I needed some winter
project to allow me work on ALOHA. I decided to to build a "traditional"
name board for her transom. Because I had some scraps of mahogany around
I wanted to carve it including some hibiscus flowers to keep the Hawaiian
theme.
It was quite tricky
to get the board to have the right arch and fore/aft curvature to match
the transom. Once this was accomplished I laid out my pattern as shown
here.
The carving was done with a chisel and
exacto knife. I am more of a whittler than a carver, and find this technique
very relaxing. I can loose hours playing with this sort of thing.
The letters were carved with a 45º cut. Because of the curvature of
the board I had great relief for the flowers. I decided to waste a lot
of time with the rope border. It was quite tedious, but I really can say
I enjoy that sort of thing.
The board was epoxied (for preservation).
I gold leafed the letters and felt I should paint the flowers or they would
not be noticed much. I doubt that this board will show up as well at a
distance as the stick-on letters I had on before, but I like the way this
looks better.
