Creative Woodworks & crafts 1999-04, страница 42

Using your thumb as a fulcrum, let your hand, wrist and forearm make the cut.

widen the . cuts by angling the. blade slightly. Tiny you'll, want to be able to read if from quite a dis ribbons (1/16" wide) of wood will peel away as you tance. If you need to accentuate the lettering

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Patterns Located in Full Size Pattern Section No. 2!

by Keith Randich

A simple carving method for embellishing woodworking projects involves Lhe use of a chip carving knife. A whittling knife can also be used for this project, but the thin profile of a chip carving blade lends itself better to our task. The other requirement is a letter style that will stand out with the shallow relief carving technique we'll use here. I've included a sample of an open face font that I've used with success in the past. Arrange your letters on paper first and view the layout as a whole from a distance. Avoid dead spaces between letters in a word.

make these cuts. The object is to keep those ribbons at a consistent width—your work will look much cleaner.

On letters that have lines that meet at less than a 90 degree angle (A, K, N, etc..) the wood left inside the short angle is weak and will often break off. Stop the cut on one of the lines at least 1/8" short of the other in order to avoid these fragile corners. Use this method on Lhe serifs at the top or bottom of each letLer as well.

Practice your technique on wood well suited for carving, such as basswood, mahogany or walnut. StarL with letters with ...... . ._t , . mostly straight lines (A, H, Z)

While a whittling knife can also be used to carve ... ^J

letters, a chip carving knife (like the ones shown

here) works best.

Transfer the letters For simple lettering jobs, I just Lrace over the leLlers with carbon paper between the work and my layout. For larger jobs, such as plaques, I cut and paste my design on a sheet of paper, then have my local copy store produce a couple of copies in a mirror image at the exact size T require. ! lay these sheets face down on the work Lo be carved and go over them with a hot iron. The heal from the iron will transfer Lhe copy from the paper to lhe wood.

Carving tips

Try to stand the blade up in the wood and use only the tip when cutting. The less metal in the wood, the easier it will be to move your knife through the cut. Using your thumb as a fulcrum, let your hand, wrist and forearm make the cut. Slowly pull the blade through the line drawn on the wood to a depth of just over 1/8". Keep your

focus on the line about 1" ahead ___________________________________

of the blade. Once the first cuts ^r,r* -M^f"⁰⁰*¹ P^ee\ ^{make the} some pieces, such as furniture, I

arc made, retrace the lines from ^^^Btr^f^ want the carving to be under-, ,. , eistent width—your work will Iook much cleaner. • . , „ ,. ⁵³ ...

the opposite direction, and stated. On others, like signs,

you're able to carve a straight-looking line both with and against the grain of the wood. When carving curves, such as on a C or D, make your second cut on lhe inside of the curve. Be extra careful with lhe second cut on Lhe curved letters, as the negative space left by your cut is what catches Lhe viewer's eye.

The toughest letter to carve is an S. Outline the entire letter with your first cut, then treat the S as two separate C's for your second cut. The number 8 is done in a similar manner—being carved as two drooping O's.

Finishing

The final step to lettering is the finish you apply to your work. Retrace the bottom of each stop cut to accentuate the shadow. Do your final sanding on the piece and apply the finish. After drying, look at the carving and decide if the lettering stands out enough to suit your needs. On