Creating A Pub Sign

Every home bar should have a custom pub sign. Your pub sign will help to welcome guests and it also carves out an identity for your mini tavern.  A traditional pub sign, carved, painted, and weathered, can really compliment the look of your home tavern and there are many options available to choose from. Depending on the the look you're trying to achieve for your pub, and of course considering your custom, carved pub sign budget, you might select from a myriad of different possibilities.

Assuming that you're looking to purchase a traditional wooden pub sign, there are a few things you might consider. First of all, you want a pub sign that is made of solid wood. You'll find all kinds of mass produced resin or plywood signs that are made cheaply with inferior materials. That's not really what you want. Insist on some real craftsmanship, it's actually more affordable than you might think.

If the pub sign will be used outdoors it should be made of a hardwood that will stand up to the elements and it should be painted with an oil based enamel. Look for Cedar, White Oak, Walnut, Cherry or Cypress as you shop around for a sign maker. For signs that will only be mounted indoors, some more reasonable options might include Basswood, Pine or Poplar for the base wood.

Your pub sign should also have a unique look and feel, as unique as the tavern it represents. In the late 19th century, text oriented pub and trade signs dominated shop fronts and cobblestone lanes. Hanging from a wrought iron bracket, these signs came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Your typical British or Irish pub signs were hardwood framed for an old world look or featured a routed edge with gold striping. In many cases, the signs might also include carved reliefs to visually guide consumers that were illiterate into your place of business. Be sure to develop something that is unique and captures the essence on your custom home bar as you work toward a custom design.

Finally, you have to consider the lettering and relief. Some signs were simply painted with a styled edge, but many were carved, old world style, with a mallet and chisel. Surprisingly enough, although they are more expensive, you can still find old world craftsmanship in the form of a hand carved sign for a reasonable price.

If tracking down a custom designed pub or tavern sign is something that you're interested in, we assembled some solid options of US-based craftsman that we highly recommend.

The Perfect Sign

(http://www.theperfectsign.com/)
The Perfect Sign produces custom pub and tavern signs that are made from real wood. They also create authentic-looking custom wooden barrel heads to accent your bar. These completed works of art are stenciled and hand painted on flat wood to give your custom sign an authentic look and the edges can be finished with a framed, routed or flat edge to complete your design. In addition, they offer three dimensional bas-reliefs, molded using a durable resin, to accent your sign as requested (think beer steins, Guiness glasses, or racks of pool balls molded and fastened to your sign to give it a more 3-D look). These guys are great to work with thorughout the design process and they produce an affordable product on the lower end of the price scale that looks incredible.

The Carving Company

(http://www.thecarvingcompanyonline.com/)
The Carving Company is run by an awsome husband and wife team that produces some incredible signs of high quality. All of the design work is done in house. The hardwood used, typically cedar, is planed, glued at the edges and clamped to create a suitable workpiece. After sanding the piece, the design is then loaded into a machine and CNC cut into the hardwood. It is then hand painted and a clear coat is applied to protect your investment. These products are truly a carved wooden pub sign that they can offer at mid-level pricing due to the use of the CNC machine.

Custom Carved Business Signs
Sign Measures: 36" x  26"
$475.00

Carved Old English Bar / Pub Sign
Sign Measures: 20" x  10"
$109.00

Custom Carved Bar Sign
Sign Measures: 17" x  19"
$174.00

Adel Signs

(http://adelsigns.com)
Adel's Signs have been in the sign making business since 1978. Family owned and operated out of the new England Area, these craftman blend old world quality and methods (hand carved signs are still done with a mallet and chisels) with contemporary wood working machinery to create some incredibly creative works of art. Signs can be custom designed of you can choose from the many examples they have on their website. Pricing is also very reasonable and their track record for quality and craftsmanship is unmatched.