Inverse Lettering

[Ashbys]

I have been asked quite a few times how I do my lettering. Well Lettering is not really as hard as it is often seems to be.

There are a lot of ways to do lettering , but in todays great age of computers and software many prospects of the letting can be done long before the first piece of wood is cut.

If I am doing a project that requires a lot of lettering , I will do the layout before I start in a cad or drawing program. Here I will develop the design to be sure it will meet what I want and then I will do a full scale print out.

This printout becomes my pattern , with lettering it is checked to be sure that it looks correct and that placement is in the right location.

The placement of lettering is a major issue to a plaque or wall carving because with lettering , it is a major part of the carving and one everyone looks at. A twisted letter or poorly place letter will instead of adding to a carving, can completely change the effect as well as the meaning.

Once I have chosen the correct font , the style , the size , the location of the letters and approve the layout, I then take the finished pattern and locate it on the wood.

There are many different fonts as shown in Pic 1 .

Once you have determined your lettering style and size cut out the lettering and using rubber cement glue it into place as in pic 2.

Then select your tool . I use a 60 degree skew for lettering. It give me the freedom to control excatly how far I want the cut line and with its pin point edge allows for rotation without the drag edge of a V-tool . Pic 3

Once you have your tool and your lettering in place and glued down , place the skew into the center of the printed letter. holding it at a 90 degree angle to the carving . Pic 4

Make a clean single deep cut into the center of the letter on all lines . This will give you a pattern that now looks like this Pic 5

[Ashbys]

Now you have finished cutting the center line, go back to the top edge and angle your skew to a 45 - 60 degree angle from the center to the outer edge of the pattern . pic 1

Make a single line cut to the length of the edge . Pic 2

Go to the other side of the edge and then again angle cut to center . Pic 3

This will give you a V effect on all stright Lines pic 4.

To do a curve raise the lead angle of the skew to allow a smaller leading cut . Pic 5

[Ashbys]

Maintaing a high point , angle your skew and follow the pattern edge cuting to center .

Once you have the pattern cut out , remove the excess paper and clean the rubber cement off the wood . Simple rubbing with the finger will remove it .

Add a little dark stain , paint or ink and your effect will highlight your lettering .

Garry

[Irish]

Garry,

Thank you! This is excellent. The photos are so clear and the steps easy to follow. I like your use of the skew chisel. Simply as personal preference I have always used my small chip knife to obtain the same type of cuts for basswood. Your use of the skew is perfect especially for harder woods as butternut or pine ...

I'm headed to the studio to try your skew technique.

Susan

[papasar]

Garry,
Nice demo!
I do a lot of custom chipcarving that requires much lettering. Also use the rubber cement method but use a chip carving knife. The fonts I use are sometimes very curvy and would go pretty slow using a skew. My fingers don't need any more callouses or blisters so I use a piece of crepe rubber made to dress sanding belts to remove the cement. Also removes any pencil marks and smudges.
Bill K

[squbrigg]

Well done Garry, a good simple approach and easy to follow. Lettering is one of those skills that most folks under-appreciate, but can bring the nicest results. What I mean is, not many use it any more, but carved letters will set off a carving or sign beautifully and draw attention to it immediately, while surrounding printed or just painted signs remain ignored. People really appreciate the effort that goes into a carved letter sign, and often remark at the carving skills that go into creating it.

Great tutorial Garry.

Bob

[GeorgiaCarver]

Really excellent thread. I have passed this several times because I have never carved letters. This morning I decided to take a look. Wow! Excellent tutorial, I can't wait to try this out.

Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Greg

[Just Carving]

Hi Garry,

Good tutorial, and the pics explain a lot.

I have a couple of tips.

One that will help on larger letters: Instead of making a single cut down the middle for the first cut, make a v-cut down the middle, about a fourth of the width of the width of the bevel--one cut going down angled to the right, one cut going up angled to the left. This will give you a little more relief for cutting the next chip, and more control in setting up the bevel on the next angled cut.

To clean up the letters: I use the point of a jewelers file to get in the points of the bevel. I guess a riffler would be the right tool to use. But any small file, or even a piece of sandpaper folded to a tight, hard shape, that will fit in the bevel would work to clean up the cuts.

[Thor]

very good tutorial. Thanks for posting it.
thor

[Ashbys]

Thanks all, very good points. I have not done much chip work , so as of now , I don't have the knives for the chip cutting edge, my only concern would be the flex of the knife blade. But all lettering that is inversed is pretty basic on the understanding it is all about cutting V's to get shadow.

When I first tested an inverse letter , I though oh this is no big deal , V-tool stay center and should be done ... Wrong ! The trailing edge would not follow the cut.. ok elevate it ... deeper cut , split the grain beyond the letter .. start over after the third attempt with the V tool , the letter was ok , but the off edge was so jagged I had to take the knife to it to clean the edge .

With larger letters I agree you can gain time by using a V and I am not against using them , just make your stop cut before you use the V. Nothing is more upsetting than to suddendly be working running grain and hear the crack where the v-tool split the wood ahead of the cut on a letter. Also , remember a v-too comes in different angles , a 45 degree v tool , cuts a 90 degree angle which is often too much for a letter. A 60 degree v tool will produce a nice V for light capture , but is hard to turn on a small letter because of the trailing edge.

Thanks again all , glad it helps .

Garry