How to Make a Pallet Wood Sign

I made this sign using materials I found in skips. It was made for a milk paint company to display their logo and the 26 colours they make. It was a simple enough build and the hardest part is cutting the letters out on the scroll saw. Here are some guidelines of how to create something similar. If you like this Ible please use the vote button!

There is also a video of the process for my YouTube channel BCDesign

• Old Pallets, how many will be dictated by the size of you're sign
• Plywood for the lettering
• Circular saw/Jig saw
• Scroll Saw
• Drill
• Hand plane
• Sander
• Hammer and nails or air nailer
• Super glue
• Wood glue
• Builders adhesive
• Screws suitable for the thickness of material you use
• 3 x Strips of plywood to screw the pallet wood onto
• Milk Paint
• Water based lacquer
• Paint Brushes
• Sharpie
• Speed square or try square

• We started by breaking down the pallets. We used a jig saw and a hammer (You can break pallets down in various ways but I find this way the best as I avoid splitting the boards)
• Make sure to examine the boards carefully as there may be metal staples or other pieces of metal embedded in the wood that could damage your tools.

• We had 2 plywood shipping box lids that we cut up to use for the lettering and the background for the Logo
• We used my circular saw to cut 2 strips of one of the boxes lids using the 2nd box lid as a straight edge to guide the saw
• We cut one of the strips up on the mitre saw and used a glue stick to paste my template onto the plywood

• Here comes the hardest part we mentioned... Using the scroll saw to cut out the letters
• You will need a drill to make a hole in the inside parts of letters such as the ones pictured
• The holes will allow you to put the scroll saw blade through the hole to cut out the inner part of the letters
• Take your time cutting out the letters. Don't rush!
• Remove the template paper as soon as you finish cutting the letters as the longer the glue stick gets to dry the harder it is to remove the template.

• We used the hand plane to take the rough edge off the pallet wood boards and gave them a quick sanding.
• We filled the nail holes with some wood filler and sanded it down when dry.
• We laid the pallet wood down on the shop floor and used 3 pieces of plywood scraps as bracing to screw the boards onto, adding some wood glue to give it some extra strength.
• When finished leave it lying down flat and allow the glue to dry.

• We used sample pots of milk paint to mix the 26 colours of paint we would need
• Then painted each board 2 different colours.
• The background was painted white and the letters black with the bird logo in Green so it stands out more.
• The great thing about this milk paint is it drys very fast and we were able to apply the water based lacquer the same day.

• We used builders adhesive and a bradnailer to join the white background piece to the front of the sign.
• We used a plywood off cut as a straight edge and quick reference for where to place the letters.
• Gorilla superglue did the job of sticking the letters to the background.
• You need to work quick with this glue as it dries in about 10 seconds.

This project was a lot of fun! We really like making signs as the only limit is your imagination! We also love making things with materials that would otherwise be thrown out. (Say YES! to recycling & upcycling...go on.. I dare you!) We make lots of things out of reclaimed material on our YouTube channel BCDesign.

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