First pic post....just finished sign

[joe cieslowski]

This one was for an interior room. It's all pine aprox. 2'x3'. The panel was stained first and the lettering was then carved through to create the contrast.
They wanted it to look old fashioned so I wire brushed the panel first (to raise the grain) and rubbed on a light brown stain over the red and black to knock down the colors. With time the letters will amber a bit, adding to the aged look. I used a spray satin finish. It would have been nice with the letters outlined but they wanted to save a few bucks. They layout could be a little better but I thought the deer came out pretty good.


Joe

[Kelly Thorson]

Looks good Joe.
I'm curious as to how you handled those antlers. At 2'x3' for the whole sign, I figure they must be about 3" tall. Are they very fragile and if not, how did you reinforce them?
Are you still selling blades for your carving knives. If so fire me an email with prices. Mine is sharpened to death.

[joe cieslowski]

Kelly,

First, thanks for moving the pic from the link to this page.....but there is a second pic (a close-up of the deer) also on the link you may have missed.

There are two considerations when I carve something this delicate. First, I have to be aware of how much pressure I apply down on the wood with the knife bevel. That usually isn't something I think about when carving in general because there is plenty of material under the cut to support any pressure. With this in mind, I tend to "float" the bevel while directing the cut. It is also very helpfull to have a long flat bevel on the blade to keep the "angle of work" low. https://handletteringforum.com/forum ... ng+chisels
This thread may explain it better.
The second technique is to direct the cuts TOWARD the body of wood rather than away from it. In this case, I would make my cuts starting from the tip of the antlers moving towards the antler base.
I hope this answer is clear....it's hard to describe hand techniques with words.

Another method I use when I carve much smaller deer (total length of the whole deer is under 3") is to carve the front antlers first and then break them off intentionally (this way I'm in control). I then carve the back ones and glue the front ones back on.....pretty kool!

BTW, I would carve them the same way if I were useing HDU.

The Blades...$1 each with the manufactures edge....$6 for my custom sharpened ones + postage (I send them in a regular envelope).
I do have a few left (I'm outa the knife selling biz).

Hope this is helpfull.

Joe

[Kelly Thorson]

Thanks Joe,
I can't take credit for posting the image, I suspect that must have been Danny or Mike.
Breaking the antler off intentionally sounds likea good idea. That way you feel the satisfaction instead of the sinking feeling of hearing it snap.
Send me an email with the final tally of five of those blades with postage etc and I'll get a check off to you. I can use up $30 worth of fingers pretty quick trying to sharpen them.

[Mark Fair]

Beautiful work joe.