New Hobby Alert: How To Make Your Own Wood Engravings

When I saw this cartoon horse on the internet last month, I fell in love with it! The next day, I finally decided to carve this horse. Since I am new to the carving field, carving cartoon horses is a process of exploration and learning for me.

The tools I use for carving are boxwood, saws, hand-carved knives, and a pneumatic engraver. I chose boxwood because it is hardwood with a tough, fine grain and a bright color. It is suitable for works with complex shapes and a sense of structure. Moreover, it is not easy to wear and tear in making and preserving, and it has a high collector’s value.

Now, I’m sharing my process for making it. If you’re interested, give it a try! You’ll make it!

Step 1

Sketch and keep tinkering with the manipulation until it’s pretty decent. I’ve got the sketch drawn and cut out, ready to trace onto the wood.

Step 2

Lightly sketch onto the wood with an inked line. Of course, you could just stick the paper on and just carve it. But that’s not what I’m used to.

Step 3

Use a saw to cut off the desired sections. Do you know? I have a little trick. I used to identify a few points on the edge of the pattern, then draw a reference line, and finally cut away the rough outline. Heh! This effectively cuts down on carving time. It’s best to cut outside the line because when you cut with a wire saw, it tends to be off. You find that the front side is cut along the line, however the other side may be cut inside the line.

Step 4

Then, I continued to paint details on this rough piece: the nose and ears.

Step 5

Now everything is ready! I started carving and sanding along the contours. Since the wood is so hard, you need an electric carving tool. If you’re using soft wood, you can just use a regular carving knife. But it takes longer. Softwoods I recommend are pine, ginkgo, camphor, etc. Their wood is soft and easier to carve. They are suitable for carving some simple patterns.

Step 6

Then, I started rounding off the body of the cartoon horse. Oh my goodness! This was a long process. Next came the carving details! This is when I must slow down and carefully carve those fine details. If I make a mistake, it could be all for naught!

Step 7

Sanding again. As I use an electric carving knife, its knife mark is relatively small, so only #400 sandpaper sanding once. If you are using a regular hand-carved knife, its cut marks are bigger, you need sandpaper between #180 and #240 for the first sanding. Caution! Tiny details like the eyes and ears of a cartoon horse should never be sanded with this sandpaper. Then sand the whole thing again with #400 sandpaper.

Each person has their own carving methods and habits, and each method is capable of achieving its purpose. I think the most important thing is more engraving and more practice. After all, practice makes perfect! I wish you all the success in the field!

Feature Image via Shutterstock