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Note: Around 5:30 I incorrectly call a fishtail chisel a 'skew chisel'.
In this lesson I look at the straight, serif & junction parts of these 'waisted' letters. I can only give you an overview and taster of lettering here. For more about carving letters in wood, see my book: Lettercarving in Wood - a Detailed Course and my DVD: Letter Carving - Rob Cosman, Master Craftsmen Series, which you can now find in full on Woodcarving Workshops here.
Glue: I use a 'photomount' adhesive and I can recommend it, used in the right way, the paper stays for the carving then simply peels away. However, I was a bit heavy handed with the glue and permanently stuck the paper down. Not really a problem, easy to remove and a useful thing to show you.
Holding: It occured to me that I could hold this light, flat carving with a 'router mat', thinking it possibly more convenient than clamping the paddle to the bench. A router mat is a special non-slip mat of the sort you'd put under a rug. I've never used one in this context before and was surprised at how well it worked. The downward pressure from my hands as I worked kept the carving in place with only a slight jiggle. Sometimes the cutting edge 'stuck' a little when I pulled the tool out of it's cut, lifting and moving the pizza paddle a touch, but this was only a problem for Carrie, looking through her camera...
| 13 February 2013 18:01
Thanks for clarifying! I hope to start soon. And your videos are fantastic.
| 13 February 2013 12:53
Jessica - You COULD do that, but you won't get anything like as good a finish: The V tool is a little rounded at its apex and doesn't produce the same crisp root as cutting sharply in from either side of the trench with a chisel; also the V tool wants to cut both sides of a curve at the same time, and one side will always be against the grain, whereas with a gouge you can slice against the grain with no trouble; the V tool also cannot deal with tight curves, and here we can use a variety of gouges; and, but not lastly, the V tool will cut a curve more or less free-hand, whereas you can use the sweeps of the gouges to give you immaculate shapes. How's that? Lettercarving with gouges is a skill which takes time and practice to learn but gives the most beautiful results in the end. PS. It's an excellent question, and not foolish at all! Thanks for asking.
| 11 February 2013 22:26
Chris, I haven't started carving yet so please excuse my foolishness... But why wouldn't you just use a 60degree v tool for some of the work? I am not understanding why that wouldn't work
| 02 January 2013 10:30
Since making this video I've found that white spirit (UK. Called 'mineral spirits' in the USA) dissolves the glue and releases the paper very easily.
| 21 December 2011 14:37
That's Heat gun oooops
| 21 December 2011 14:35
If you use a Hair Dryer or hear gun will separate the paper from the wood. Sanding is very easy to remove any glue residue...
