so everybody, we have always had a wood sign that has the words Grants established 1995 burned into it, well, my mom really wants me to forge our last name which is obviously Grant out of metal she said it was ok if the letters are separate and ive been trying to figure out how to make the letters where they will look nice the G needs to be capitalized and the rest of them need to be lower cased, I have figured out how to make the t but that is it any help would be really appreciated I was hoping to finish it before Christmas so it could be a gift like I have said I have a huge supply of 1/2 mild steel I was considering thinning it down but idk how small I need to go

We need more details. How big are these letters? Can you give some approximate dimensions? Are you welding the letters together? Are you screwing them onto a board? Are you trying to make the letters flat, or round? You said you have a lot of 1/2" round stock, and you don't know how to make the letters exept the T. Obviously, we're missing something, because just bending a piece of round stock into a G is pretty intuitive, right? Details, please!!

on your computer select a font you like, expand it to the right size, print, continue. 

Make each letter as similar to the printout as possible.

Grant, if you are using a"cursive" style, try starting with some soft wire. Write your name on a big sheet of paper, and bend the wire to wire to match. That should show you how to do it with heavier material. Al 

11 hours ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

We need more details. 

That is what I'd prefer it to look like I wouldn't mind doing all the writing, and I'm considering screwing them to a board and staining the board

1 hour ago, arftist said:

on your computer select a font you like, expand it to the right size, print, continue. 

Wow now I feel dumb lol that seems like a great idea

1 hour ago, PVF Al said:

Grant, if you are using a"cursive" style, try starting with some soft wire. 

Wow this is why I love this place there are always great suggestions like that I wish I had thought of it sooner lol

Ah, now I'm starting to picture it better.

Yes, both of those tricks are good ones. I keep a role of wire in my smithy, and you bet it has come in handy. Wire and Playdough can do some of those really complicated, brain frying, mind bending math problems that us humans avoid like the plague! It just comes naturally to them...

The two simple ways to get this project done are...

1: Double the stock over for letters that have a piece branching out. (See example pic)

2: Weld on a seperate piece instead of doubling up. This generally looks better that #1.

Sorry for the poor pics. Tell us what you are tracking on, and it will be easier for us to try to help out.

1 hour ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

 

Sorry for the poor pics. Tell us what you are tracking on, and it will be easier for us to try to help out.

 

 

What do you mean when you say tracking on?

I meant that if you tell us more details about what you have in mind for making the letters, we will  be able to give better advise on how to get it done. I am by no means an expert smith, but I try to be of assistance when I can.

well I would prefer it to be just hand forged with a similar font as the sign, I liked how the r was set up