How to Cut Letters Out of Wood

Wooden letters can spice up a room’s decor and personalize any space. Wooden letters can also be weatherized and used in upscale, outdoor address displays. While there are many expensive tools out there for completing this project, I will focus on budget-friendly methods to help you cut letters out of wood

Choosing Letters to Cut Out of Wood

Make your life easier by printing a template from your computer to trace onto your selected wood. 

Nearly every home computer comes equipped with a program called Paint. To create a template follow these directions:

1. Open Paint.
2. Type the letter you want to create within Paint.
3. Highlight the letter with your cursor.
4. Select the font style and font size.
5. Find and click the Print Setup tab under the Home menu.
6. In the Print Setup pop-up box, find the area titled: scaling.
7. Change the scaling to make the image as big as fits your project by printing your letters on multiple pages.
8. You can check your work by looking at the print preview tab beneath the Home menu.

Work to find the right scaling for your project, then print your letters. Cut out the letters, tape them to your chosen wood, and prepare to start cutting.

You can also use some of the free scroll saw patterns or Dremel wood carving patterns I have if you’re in a pinch.

Choosing Wood for Cutting Letters Out of Wood

With so many woods available at your local home improvement store, it can be hard to know where to begin. Different species also command vastly different prices. Properties of the species of wood you select can determine the success of this project.

If you are intent on cutting letters out of wood, there are a handful of factors you should consider before purchasing your wood.

Consider:

• How big will your letters be?
• Will your letters be inside or outside?
• Will you stain or seal the letters?
• How will the letter be displayed or mounted?

Consider these questions before selecting the right wood for the job.

Sizing Your Letters

If you are looking for large cutout letters perhaps to hang on a garage wall or initials across the wall of a room, consider finished plywood sheeting.

It is reliably true without warps and can easily be inspected for blemishes. Plywood is easy to cut and you can stain the plywood when you’re done with the project.

If you are working on small, thin lettering to display in a curio or as a small keepsake, I recommend balsa wood. Balsa wood is one of the lightest woods in the world and is often used in wooden-framed aircrafts. Balsa wood can be easily shaped by hand tools.

Inside or Outside Letters

Some species of wood like cedar and teak have natural rot and weather-resistant properties. For outdoors letters that you might mount on the side of your house or to deck railing, consider these woods.

Treated lumber could also be an option for this type of work.

Wooden letters meant for inside could come from nearly any wood except for treated lumber. The chemical process that preserves pressure-treated lumber against the elements has many known carcinogens that should not be allowed to off gas inside a home

Stained or Sealed Letters

If you plan to preserve your wooden letter by staining and sealing them consider woods with excellent grain patterns that are highlighted by the staining and sealing process. Examples of wood with highly-regarded grain patterns are mahogany, rosewood, and walnut.

If you plan to paint the letters after they are cut, look for cheaper wood such as yellow pine or even manufactured wood like B and C grade plywood.

Mount or Standup Letters

If you plan to mount your wooden letters using screws, select wood that will not split easily. Softwood trees usually do not split easily. Examples of softwood trees include Douglas fir, pine, and cedar.

Several hardwood trees split easily when screws are driven through them. White oak and cherry split more easily unless holes are pre-drilled. Using fine-thread screws can also help prevent splitting.  

Using Power Tools to Cut Letter out of Wood

There are several power tools that can make quick work of cutting through wood. Table saws, circular saws, and reciprocating saws each make short work of most types of woods. However, I highly recommend the jigsaw for cutting letters out of wood.

Using a Jigsaw to Cut Letters out of Wood

We recommend using a jigsaw for his project primarily because of its relatively low cost and ease of accessibility. Jigsaws are more common in DIYers’ workshops than scroll saws. 

Scroll saws can work well to cut around the exteriors of detailed letters  with fanciful scripts, but these saws cannot cut out the interior spaces of letters without cutting through the letters. A scroll saw is a very good option, but I prefer the jigsaw.

Jigsaws have a lower price point. Changing blades on a jigsaw to cut plywood is also more straightforward than most scroll saws. For these reasons, I recommend using a jigsaw to complete this project.

Tools:

• Jigsaw with wood cutting blade
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Clamps
• Stable work surface
• Letter template
• Optional: power drill with spade bit

Method:

1. Clamp your wood to a level, stable surface. Make sure there is a big enough gap below the area to be cut out for the jigsaw blade to move freely. I recommend using sawhorses to stabilize your wood.
2. Trace your letter to be cut out onto your clamped and secure wood. The nearer the letter is to the edge of the wood, the less cutting you will have to do.
3. Put on your personal protective equipment, including safety goggles and hearing protection.
4. Place the guideplate of the jigsaw onto the wood. Make sure the blade is not touching the wood.
5. Power the jigsaw to full speed.
6. Steadily guide the jigsaw into the wood, making the curved cuts following outlines you have just traced.

Optional for letters with interior area to be cut out:

7. If your letter has interior space that is inaccessible without cutting through the body of the letter, it is time to use a power drill with a spade bit.
8. Select a spade bit whose width is slightly wider than your jigsaw blade.
9. Drill a hole through the interior area that needs to be cut out.
10. Without squeezing the trigger to power the blade, put the jigsaw blade through the just-drilled hole. Make sure the blade is not touching the wood.
11. Power the jigsaw up to full power then work outwardly from your drill hole to cut the interior of your letter.

Tip: Sharp angles can be difficult to cut out when using a jigsaw. I recommend first cutting a sweeping curve and staying out of corners. After the curve is cut, you can cut from both ends of the curve towards your corner.

While I didn’t cover it here, you can use a router with the right bit to cut sign letters as well.

Finishing Your Letters Cut Out of Wood

Now that you have finished cutting out your letters you can work on smoothing any rough edges with either a random orbital sander or a palm sander.

A cheaper alternative is sand paper. This step will be necessary to knock down sharp and sometimes jagged edges left behind by the jigsaw.

Always begin with a coarser grit for aggressive sanding, then graduate to finer grit. Wipe down the letters between sandings with tack cloth. After you have sanded with fine, or super-fine grit, it is time to either paint or seal your letters!

Conclusion

With a little planning, cutting out wooden letters can be accomplished with relatively common tools. Plan your work and work you plan. Create and print a template. Choose wood that is appropriate for its intended location. Take your time and have fun cutting out your wooden letters!