At a glance
| Kind | What it is | Timber | The risk | Brief with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low relief | Shallow ornament standing slightly proud of the face | Fine, even timber; limewood is the usual choice on our pages | Depth set by the carver on a sample | Drawing, a motif sample, finish |
| High relief | Deeper modelling: acanthus, foliage, egg-and-dart | As above; oak or walnut where the grain is wanted | Blank must be thick enough behind the form | Blank thickness, joints in the blank |
| Undercut | Detail cut behind the raised form so it casts shadow | Fine, even timber: undercuts break in coarse grain | Fragile edges, handling, finishing | Where undercuts are allowed; protection |
| In the round | Corbels, capitals, legs, finials shaped on all sides | As above; solid or laminated blank | Short grain at thin parts | Blank build-up, grain direction |
| Rough by machine, finished by hand | A CNC rough-out followed by hand modelling (our journal describes the practice) | Any | What is machine and what is hand | State it, and what you accept |
Descriptions follow our craftsmanship and journal pages. No depth or size rule was found; those are for the partner carver.
What hand carving is, and what a specification has to hold
Hand carving is shaping timber with gouge and chisel to make relief, ornament or form that a machine does not give with the same variation. On our craftsmanship pages it is used for furniture legs and aprons, cornices and pilasters, cabinet door panels, corbels and capitals, mirror frames and heritage replication, in limewood, oak, walnut and stone. For the craft itself see our hand carving page and the journal's guide to hand-carved furniture. This sheet is for the specifier: what to write down so a partner workshop quotes and carves what you intend.
Hand work varies, and the variation is part of the appeal. A specification that treats it like a machined part will either be disputed or priced to remove the very thing you wanted. The way to hold both is a carved sample that you approve: the sample becomes the reference, and the specification says how closely the finished work must follow it.
Timber: grain, hardness and movement
Carvers prefer fine, even timber that is straight grained and does not split under the tool. The USDA Wood Handbook describes American basswood in exactly those terms: soft and light, fine and even in texture, straight grained, easy to work with tools, and a favourite of wood carvers (ch. 2, p. 2-4). Our own pages name limewood (lime, Tilia, the European relative of basswood) as the preferred timber for fine detail. The Handbook covers American species, not European lime, so the table below uses American basswood as the closest published reference and the lime figures are for the workshop to confirm.
The hardness figures show the range. Side hardness at 12 per cent moisture is 1,800 N for basswood, 4,500 N for black walnut and 6,000 N for white oak (Table 5-3a): oak is about 3.3 times as hard as basswood. A harder timber holds a crisp arris and takes longer to cut; a softer one cuts quickly and can bruise.
| Timber (US species, Wood Handbook) | Side hardness at 12% | Specific gravity | Shrinkage across the grain, green to oven-dry (radial / tangential) |
|---|---|---|---|
| American basswood (closest published reference to lime) | 1,800 N | 0.37 | 6.6% / 9.3% |
| Black walnut | 4,500 N | 0.55 | 5.5% / 7.8% |
| White oak | 6,000 N | 0.68 | 5.6% / 10.5% |
The shrinkage columns matter for carved panels and frames: timber moves across its width with humidity, and plain-sawn oak moves nearly twice as much tangentially as radially. A carved panel or mirror frame fixed rigidly across its width will crack or open a joint. See the timber movement sheet and timber species for joinery. Install and carve timber at the moisture content it will meet in service, as the Handbook advises (ch. 13, p. 13-3).
What to brief: depth, grain, edges and method
A carved element should be shown on the drawing as the designer wants it, and the carver turns that into a model. Our pages describe the stages as drawing (full-scale templates and relief profiles), roughing out with larger gouges, modelling with finer tools, and finishing, with the surface left natural and sealed, prepared for gilding, or finished with lacquer or paint. Four points to settle in the brief:
Depth against thickness. The deeper the relief, the thicker the blank must be behind it. The figure marks the depth d and the blank thickness t; no published rule for the ratio of the two was found, so ask the carver to propose both on the sample.
Direction of grain. Timber carves cleanly in one direction and tears in another, so the carver reads the grain and turns the work. A form where the grain rises through a thin or delicate part, such as a petal or a leaf tip, is at risk. Our journal tells of a carver setting aside a board because the grain ran the wrong way through the place a flower would sit. The point for the brief is that the carver, not the drawing, chooses the board.
Undercuts and fragile edges. Deep undercutting and thin edges are the first to break in transport and handling. Say where they are acceptable, how the piece is protected, and who repairs a break.
