Thursday, February 20, 2014

Finished with the carving.

Since the name of the pony is such a short one, carving a name sign isn't such a big deal. I made the two stars yesterday and the BA. today I finished the S.

I'll probably cross cut the board a little too long out here, and then let Gustav decide on the length once I get home.
He will probably also be interested in doing the painting of the sign.

Based on experience, I have found that the best way to paint such a sign is by priming and then adding a base colour. I prefer to use a spray can to avoid filling the letters with the base colour.
Once that is dry I use a small brush for painting the letters inside in a contrasting colour. I like to use red for base and white for the letters.

If I had to do the paint job on board, I would use a tooth pick for the letters. That was how I did it last time, and it is easy to get into the small corners.

The sign will eventually look better with paint since it will make it easier to see the depth of the letters.




10 comments:

  1. You continue to amaze me with what you do with what you have to do it with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ralph.
      Actually carving a sign is one of those things that looks amazing but doesn't take that much of an effort.
      We are having rough weather again, so today has mostly been clinging onto something and waiting for the sea to calm down a bit.
      Have a nice weekend.
      Brgds
      Jonas

      Delete
  2. I love that style carving, in particular the font used. Will you paint or finish the lettering in some way? Like you, I would love to have some carving tools, but don't have the money to spend on a set at the moment. Very nice job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bill.

      I'll let Gustav do the paint job. The other signs in the stable are red with gold letters, but I once made a sign that was red with white letters, and that actually looked better in my opinion. But I'll let Gustav decide on the paint scheme.
      I think you could get far in sign carving by having a V shaped gouge and a skew shaped carving chisel, but a hobby knife is pretty easy to use as well, the straight letters are a walk in the park, the curved ones are a little harder.
      My birthday is coming up in the spring, so maybe I should put one on the wishing list.
      Thanks
      Jonas

      Delete
  3. Looks great :-) I am making a stool and would like to carve the top but I have never tried to do it before. Any suggestion on how to learn? I found your site trying to find out more about carving.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Michael.
    Thanks for the nice comment.

    I am by no means an expert in carving, so what I can is self taught.
    If you are going to carve in something like a stool top, I would probably make a test at first on a piece of wood of the same type and species. This is to avoid ruining the work you have already put into the stool.

    My first carving experience was a couple of years ago, that too was on pallet wood (pine or spruce I can't remember) and name signs for horses as well.

    Carving straight letters is pretty easy with a hobby knife, but when it comes to the curved ones, it does get a bit harder. It is nothing that can't be done though.

    If you plan on carving something natural looking like e.g. a leaf or a flower etc. I think a round carving gouge would be a good investment. But I haven't got one so I can't really offer any advice to the size and make.
    For letters, I think a V shaped carving gouge would make things a lot easier, but I like to make do with what I have.
    No matter what tool you choose, I think that it is very important that it is as sharp as you can get it. A good thing about a hobby knife is that you can change the blade or break of a piece of it if it is that type. That way you always have a sharp tool.
    If the gouge is not sharp enough you are going to use too much force in order to carve, and that can lead to loss of control. Besides a sharp tool will help making a nice surface.

    But a start advice would be to make a small sign for someone or something. A small sign is easy to manoeuvre around on the table while you carve. Good lightning is also a great help.

    Good luck with the project.
    Brgds
    Jonas

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great little project. The carving looks clean and crisp - good job! I like to try more carving in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.
      One of the best things about carving such name signs are that it can be done at the kitchen table if you need to, so you can actually do it while the family is in the same room. There is a little waste to clean up afterwards, but not more than when the children decide to cut some pieces of paper.

      Brgds
      Jonas

      Delete