This year the bees I purchased are a lot more aggressive than the bees I had last year. If you hangout anywhere in the 12x12 shelter in front of the beehouse, you will get stung. I felt I should post some beehive warning signs.

In this article, I will show you my process for creating signs like this.

I will be using this six foot pressure treated fence board to make my signs. These can be purchased at just about any store that carries lumber.

The actual size is 5/8” x 5-1/2” x 72”. I will be able to get three signs out of one board.

Current 2022 price is about $2.30.

In CorelDraw, I layout a rectangle 5.5” tall by 18” wide.

I size the text to fit and convert the bitmap into an outline vector shape.

The rectangle and text are then exported as an EPS file. I use this format because it works well with my CAM software.

I load the exported EPS file into Vcarve to create my tool paths.

Note I am using VCarve here, but Cut2D will also work exactly the same.

I started by designing a toolpath based on using a 1/8” 2 flute Endmill.

Using the preview feature in Vcarve, I can see that the endmill is too large, so I am not getting the toolpath detail I need.

I changed to a 1/16” 2 flute Endmill and get all the detail.

I’m going to make the first sign using the 1/16” endmill. It’s just going to take a long time. The 1/16” endmill is also prone to breakage.

To cut the toolpaths, I will be using one of my KRMx02 CNCs. The KRMx02 CNC was designed as a full production machine, but the process should work with most CNC machines available.

Note that I chuck a 1/16” Endmill into the machine. Note that the shaft is 1/8”

The stocked is clamped onto the CNC’s table and the toolpaths (Gcode) are loaded.

The whole process takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes, and the sign looks great.

Using some red acrylic paint, I paint the warning text red.

With black acrylic paint, I paint the rest of the text and the bee shape as well.

I give the sign a good sanding. I started with 120 grit, and it was just too fine. The rough nature of the fence boards requires 80 to 100 grit paper.

I sanded until all the paint smudges have been removed.

Using an auto punch, I place a mark 1” from the edge on the top of the sign.

Using a 5/32” drill bit, I drill a pilot hole for the hooks.

I then screw in 2” screw eyes. One on each side.

This is my finished sign ready to hang.

I needed three signs, but my only 1/16” bit broke at the very end of the job on the first sign.

I left the 1/16” toolpath intact, but I changed the depth of cut from .03” to .0625. At this depth of cut I went from 5 passes to 2 passes on the letters. I could also cut at a much faster rate. As you can see, they turned out great. Instead of 1-1/2 hours. The second two signs only took about 30 minutes each.

I used two deck screws and with washers to attach the signs to the shelter.

One sign on each side….

… and one in the front.

Thats all there is to it. The sign should hold up pretty well. Here is one that is about 2 years old.

Process in Action