NothingLikeWood

23/10/2026

I love carving letters and last Saturday I enjoyed sharing how I go about carving them.

The weather was kind for this time of year but we still needed the warmth of the fire pit.

We talked about design, and I them got Steve and Claire to work on creating some variations on a capital letter. Then we went through the different 2 or 3 knife grips I use and let them loose.

They carved some of the designs on a practice board and then onto a spoon and butter knife.

They did a great job. The key now is practicing - both creating the designs and the letter carving.

Good luck guys.

18/10/2026

We had a woodland flower making session at the Chips Club in Wardown Park, Luton.

Considering that these whittlers are new to craft they all did a fabulous job in creating these flowers. We used hazel and dog wood branches.

Despite some rain at 10am the weather cheered up and we finished off with some rays.

Next week will be the last session in this autumn series of the Chips Club at Wardown. İf you would like to join us then DM me and I'll send you the joining info.

09/10/2026

08/10/2026

Just finished carving the capital B and C on my oak alphabet board. The order that you carve the different elements is important. Martin Wenham's details that graphically in his book. He instructs you to carve the inside of the curves on the B before the outside face of the curve.

The photos at the end includes branding from our local park using a w letter that is found within the building, painted bricks at the top of Oak Road by the Luton Town Stadium and a stone door header on the same Street. OK the last photo isn't lettering but I really like these designs. They are dissappearing as many are covering their homes with insulation. That makes financial sense but just doesn’t look as good as the original brick and a stone

08/10/2026

Spoon club is a wonderful time to chill out, chinwag and carve.

Last Saturday didn't disappoint. İt wonderful to see the crew.

03/10/2026

For the next three Tuesdays mornings (10am till 12:30pm) I will need setting up the Chips Wellness Whittling Club at the arboretum in Wardown Park in Luton.

It's a great location - under the trees - to sit and whittle wood.

Carving is a craft which draws you in and focuses the mind, combine that with sitting in a small group in a park can contribute to your sense of wellbeing.

If you would like to join our group and me a DM.

03/10/2026

My birthday treat was to take the train to London and go on a hunt for Grinling Gibbons amazing carving. (1648-1721)

My beloved walked 20,000 steps as we first travelled to St James Church, Picadilly. That was my favourite place to see his carving. Incredibly the carving is in the location that he designed the work for. You can get to within 2 metres but I still wanted to get closer and to be honest to reach out and touch the carving. I wasn't permitted to do that. But I loved just taking in the work. Just to imagine the carving design was incredible, let alone carve it.

Grinling Gibbons also carved marble and the baptismal font is superb.

We then walked to St Paul's which was a great visit. There was a wedding taking place so there was limited access to some of the areas but you can still see some of Grinling's work.

Our tour guide was superb. He really added to the experience.

We then went to the V and A but a workers strike meant we couldn't view the Grinling Gibbon's treasures on show there.

Still it was still a brilliant day. Loved spending the day with Lucy, what a great way to celebrate another year passing.

01/10/2026

Here's my first carved letter following Martin Wenham's instructions. They are very all very clearly laid out. So I can't blame the instructor.

I'm carving into an oak off cut. The surface has a band sawn texture which I quite like.

The angle of cut should be 50 degrees. I'm not sure that is true for this letter. Martin recommends making a small jig to help. I'll do for next week if I can.

After the simple process pictures I've added a couple of photos of where I've noticed interesting lettering this week. A London tube station and a carved memorial stone at St Paul's Cathedral. What lettering has caught your eye this week?

17/09/2026

Last Tuesday at the Chips Wellness Whittling Club in Wardown Park, Luton the weather was kind and it was great to sit under the trees Whittling some wooden beads and chatting together.

Whittling Wood is a craft that gives and gives.

It calms the mind as you focus on something not too demanding, but something that does require a degree of concentration.

These beads were made from mock orange, ash and dogwood. So if you see anyone walking around town with these beads you will know where they were made!!

If you would like to join our group on Tuesdays (10am till 12:30pm) you will be really welcome.

DM for details

17/09/2026

Have you ever come across this book on Letter Carving in Wood? It's by the amazing lettering artist called Martin Wenham.

The book has lots of colour photographs of his amazing artistic work. I find his work inspirational.

I've dipped in and out of this book for a while now and have decided to work through the instructions step by step. The plan is to allocate a couple of hours each week to follow his steps in order to carve various alphabets in wood. Martin explains the different steps in free hand drawing letters as well as carving these letters.

I'll keep you up to date with my progress. I do a lot of lettering but I normally use carving knives as often I'm lettering on spoons, pots, bowls and yesterday on a wooden staff!

Martin guides you in the use of a handful of carving gouges and chisels.

If anyone wants to join me in working through that book then you'd be welcome.

We walk past lettering wherever we go. The photos I've posted are lettering that has caught my eye in Manchester, Paris, and a small road on the Lizard peninsular in Cornwall. (i enjoyed seeing the layout lines on that one. )

Hopefully by the time I reach the letter X I should be showing signs of improvement!