Chip carved mailbox and sign

[meipo]

I just finished these two items that my inlaws and sister-in-law ordered for birthday and Christmas. The sign is a silly joke about how my sisters-in-law spend the night at their father's place whenever they want as if it were a B&B.

I had much difficulty carving the lettering because they are kinda wide. I have to first remove small chips to hollow out the wide parts of the letters before I work on the real outlines. The depth also made it hard to keep the turns smooth. Wanna cry when I was watching the video by Wayne Barton when his knife went in and out of the wood like going through tofu . . .

Plus, at the end of a stroke in a letter, in order to make the three sides meet to get the chip out, I ended up with a few over cuts that left a cut mark on the edge of the letters. It maybe hard to see it from the photos, but I guess you know what I mean. Any advice on how to improve on that?

meipo

[aulddiy]

Looks like a neat job to me.

[Stryder7]

that's beautiful carving... I'm just a beginner and can't give you any solutions but I'm sure someone in the group will help. I sure hope they aren't planning to use the mailbox and sign outside... they are too beautiful
Marianne

[CarverRog]

Practice, practice, practice!!! Overcuts will disappear.

Having to make several cuts to take out large chips is ok, I do all the time. The secrete to making a large chip look good is the make the last cut of the chip walls a shave cut. Good Luck!

[meipo]

Thanks for the kind words, dear friends. If you get to look closely, you will see all the flaws I am asking help for. Just gotta accept this is where I am. Right?

Regarding your advice on making a shave cut, CarverRog, I find it hard when the cut is cross grain. The "with grain side is easy, but once I get to the other part, the blade will catch the wood grain. If I do a second shave cut from the other side, I cannot guarantee the two cuts will match. How do you solve that problem?

meipo

[CarverRog]

It sounds like your blade isn't sharp enough. Sharpness of the blade is the number one key to make quality cuts. You can try making a shear cut, like cutting a stake, instead of just pulling the knife. I'm not sure what kind of blade you are using but I use a very thin blade compared to the Barton style and that seems to help me with quality of cuts and getting around a radius. I hope this helps.

[Hugh-P]

Great job on the mail box, if you don't like it, you can send it to me, just kidding. Very nicely done. !!

[Ron T]

Hi Meipo,

Beautiful work. The cuts looks clean and crisp to me but I'm not looking at it thru a microscope so I don't see the flaws.

[paolo59]

I quote CarverRog both for large chip technique and for thinner blade. Your work is very nice and I cannot see the flaws.

[RUssL.]

Nice work!
Practice has been the key to any improvements that I have made in my chip carving.
I still have a long way to go before I am content with my pieces...
Your's is looking good!

Russ