Directional Signage and Posts

I was asked to build some signs and sign posts for a school carnival.  I was supplied with wood cut from a backyard sawmill.  The boards for the directional signs were about 5, 8 and 10 inches wide and the post were a full 2x3 inches.

Having never made sign posts before I was a little worried that the signs would be a little wobbly and may tip over.  After searching around the interweb I found a few photos of some sign posts that looked pretty sturdy.

The options I found were:

1) Coat Rack

2) Plywood base

3) Wedding Sign

I wanted to keep it simple so I ruled out the coat rack design.  When the wood arrived I wasn't given any plywood so that ruled out the plywood base design.  I decided to try the wedding sign design in the third photo.

I cut the posts to 5 feet.  I cut four legs at 12 inches in length and screwed  them to the post and into the adjacent legs (note I did set the post up a 1/4 inch so it wouldn't touch the floor.

The directional signs as well as the top sign (You are here or welcome sign) are 2 feet long and the arrows are two 45 degree cuts.  I predrilled and counter sunk each hole in the signs.  I counter sunk both sides thinking I would also pre-drill the post holes too however when sanding both sides I remembered I wanted to keep it simple so if they want the signs to point the other direction all they need to do is rotate the sign 180 degrees --the holes don't need to line up -- there is lots of wood to screw into.

Once all the signs were installed the sign posts were very stable so I was happy.