Faux Metal Vintage Sign

 

 Love these ? Me too.  Here is my semi-successful attempt. 





   Let me premise by saying  I would love to learn to weld.  Until then,  I   will have to stick to a faux metal finish.

 I  began by drawing my desired shape on a piece of OSB (Only because I happened to have it on hand. In retrospect  I would had DEFINITELY  used a smooth surface board  ie:  plywood, or paneling).

  Using a jigsaw and a circular saw I  cut out my shapes (Arrow and the letters E.A.T.)    I also wanted mine to have a raised edge, so  I cut out 1.5" wide strips  that  would go around the perimeter of  my signs.

 Next,  I drilled holes in  my cutouts so that  I could insert  short carriage bolts. I thought giving it rivots would make look more realistic.  (I also think it would be really awesome to insert lights instead!)

In retrospect I would have added the carriage bolts  at this point  so that they  would get painted at the same time.  ( I added  just a dab of hot glue on each one to ensure they stayed put.)

This next part  was a little bit of trial and error,  I started by giving the wood a  base coat of "Metallic Aluminum"  spray paint.

Once the silver layer was dry  I  used a matte black and did  some eratic  dusting all over the signs (edging strips included)  in order to give it some dimension.

 I then repeated  the same process with  Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze. ( I pretty  much repeated the erratic  dusting method with any metallic spray paint I had in my arsenal),
* Like I said earlier,  in retrospect  I would have added the bolts (rivets)  before the painting process.*

 Using a finish nailer  I fastened the  1.5" wide slats of wood and tacked it to the cutout.  I just liked that it gave it dimension and created the look of a  vintage metal sign.

Once everything was secured I took a rag with a little bit of stain and added it to the creases  to give it more depth.

Overall...   I don't think it is half bad for $4.00 in materials.

 ( Like  I stated earlier,  if I were to do it over I would have used a smooth board.)