Fair Maid, 30’ Eric Cox sloop, 1951

[Jay Greer]

The V gouge is the tool that is most important for carving Roman Letters and script as well. Over the years I have added quite a lot to my collection and use them all. There is a cork on the handel of that short sweep V just until I can make a new one as, the old one split. I really prefer the octagon shaped handles as the don't roll as easily as the round ones do. The two that have them were made up by a blacksmith friend. The fourth Marples V up from the bottom was broken by a worker who pounded on it too hard but,
It was welded back together. The white dust on the tools is Volcanic powder to absorb moisture after the tools are oiled and put away. Japanese Camelia Oil is first wiped on and wiped off with a paper town prior to storage. Camelia oil is available from most Japanese tool dealers such as Hida Tools in Berkley CA. Both the powder and the oil are non-acidic and prevents rust from forming.
The powder is known in Japan as Uchico Powder. My favorite V tool was made thirty years ago in Italy and is seen in the other photo. The wings are 26mm, !" wide.

Jay

[Jay Greer]

[Jay Greer]

I am posting this because John is interested in carving. I you guys prefer, I can post a separate carving thread so as not to clog up his thread here.

[Garret]

I am posting this because John is interested in carving. I you guys prefer, I can post a separate carving thread so as not to clog up his thread here.

IMO, Jay, I'm good with whatever you post, wherever you post it. It's always interesting.

[Phil Y]

John is at the carving stage so anything on carving sits pretty well IMHO.

I love the info about Japanese Camelia oil. Who knew? I'd be reaching for WD 40 or Lanolin in a spray can. You sir are a genuine treasure.😀

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[Andrew Donald]

I vote a dedicated carving thread please Jay. Not everyone would look in here and I for one only happened by. It’s especially pertinent to me as well for my boat. Both this font and v- gouges etc. Thanks

[Phil Y]

John, deck paint question. Did you roll, roll and tip, or brush? Just not sure how roll and tip goes with grippy stuff in the mix.

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[Andrew Donald]

Why would you tip grippy stuff?

John, deck paint question. Did you roll, roll and tip, or brush? Just not sure how roll and tip goes with grippy stuff in the mix.

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[Aquinian]

Brushed to cut in, rolled the large areas, Phil. Unthinned. It lays flat on its own, perfectly. Nice paint.

Cheers,
John.

[Phil Y]

Thanks.

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[Phil Y]

Why would you tip grippy stuff?

The question is why would you ask. The answer is because I'm about to apply $600 worth of deck paint and I've never painted a deck before. Tipping seems to get rid of bubbles left by a roller. I wondered whether you do that with deck paint with granules in it. I tend to think there's no such thing as a dumb question. What's dumb is not asking for fear that someone might follow up with a post suggesting it was a dumb question. Which would be a dumb thing to do on a forum which is intended to share knowledge.

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[Jay Greer]

Guys and Gals, I am going to start a dedicated carving and lettering post on our forum. All are welcome for comments and questions!
Jay aka Bird

[Aquinian]

Thanks for the excellent advice, Jay. It has been very helpful.

What is the product you mentioned that would be suitable for filling and fairing under the gold leaf?

I have given the carving a break for a few days, and tonight decided to plough on. I spent around three more hours on it. Photo proof:

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And at more distance:

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Regards,
John.

[Aquinian]

For other beginners, it’s easier than it looks, although pine is a lot less work than hardwood!

Things I learned so far. Jay might correct some of this, which would be good.

1. Cut a line down the centre of your future valleys. That way you’re slicing down to more than an imaginary line, from each side, and the grain breaks nicely at the cut. You’ll need to re-cut at least once, as you can’t cut full depth with one cut.

2. Go with tapered serifs. The square ones are hard, although these worked out ok in the end.

3. Keep an eye on the grain, and cut across it at right angles, and when you can’t, slice it on an angle. Tear-out is a problem otherwise.

4. Curves are hard! Lots of small slices, ideally with a curved tool. I didn’t have a suitable one, so these were done with an angle cut chisel. Yes, it has a name, but I wouldn’t be a noob if I knew what it was.

5. Before you start cutting, work out your intersections between legs, because wider sections are deeper, and angled intersections are different from straight ones, and curved sections meeting straight or angled ones are different again, of course. The Offcentreharbour video was brilliant for this. Watch it.

6. I had to belt sand the paper off afterwards. I think stencilling a cartoon would be wiser.

Regards,
John.

[jsjpd1]

Despite the trouble that looks really good John.

[Jay Greer]

Just a comment for you John. First, your work looks pretty darn good!

In my own work, I carve the serifs first. It begins with cutting all that face in the same direction followed by coming back from the other side on the ones that face the other direction. No attempt is made to remove wood until the second cuts are being made. The first cut is only a matter of diving the V gouge into the wood and pulling it back out in reverse. Once the second pass is made, from the other direction, this results in a triangular piece is cut free that makes up the serif relief. This is followed by cutting all of the straight ascenders and descenders with the V gouge. This works as a single cut both up and down by starting in the middle and then working in both directions. This produces a minute hour glass shape and keeps the vee cut free of wavey marks on their sides. Using a short but wide V tool then allows the curves to be cut in a continuous sweep rather than coming in from the edges. Again this avoids jagged edges and wavey center lines. As the tool reaches the serif, the angle of attack is raised to match the angle of the top of the serif to avoid digging into it. The V tool may need to be rolled slightly to towards the outer edge of the curve in order to swing it smoothly around the curve. This helps to prevent cutting into its surface unevenly. Some clean up is always necessary and should be done with tools that fit the shape that needs correcting. I usually do that without the mallet to insure a sweeping cut with both hands in control of the tool. Some times a right or left skew chisel helps working the clean up of a line that is not fair. It often helps to practice in Basswood as it is very easy to carve and has a consistent, almost non existent grain pattern. Tools must be razor sharp to cut it cleanly. Good for practice.
Jay

[Phil Y]

Looks great, so much better than the first try.

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[Aquinian]

Thanks Phil. The next one is better again, so much so that I am tempted to flip the first one over and re-carve it. But that’s a temptation I will manfully resist!

These won’t be seen from closer than twenty feet, and if they are I will have more serious concerns.

OK, here’s a series of photos which show as much of the technique as possible. I used a total of three tools, two chisels and one of those ladies’ claw hammers. Only one of the chisels is a carving tool. I can see that much better results could be achieved with decent tools, but with a little sanding and filling under the gold leaf it should work out okay.

Here are the tools.

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Regards,
John

[Aquinian]

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Here I have messed up an intersection by using the large chisel and not turning my brain on. Brutality has chipped off the ridge. I’ll have to do some filling and fairing to repair it.

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And a closer view so so you can see how rough it really is.

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Regards,
John.

[Aquinian]

And voila!

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Cheers,
John.

[Hugh MacD]

Very Nice! I can see I'm going to have to try some lettering one of these days. I don't have anything worthy of a nameboard, but I'm sure I can scrounge an excuse to try it

[Aquinian]

​Thanks Hugh.

Hugh’s Handiwork, on a board?

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[SeanM26]

What an absolute beauty of a boat!

I think a couple of stainless dorade vents on the cabin top would really set it off. Mounted so they are vertical, not parallel to the cabin top.

The deck color is perfect to my untrained eye looking through the internet. The faint yellow just looks right on an old wood boat. But this is an opinion coming from a guy used to staring at white and grey decks on modern plastic boats.

The name plates are absolutely, 100% "perfect"! If you want a perfect, machined look, then get a machine to do it. But then you lose the richness imbued by the labor of love which is highlighted by the imperfections.

Fair Maid is lucky to have you!