Thread: carving/engraving in wood

OK... so John_s has given me a challenge.

use the following script and engrave the days of the week in a set of scales

Deutsch Gothic 18pt
Monday

now I have tried 12pt which was (while it looked nice on papre) crazy small to be cut into a bit of wood.

I have procured some VERY small exacto knives and with perseverance I should do OK.

The method I am using is to print out the text and then glue it to the wood as a stencil and carve away.

Any suggestions?

I don't know how old you are but years ago they sold these woodcraft kits using a woodburner, kind of a fancy soldering iron. You could just burn the script in the wood with the right size tip. easier than cutting especially if its hard wood. If its something soft like balsa thats a different story.

I remember those kits, unfortunately I dont think I'd be able to achieve the required accuracy and I'd still need to sharpen the edges of the letters...

I have a VERY small (3mm dia) milling bit for the dremel I might give that a shot then square the ends with the exacto

You could try using a #11 style blade to trace/define the perimeter, then stipple the inside area of the letters with a pointed tool such as a sharpened awl. This method makes a good looking accurate letter and easier than actually carving out the inner areas of small letters. Gluing the printed paper to the wood is a good way to go.

Charlie

going back to the wood burning...you can still buy those kits, but they do make nicer more exact (probably good enough to do small text) versions which are rather easy to find

leevalley is particular carries a woodburning pen with interchangable tips:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...,41115&p=31041

they offer more professional sets too but this is the low end of the prices.

a kit could probably be had cheap on eBay

i like the idea of wood burning and will probably use it myself at some point

Lancer

Would it be possible to find out what kind of software the local engraver uses, like Mr Minit or the local trophy shop?

Maybe you can do the graphics yourself on the puter... then have them lazer cut the words into the scales... then fill with black enamal and sand.

Maybe

Greg Frazer

Originally Posted by Greg Frazer

Lancer

Would it be possible to find out what kind of software the local engraver uses, like Mr Minit or the local trophy shop?

Maybe you can do the graphics yourself on the puter... then have them lazer cut the words into the scales... then fill with black enamal and sand.

Maybe

Greg Frazer

now there is an idea... it'd feel like cheating though

Yes... understand what you mean

It looks a million bucks though...

Greg Frazer

I saw this on TV - it was doing some real detailed engraving - you do your design on the computer, store it to disc, and plug the disc in the machine - it looked quite impressive - would be ideal for engraving wooden scales

Craftsman CompuCarve

$1800 and change, though

-just a thought

-whatever

-Lou

EDIT: This one looks even better - CarveWright - reading through that other page showed that the other had some rather negative reviews

I've done a little bit of woodcarving, and a little bit of metal engraving.

The only advice I can give on this is: Use magnification!

Something like this: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/sto...itle=OptiVISOR

It's expensive but I bet once you have one you'll find a lot of uses for it!