Carved & Routed Signs 

"Carved Signs" can relate to several different styles of Sign Carving

Our Carved or Routed Signs are manufactured from either High-Density-Urethane, PVC, or Wood.

Hand Carved Signs:   The paddles were hand-carved, the Old Dominion sign was routed from 22 different tool paths to attain 7 separate levels

	Old Dominion Boat Club Alexandria VA

Usually, with signage, the sculpting that is done is in the form of "bas relief" this is the art of carving something that may only be .5" or 1" thick but has the appearance of being much more 3 dimensional. That is not to say that fully 3D hand-carved items are not used, it's just not so common. (The D-type Jaguar is 1" thick). click on picture to enlarge

Hand Carved Letters

In the sign industry, this often refers to letters that are hand-carved into the sign blank to form a "v" groove or flat-bottomed letter, leaving the face of the hand-carved sign smooth. As a router works much faster and more accurately than most "hand carvers" of signs, it is nearly always more cost-effective to let the machine do it. Another way hand-carved signs are made is to remove the background effectively leaving the letters raised.

Routed/Carved Letters & Signs

When a substrate is taken and the background is carved or "hogged out" using a CNC router, an effect just like sandblasted signs where the carved letters appear to raise up from the background of the sign is created. The difference being with a carved/routed sign is that the background would usually be smooth or slightly undulating, whereas, with a sandblasted sign, the background is textured, (wood grain or stone effect depending on the substrate). (These days with modern 3d routers a textured background is an option).

As mentioned above, the other type of carving usually associated with CNC routing is v-groove letters carved into the face of the sign. This produces a beautifully carved sign that is both simple and elegant and just oozes class. This style of carving emulates the hand-carved effect of quality carved signs from days gone by and is often gilded with 23kt gold or another metal leaf to create simple but stunning signs.

Routed And Carved Sign Gallery

Classic Signs can help to give your business that extra something.

A carved or routed sign is often associated with professionals and upmarket restaurants etc., who want to convey the message that they have been there a long time, are going to be there for many more years, and are a business one can trust. Classic Signs has all the expertise and technology to produce a beautifully carved sign for your business, project, home, or farm.

PRISMATIC LETTERS

Prismatic Carved Sign Photo Gallery

Whereas a V grooved letter is cut into the face of a sign, a Prismatic letter is an opposite. 

The center of the carved letter comes to a point, but it comes upward not down. This can create some very eye-catching and dramatic effects and because it is a positive, not a negative, it is often used for individual letters. We have created a page just for this style of carved signage, here is a picture to illustrate it.

Below are two sets of relevant links to other pages in this site that may be helpful to you.

Directly below are links to other pages on different types of dimensional signs and below that are links to photo galleries relating to those types of signs.

• Sand Blasted sign  
• carved and routed 3-dimensional signs    (this page)
• Sandblasted redwood signs
• Sandblasted wooden signs
• Prismatic letters on sandblasted signs
• Sandblasted signage
• Hand-carved signs
• HDU signs

• 23kt Gold leaf sign picture gallery
• Sandblasted Signs Gallery
• Monument Sign Gallery
• Sandblasted Wooden Signs Gallery
• Routed and carved sign picture gallery
• Community and subdivision signs gallery