Visiting sign carver Rob Eyley, of Woodcott Signs

Today has been a day of oak signage. This morning, I finished painting in the lettering on a commissioned oak sign and now it is ready to be oiled with Tung oil (a kind of finishing oil that is extracted from a nut growing on a type of tree which originally came from China. It's not derived from anything to do with animal mouths, thank goodness!)

In the afternoon, it was time to drop in for a cup of tea with Rob, who specialises in carving oak signs. His workshop is tucked away in a reclamation yard and it's surrounded by tables and chairs etc. which are for sale. I liked the feel of having the furniture around the carving shop.

We chatted about Grinling Gibbons and carving tools (as woodcarvers do!) and he told me about how he had attended a lettercutting course run by Chris Pye, a carver whose work has always impressed me.

After leaving Rob's workshop, I went back to mine and carried on with an oak sign to be fitted in a pub in Shropshire. No pictures yet, as I'd like the clients to see the carvings before putting them online, but it's a nice project.

If you would like to see some carved signs that I've made previously, you could check out this page on my website:
http://www.carvings-with-stories.co.uk/lettercutting.html

You can visit Rob's website and see more of his work at http://www.woodcott.net