Letter Carving

[john davey]

I am looking to do some letter carving. I watched Chris Pye's video with Rob Cosman and learned a few things. It seems various lengths of straight chisels are needed as well as gouges and a fishtail according to the video. I am going to start with one inch letters and will acquire a one inch straight chisel. My question is what gouges are the right size for one inch letters. I know Chris said you need one gouge and another slightly smaller/larger if I remember correctly. What I can't remember is if it is the sweep that changes or the width of the gouge???

Sadly the video did not cover the exact tools. It was all on technique. He referenced his book several times for specifics. I looked at Amazon and it is going for over $200. All his other books are cheaper so I don't know if Amazon is messed up or this is a real expensive book. Either way I will track the book down but would like to get going practicing one inch letters as soon as I can.

I currently have 4 gouges - 5/25, 3/16, 9/10 and 7/10. I was hoping I could get one to go with one of these. My thinking without any knowledge is I need a 5 or 6 sweep at ~13 mm and then another slightly smaller either 5/13 or 6/10??? Any help would be appreciated.Thanks, John...

[Ralph Boumenot]

I got my copy from TFFW for about 30-40 dollars.

[john davey]

Thanks Ralph. Looks like Amazon is messed up. I need a few other small items from TFWW so I will get in touch with them. Still looking for answers before I get the book if any one can help... Thanks, John

[Gary Herrmann]

My wife carves. Last time she carved letters, it looked like a Times New Roman font. All she used was a chip carving knife.

[Tom Scott]

I typically use a Times-type font also, and found that I do probably 95% or more of my lettering with a V-gouge and a #1 (straight) chisel. I have Pye's book, and it is very good, but his technique is to use curved gouges matching the curve of your letter for anything not straight. This obviously requires that you have a lot more chisels/gouges. However, I found that using a V-gouge to define the center of the letter and then following with the straight chisel to define the sides works very well for me. This technique uses the straight in a slicing motion, so it requires a very sharp chisel and paying close attention to grain direction. Again, this is just what I've found works for me.

[john davey]

Thanks for the replies. So it looks like not many use Chris's method. I am still going to get the book and see. Is there anyone here that uses it that can recommend the gouge to use for 1 inch letters? Thanks again John

[Ralph Boumenot]

Chris gives his recommendations for a starter set of carving chisels.

[Tom Scott]

Thanks for the replies. So it looks like not many use Chris's method. I am still going to get the book and see. Is there anyone here that uses it that can recommend the gouge to use for 1 inch letters? Thanks again John

The easiest, and most sure, way to get the correct size is to take your letters to the store and try out different sizes to see what fits the best.