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  • Australian Woodsmith

    Carving Numbers in Hardwood

    Oct 07, 2020 5 minutes

    In Issue 159 we were delighted by Murray Taylor's whimsical approach to carving Art Nouveau alphabets, monograms and ciphers. Murray sliced his characters neatly into softer European timbers with carving knives.

    When presented with the challenge of carving letters and numbers in harder Australian timbers, incise carving with chisels is the way to go.

    Incise carving produces a bevelshaped incision in the wood. The best chisel for the job is a fine-bladed bevel edged chisel (with a comfortable handle).

    Incise carving is best done by hand. Tool dexterity is the key to this style of carving. As the cutting edge slices the grain away, it will telegraph to your hands that you have hit the sweet spot in relation to blade angle and tool pressure, shavings will continue to flow if

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