What do you use? What about metal or glass?
This is a hard question, because a traditional hand carving sign is almost like carving with a chisel or chisel gouge. While it may be possible to use a chisel gouge, the technique and materials are a lot different, as in the end the sign can never be entirely completed (although there is still a lot of work to done to finish it). This is especially true if you are carving into wood, although a chisel gouge can still be used to carve into wood.
While I am not a master woodcarver and cannot give a detailed guide, I will give some general guidelines:
1. Use a smooth rough piece (i.e. a chisel gouge) for the middle, the outside edges, and the lettering (as in the example). The rough piece will have more surface area than a rougher cut piece.
2. Use a sharp-edged chisel for the larger lettering points. This will make the middle sharper, making the entire letter much easier to cut (unless you are using an edge table).
3. Use a very large chisel (a 5/16″ to 1/8″ chisel is preferred) for the main letters. They have a much sharper point. This will also make the sign more noticeable and help to prevent them from flaking off as they will take a lot of pressure to cut.
4. Use a very fine chisel for the small lettering points. These have a wider range of hardness and are more likely to flake off. A sharp chisel with very fine chisel will leave the larger lettering points relatively unscathed (unless you are using an edge table). A chisel which is too sharp may also make it hard to use (i.e. to move the chisel if needed).
Now that we know these general guidelines for carving, lets look at the techniques I have learned, and how I carve them by hand.
How do you create your signature?
My signature has two parts, either end of it is hand carved, both are signed first, then stamped, and then a letter is added, and it is usually in the middle of the signature, on the end, or even a bit further away from the stamping.
Here are some methods I have used to create my signature:
1. Scrawling
I have always relied on the method
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