First try at hand carving....

[neato]

his isn't the best pic, still need to work on my photography skills. Going to try to get some better ones in a bit.

Trying to teach myself to hand carve signs. I've also gotten some great help from Adrian Page on this.

Learned a lot on this one, namely not to use crappy HDU. This stuff was in a pile of scraps I received a while back, it was very grainy and a bit warped, I thought it would be fine for practice, but it's just too grainy. I also learned I need to keep practicing my curves!

 

[Billct2]

Looks good! I remember when I decided to learn hand carving. Since my hand lettering skills were being replaced by the computer I thought I'd learn setting that s machine would never be able to do.....
I still do skittle hand work now and then, mostly when it's something that can't go on the router table

 

[SignosaurusRex]

First shot at Hand Carving?... Holy crap, that looks wonderful Phil! Down right "Wonderphil" indeed.

 

[neato]

Thanks Bill. Seems like there isn't much left that can't be done by a computer controlled device.

Trying to develop a unique skill so as not to have to have to worry about competing with all the other "sticker cutters" in town. Seems to be a dying skill, even more so than hand painting. Plus, it's really fulfilling.

Hopefully I'll get there one day. Practice practice!

 

[neato]

Vinyl stencils can make anyone looks good

First shot at Hand Carving?... Holy crap, that looks wonderful Phil! Down right "Wonderphil" indeed.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Vinyl stencils can make anyone looks good

That helps too, but it's in the Hand & Eye along with the Feel that produce the final...not the stencil.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Which brand and weight of HDU did you use on this? This was the crappy stuff you mentioned?

 

[neato]

You know, I'm not sure. I was given a bunch of scraps a couple years back and it was in the pile. Maybe it's older signfoam stock? Must be pretty lightweight, it's not even close to the 15lb Duna sample I have.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

What color is the raw HDU that you used? Most all HDU manufacturers use a different color dye from each other.

 

[dhamlett15]

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/a-stone-carvers-family-tradition/

 

[Moze]

Looks great, nice work!

 

[neato]

Here's a close up of the HDU....

 

[Billct2]

I never liked carving in HDU, the grit that gets on everything sucks.
Plus you don't have the nice smell of wood.
But wood is definitely more challenging, learning to work with the grain.