[Woodcarver] Carving letters in oak boards

[Joe Dillett]

I am volunteering with a park. We need to make signs by carving 7" and 4" letters in oak boards then painting the background and letters in contrasting colors. Our first inclination was to use a router with templates for the letters, but nobody makes templates for letters that large, so I am now looking at drawing the letters and carving them with a Dremel tool. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions about the type of carving tools and techniques to use.

 
Michael R. Frumer
mfrumer at yahoo.com 
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Hi Michael,

White oak stands up good to weather where red oak does not. Red oak may work with paint but white oak will outlast red oak by 2 to 1.

I would incise the letters into the wood rather then raise the letters out of the wood. It gives the letter a deeper shadow and is more durable. Because of the deeper shadow I would paint the letters darker then the background. I would use white oak, paint the letters a dark brown and leave the background natural white, protecting it with several coats of exterior grade polyurethane.

I use either a V-tool and mallet to cut the letters into oak or a RotoZip with a lettering bit (router bit that comes to a point at either 45 or 60 degree with a 1/4 inch shank). Try the RotoZip on some scrap oak and you'll find how easy it is to carve using the lettering bit. If necessary I use the chisels to clean up the letters after the RotoZip.

To paint the letters I first varnish the whole sign with clear sealer. Then I slop several coats of paint into the letters with a brush not worrying about how much is on top. After the paint dries I belt sand the top of the sign cleaning up all the letters. Then I put several finish coats of varnish over the whole sign. Instead of varnish you would use paint being careful not to get it into the letters.

Using this method I can make a sign, the size you're talking about, in just a few hours.

Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552

(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.net [business web site]
http://www.carvingmagazine.com ['Ask Joe' column]
http://community.webshots.com/user/joe_dillett
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