Developing an Easier Font for Chip Carving, Part 1

Over the past few years, I’ve been working to simplify letter carving for my students—aiming to improve the graphic coherence of their fonts while making them easier to carve successfully. Traditional letter carving relies on straight-tip chisels and gouges of various sweeps, but when restricted to the one-knife method of chip carving, the process becomes more challenging. Watching my students struggle with tight curves and steep carving maneuvers, I wondered, “Is there a better way?”

I believe the font I’ve developed addresses these challenges, making letter carving more accessible for chip carvers.

My chip-carving journey began after reading an article in Fine Woodworking on the fundamentals of the craft. The author provided a practice sheet with essential carving geometries—triangles, crescents, and “eye” shapes—which gave me a strong foundation. Inspired by that article, I introduced chip carving into my woodworking classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, when our school shop was off-limits. The success of those early lessons led to chip carving becoming a permanent part of our curriculum.

 

 

Chip carving involves using a specialized knife to cut into softwood like basswood, guiding the blade through the grain to create straight lines, arcs, and variations of three-facet inverted pyramids. Carving letters presents an added challenge, particularly when dealing with tight curves or fillets—those rounded transitions between strokes. Even with a sharp, short blade, making a tight curve often results in torn fibers or rough surfaces.

To address these difficulties, I developed a font inspired by Antropos, a typeface by Lutz Baar that is widely used at the Waldorf school where I teach. I simplified the letterforms, removing difficult fillets and tight curves in favor of subtle transitions or angular joints. For example, the original Antropos “B” features a few fillets between the facets of the letter’s semi–half round parts, a detail nearly impossible to carve cleanly. My version eliminates this, using a softer arc that meets at an angle. Similarly, for letters like “O” and “Q,” I replaced tight curves with softened corners for easier execution.

 

This approach makes the font more forgiving to carve while maintaining its distinctive, slightly primitive character. It reflects the aesthetics of Rudolf Steiner’s architecture and design, blending simplicity with organic forms. I’ve also created alternative versions of certain letters where Antropos felt too eclectic, offering more balanced, harmonious options. I’ll share these variations in my next post. This is still a work in progress, and each carver can adjust the details to fit their personal style.