Carving Letters in Hardwood

Roach1948

Roach1948

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www.dallimoredesigns.nl
Having raised topsides and a flush-deck Roach has a lovely wide Mahogany sheer plank which will be Coelaned when the weather improves.

A task I have to do before that is carving her name on both the port and starboard bow. I have bought and sharpened some lovely old shaped chisels for the job but..... I am scared.....What if I c**k it up?

Has anybody handy out there ever carved a name board and can give me some handy tips on how to do this well (as I only have one go at it). I know, like all things Classic boaty - there must be a secret techique I could do with learning first....

Many thanks,

PS I don't want name boards, I want to go straight onto the sheer plank.
 
I would second that. Make a Template out of ply and use a dremmel. Failing that make a template out of ply, mark out the name and very very cautiously chissel it out.

Good Luck

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I was told by a professional woodcarver that carving letters is the most difficult job because the slightest mistake is glaringly obvious and can't be disguised. Also the spacing between the letters is not constant and has to be judged by eye; if you don't believe me try drawing a name with equal spacing and you'll see what I mean!

You could always sign up for a woodcarving course at your local night school!
 
There was a very good article on this very subject in Wooden Boat magazine a couple of years ago. Once I'd read it I was so scared I'd cock it up that I got a guy in the marina to do the job for me. It was well worth the bottle of single malt it cost me!
 
Use a Dremel unless you can make only very short cuts with the chisel fully under control. It will make your muscles ache
 
You could get a signwriter to cut the lettering in vinyl. Stick it in place. Take out the letters and scribe around them onto the timber with a dremel or chisel or even a biro. This way at least the lettering is shaped and spaced correctly and is on the plank.
 
Don't start messing about with Dremels or other so-called carving machines. You'll more than likely end up with a horrid, scraggy amatuer-looking bodge.
Get some offcut hardwood and get practicing with your chisels. You'll need to get them surgically sharp first - try a Japanese waterstone. Probably easier to use upper case letters in a simple serif font. Print it out from your computer, then prick it through with a sharp awl to get the spacing etc. You may find that one or two proper carving chisels are needed, in which case I'd try Axminster.co.uk.
When you feel confident - go for it on the boat!
If hand carving really doesn't work then you might consider using one of the router template systems with a 60degree lettering bit, but the kit could work out pricey for a one-off job.
 
Having selected the font I wanted I then stretched it in WORD to heighten the letters, as they are under the counter and would be foreshortened by the viewing angle, printed them out on paper, stuck it with spray mount on the counterand then carved through the paper lettering. This was on Oak, probably harder than mahogany. Keep on working towards the center of the letters. A little practice first always helps.
 
Hi Roach,

I have a similar type of shear palnk as you,and had not thought of carving a name into it.

Just a thought on this, would you not have to carve into the mahogany a reasonable depth to make the name visible from a reasonable distance, and would this leave the plank too thin behind the carving?
 
Be very cautious with letters that have an enclosed section, like O and especially A. It is very easy for the bit in the middle to fall off, and it will always be vulnerable to bumps.
Try and retrieve it if it does, and use wood-turner's superglue.

If you are going to pick out the lettering in a contrasting colour - white, black, gold, you have a certain amount of leeway as a last resort for disguising errors, by bringing the painted edge slightly inside the face that you have over-cut.

It's well worth experimenting with templates first, to get the spacing and the overall size right. You might think 3" letters would look right, but when you try it you find 2 1/2 looks better. Generally speaking I think smaller letters look classier than large.

Of course you could do the carving on a separate nameboard and screw it on afterwards.
 
That is why we have a dinghy called "MINN"...however I had to face up to carving the "R" in

"T/T MIRELLE"

and carved underneath the thwart, where you cannot see, rather crudely, in mirror writing, are the words:

"Stolen from..."
 
The rationale for going straight onto the sheer plank is simple - I have spent so much money on her restoration that as the new custodian I believe it's my duty to leave an indelible mark for the future.

Like many classics, her name in the past was adapted, changed and lost. Only research revealed her true pedigree and identitiy.

Roach, in modern times, seems to pertain more smoking paraphernalia than to a yacht, but she was, ofcourse, designed to be sailed on the River she was named after. Her sisters, Branklet and Crouch, were also appropriately named -So as the only survivor Roach deserves to keep her name for future owners to either discover or discard.

As for the planking. Well it's 1inch Mahog, so even if I go down 1/2" I think I will be OK...
 
I carved the name "SEA FOX" into a mahogany name board. My dad told me the technique. Mark out the name which I did with a computer generated print. I taped it in place and pricked through with a pin to mark the letters, then removed the paper and joined the dots in pencil to get the name. My old man told me to start cutting in the centre of the letters to start the V then work out to the lines. I got an acceptable result and did it all with standard flat chisels. I did have several practise runs first. Still got loads of bits of wood with S's and O's carved in them!! Another project that I did was a house name plate...where the letters were raised against a scalloped background. Again I marked the letters with the computer print out. I then routed out the bulk of the back ground and used fine carving chisels to tidy up the letters. I then scalloped the background with a gouge. You could leave it flat but that would actually take even more work to get it flat. I'm a complete amateur and managed both these with reasonable results, if you've restored a wooden boat you should have the skills required..just practice first...good luck...Iain
 
Oh dear, not sure what to say. I did an old fashioned apprenticeship many many moons ago. I worked for a traditional coach builder and looked after the painting, repairs and sign writing,.

I was taught by the old guys, I can repair most shapes and you would never know, I can paint with a brush and it looks sprayed but I am sooo bad at sign writing. There is no margin for error, it is instantly obvious to the human eye. I personally practiced for 4 years. Don’t do it.
 
I did some carving on the back of our old tender. As you can see the letters are not the correct width. So agree you need to make a template on a computer or get a book on fonts from the library.

I used normal chisels. I did the curvy letters with a 1/8" mortise chisel from my great grandfathers tool chest. The small steps approximate to a curve.

I practised first and still made a mess of it.
DinghyRStern.JPG
 
Getting the letters the right width is tricky - even a computer using TrueType fonts will not produce a good template without a bit of fiddling. Michael Verney's book "The Complete Book Of Yacht Care" offers some advice about spacing and letter width.

Personally, I don't think Katy's carving looks at all bad. You would never have been able to do better with two words of such different lengths. I'd have been quite pleased with that job!

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