[Sheri]

I have been asked to carve a sign by someone who has bought a couple of carvings from me. He is wanting only his last name and it is to go above the front door of his house. I have never done a sign. Can anyone recommend a good site or book that can give me some creative ideas?

[Anthony Filetti]

Sheri,
Fox Chapel Publishing (this forums sponsor) has several books on both sign carving and lettering. I have Chris Pye's book on lettering and while I have not put it into practical use it is a great reference and would be quite useful for anyone interested in signmaking.

[squbrigg]

There are plenty of books on sign carving, but one you may like to consider is one on "Nautical Carving"..... which includes carving "Quarter Boards" which were the decorative name boards that they carved for a ship. They make a great house/cottage name sign.

Carving letters is very simple, and you don't need a great variety of tools, and there are many varieties of letter types you can choose from.....raised, incised, etc. There are also many styles of letters, or fonts as they call them on computers, to choose from, and I find that the computer is the best tool for doing up your lettering.

Have fun with it. Choose your wood carefully.

Bob

[Sheri]

Thank you for your help. Taking my daughter to Bear Hollow today so I am going to see if they have anything in stock that might help me out. I will definitely check out the nautical carving, sounds very interesting.
Sheri