Guide to Buying A Wooden Teak Memorial Bench online including details on Bench Engraving; Hand Wood Carving, CNC routing, Brass Plaques and Stainless Steel Plaques
Memorial Benches are a wonderful way to commemorate a happy event, or to celebrate the life of a loved one now departed. Adding a special message makes a Bench a very personal gift.
Wood Carving
Wood carving by hand involves using a variety of different chisels and gouges in order to meticulously carve out text. The text is first printed on to paper then etched on to the timber. The process is lengthy and time consuming but when done by a professional, looks outstanding. Standard fonts are Aerial or Times Roman and really should only be done in capital letters. Lower case lettering can look childlike at best. Hand carving can be done in places that a CNC router cannot reach.
As the inscription will not deteriorate over time it provides an anti-theft deterrent, as it cannot be removed.
CNC
The latest way to carve into wood uses a CNC router. The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, and refers specifically to a computer "controller" that reads computer instructions and drives a machine tool to selectively remove material, in this case wood.
3D text, lowercase lettering and unusual logos can easily be engraved into the wood. The disadvantages are the initial expensive outlay to buy the machinery and the size of the machine dictates the panels that can be engraved on.
Plaques
Most commemorative plaques that are placed on Memorial Benches are either Brass or Stainless steel.
Brass Plaques
Brass is a yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc. Text is computer etched into the Brass then infilled and stove enameled in black.
This is a very traditional method and if you are happy for the brass to age naturally, no maintenance is necessary. Left untouched, the brass will gracefully fade to a light brown.
Use Brasso to bring aged Brass back to life, however you may want to put some masking tape around the outer edges of the plaque to protect the Teak whilst cleaning. Stainless Steel Plaques
Stainless Steel is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 11% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel. It stains less, but it is not stain-proof. There is no after care. The colour should stay fast for life.
