Wood Engraving Block Making
March 27, 2010 by John Steins
Filed under Discussion
Here’s a couple of boxwood stumps along with a branch sitting on my messy band saw. The one in the foreground is about 8 inches across at the widest part.
As you can see the wood is quite dry showing those splits in the wood. So the trick is to get as much yield as possible in order to make up a block suitable for engraving.
Having cut a slice from the “loaf” I’ll be able to plan how best to get good sized chunks for sanding and edging so they can be glued together to form a nice seamless block. It’s a bit of work but I enjoy it. Trouble is, with so much invested it makes engraving the finished and polished block all the more intimidating.
I’m aiming for a couple of wood engraving blocks of approximately 4″ by 6″ each. Of course I won’t be able to get that from just one of those slices.
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Dear sir, this process is very interesting i use also marple, lemon tree, orange tree but boxwood is the best one i think. When we cut boxwood in autumn (low moon)and try to be careful with the drying, we avoid many problems.
congratulations
G.D.B