Wall Names

You want a wall name or word for your room. You may want something similar to what you’ve seen before, or you may want something uniquely yours. We never copy someone else’s work. We work with you personally to ensure that your product is perfect for you! Typically, our designs include intricate details that ensure your product will be as unique as you are, customized with laser accuracy to make your piece the highlight of your wall! The end result is, when you buy from CT Hobby, you get a product that is exactly what you want, with higher quality, at a lower price, than you can find anywhere else.

Our Process

Our Customers come in and sit with us at the big screen to design exactly what you have in mind. Anything else is “settling” for something “normal,” which we don’t believe in. Everything yours should be better than average, shouldn’t it?

Our process is based around 2 goals. First, we want you to leave scratching your head and wondering, “how can they make money selling this quality at this price!?” Second, we want you to be so thrilled to get exactly what you had pictured in your mind, that you can’t help but tell all your friends about your experience with us.

If we don’t accomplish both of those goals, then we’ve failed.

It’s just. that. simple.

Please note, the way this process works allows us to make sure we have the perfect design for you, before we have a price for you. Anyone who wants a price, before they know we have, probably will not like either!

Fonts

If you have a favorite font picked out, text it to us ahead of time or bring a pic with you. If not, let us know and we’ll suggest places to look. We have paid, commercial-use, subscriptions to over 200,000 fonts, including a very few of the “free” fonts that everyone else has. Most free fonts cannot be used commercially, due to licensing requirements from the Designers. (Please don’t ask us to use a font from places like dafont or 1001fonts.) Come in and we’ll hand you the mouse, to wander through over 2,000 fonts we have in-house already. The result is that your name will be as unique as you are! Examples using popular fonts cover our showroom walls.

We’ll talk about sizing, glyphs and swashes, monograms, and any other embellishments you may like. You’ll watch on-screen (and provide feedback) as your design takes shape in real time! And you’ll help us find exactly what you want on your wall along the way! Next we’ll talk about whether you want to paint, stain, or have it pre-finished for you by one of our local talented painters. Lastly, we’ll talk about the type of material that you want. Because in today’s world of skyrocketing lumber (and shipping) costs, prices matter, too!

Once you have a design you love, we’ll price it for you, you pay (all custom work is prepaid), and it’s ready for you in a few days!

Size

With one of the largest crafting lasers in the United States (4 ft x 8 ft), we almost always cut wall names in one piece. In rare cases where you need something larger, (such as the 5 ft x 6 ft fleur-de-lis we recently laser cut), we can computer-generate a fit exact enough that once painted, even you will have a hard time seeing the separate pieces. Either way, size is not a concern. All custom cuts are priced by the square foot, design complexity and the amount of time required by the laser to cut / engrave the design. So if you have a design that’s 3 feet long and 2 feet tall, not only can we cut in one one piece, and have it ready for you in a few days, we will most likely beat any price on that which you may already have!

Extras

For a more interesting piece, consider putting an initial behind the name. In cases like this, additional design work is required to add paint lines to the cutout. Finishing your design then becomes almost as simple as a “paint by number” drawing, with a stunning effect! These cuts, due to the more complex design, go for $10 per square foot.

Consider the layered look also. Different, coordinating colors from the wall (or contrasting stains), a larger background, and the name itself. Two matching, separate pieces will make your design really “stand out!” These are roughly twice as much, since they use twice as much wood.

Mounting

Lastly, we will talk about mounting options. We always start by recommending you put a screw through the design and mount solidly to the wall studs. When this is not feasible, we have other mounting hardware in house, though!

Materials

Available material:

First and foremost, please know that none of these materials are considered “food safe” by the FDA. Please keep that in mind when deciding on a location for hanging your name. With that said, however, once you leave CT Hobby with the name you helped design, it is none of our business what you do with it!

MDF is (relatively) inexpensive and fairly easy to paint. Though you may find it to be quite thirsty on the first coat. Priming is recommended. CT Hobby stocks and uses 1/4 inch softwood MDF.

Rev Ply is 5 mm (0.200 inch) thick plywood, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch (0.250 inch) materials such as MDF and veneered plywoods. Rounds stain beautifully, although with a very straight grain. Read more about it here.

1/8 inch Russian Birch plywood is a very thin plywood, with a more “normal,” wavy wood grain. You will recognize that anything with “Russian” in the name these days is getting VERY expensive. But we have it available (for now)!

1/4 inch Birch plywood is used by a lot of folks. Grain may rise slightly and need sanding between coats of paint. Birch plywood often contains “voids”–holes in the middle of the wood, that are covered on both front and back by the Birch veneer layer. If one of these voids happens to be on the edge of your cutout, you’ll need to fill these holes prior to painting, or at least prior to sealing the edges of your finished project, so you don’t have problems sealing.

Also available in 1/4 inch thick double-sided sublimation hardboard, and clear acrylic, for special projects!

Click here to see more about the materials we use.