliedad Wrote: A good friend passed recently. Her partner asked me to build an urn. Short turn around of course. The memorial is Wednesday- I have the urn done, but not completely finished. I used cherry, and have stained it cherry to enhance the grain. No haters please. 

I talked to a local trophy place this past Thursday. I had started the urn, but did not have the top piece done at that time. They were closed Friday ( Good Friday), so I had them do a plaque- brass, painted black. It is nice but not "right" 

I am going to see if they can engrave the top of the urn on Monday. He said that would give them enough time. 
A long way to get to my question: should I lacquer it now, or wait until it is engraved. 

I am thinking that I want to paint the engraved lettering so it stands out- and having the top lacquered first will make it easier to clean up any paint that gets out of the lettering. 

Any input is welcome.

Finish AFTER the engraving is done. Otherwise you will have raw wood.....also if stain before the engraving the raw wood will be exposed. 

If you wanna paint the letters, send it to them raw and have them engrave it. When you get it back use thin CA glue to seal the wood of the engraving and area around, let dry. When dry use testors enamel paint to fill. Let dry. Sand surface to remove paint on surface and CA (now this might be a challenge cause they will likely not go deep). Then stain panel, then continue with your finishing schedule. 

Thats how I do my urns, but Im using a CNC and have full control over bit and depth.

Worst case make two tops...and if it doesn't work use the plaque.


RE: having wood engraved- question - DogwoodTales - 04-21-2019

If doing a laser engraving - I know a guy who does laser engravings etc professionally. For an engraving project I have in mind for him to do someday he said that doing some prefinish is good because then when having to do some clean up sanding afterwards I'm not removing wood. I think the finish helps to reduce burning on the edge of the lettering.


RE: having wood engraved- question - packerguy® - 04-21-2019

(04-21-2019, 10:05 AM)DogwoodTales Wrote: If doing a laser engraving - I know a guy who does laser engravings etc professionally. For an engraving project I have in mind for him to do someday he said that doing some prefinish is good because then when having to do some clean up sanding afterwards I'm not removing wood. I think the finish helps to reduce burning on the edge of the lettering.

A number of outfits I supply to laser engrave for their customers, and I send finished urns. Cant speak to the end result, but I'd do what he says.

But laser vs mechanical engraving are two different things. In my professional opinion, I would never finish, then mechanically engrave. Laser, I cannot speak to.


RE: having wood engraved- question - goaliedad - 04-21-2019

Packerguy- thanks for your advice. Either way, the stain is on. I will take it in tomorrow morning. I am holding off on the lacquer. I will update with pictures later


RE: having wood engraved- question - John Mihich - 04-24-2019

I have a laser and either way will work but I like to do the finishing afterwards.