Hand, machine, or both. Our journal describes CNC roughing followed by hand finishing as a common division of labour for bespoke work, and entirely hand-carved pieces for period reproduction. State which you expect, because the price and the look differ, and ask the workshop to say which it has used.
Finishing carved surfaces
Carving exposes end grain along the ridges and edges of a relief. The Wood Handbook says end grain is about 100 times more porous than the side of a piece, so it soaks up stain or finish and can look darker, and that large pores, as in oak, can leave low spots in a film finish that need filler for a smooth surface (ch. 16, p. 16-2). It also says that gloss finishes accentuate imperfections (pp. 16-29 and 16-30). On a carved surface this means a high gloss shows every tool mark and any difference between end grain and side grain, so choose the finish with the carving.
The finish is part of the carving brief. Our craftsmanship pages say a carved surface can be left natural and sealed, prepared as a ground for gilding, or lacquered or painted; see gilding and gold leaf and finishes on timber joinery. Gilding and some lacquers fill and soften fine detail, so the carver needs to know the finish before carving, not after.
What to put on the drawing and in the sign-off
A short list covers it:
- The drawing: elevation and section, full size for the carved parts, with the grain direction marked.
- The timber: species, whether solid or laminated, moisture content at carving and in service, and the source requirements (see FSC and PEFC).
- The blank: overall thickness, the depth of relief, and where joints in the blank are allowed (not through a detail).
- Hand, machine or both, and what you accept.
- Fragile features: undercuts, thin edges, tips; protection in transit.
- The finish: natural and sealed, gilded, lacquered or painted, and the gloss, with its sample.
- The sample: one carved motif, approved, kept as the reference (see prototype and mock-up approval).
- Acceptance: how closely the finished work must follow the sample, and who decides.
Sign-off. Ask for one carved motif, at the real depth, in the real timber and under the final finish, before the whole run is carved. Approve it in the light it will live in. Hand-carved repeats will not be identical: write down what variation you accept (for example, that repeating motifs follow the approved sample in form, depth and crispness, and are not required to be identical), so the first delivery does not become a dispute.
Specification wording
Paste into your schedule or specification and replace anything in [square brackets] with your own figures. Wording is a starting point: your specification governs.
[Carved acanthus relief] to [element] as drawing [ref], carved by hand in [limewood / oak / walnut], [solid / laminated] blank [x] mm thick, relief depth up to [x] mm, grain running [along the element]. Timber at [8] per cent moisture content (+/- [ ]) at carving. No joint in the blank through a carved detail. Machine roughing: [not permitted / permitted, with hand modelling of all visible surfaces].
Carved surface [left natural and sealed / prepared as a ground for gilding / finished in [lacquer] at [ ] GU, measured at [60] degrees] to approved sample [ref]. Undercuts and thin edges at [locations] to be protected for transit and handling; repairs to a break to be agreed before they are made.
One carved sample of [motif] at the full depth, in the specified timber and finish, to be submitted and approved before carving begins and retained as the reference. Repeating motifs to follow the approved sample in form, depth and crispness; they are hand-carved and are not required to be identical. Approval under the project's final lighting.
Terms used on this page
- Relief
- Carving that stands out from a background surface: low relief is shallow, high relief is deep and strongly modelled.
- Undercut
- Detail cut behind the raised form so that it casts shadow; the thin edges that result are fragile.
- Arris
- The sharp edge where two surfaces meet; a crisp arris is a mark of careful carving.
- Side hardness
- The Wood Handbook's measure of the load to embed a steel ball in the side of a piece, reported in newtons at 12 per cent moisture content.
Standards and sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material, FPL-GTR-282 (2021): ch. 2 p. 2-4; Tables 4-3 and 5-3a; ch. 16 pp. 16-2, 16-29, 16-30; ch. 13 p. 13-3. US species only.
- Our craftsmanship and journal pages on hand carving: the stages, timbers and uses. No standard for carving was found.
Questions we are asked
What timber is best for hand carving?
Fine, even, straight-grained timber that does not split under the tool. The Wood Handbook describes American basswood this way, and our pages name limewood as the preferred timber for fine detail. Oak and walnut are used when their grain is part of the look. Ask the carver which timber suits the depth and detail.
How deep can relief carving be?
No published rule was found. Depth is limited by the thickness of the blank behind it, the timber and the grain. Ask the carver to propose the depth on a sample.
Will two carved repeats be identical?
No. Hand-carved repeats follow a sample but are not identical. Write down what variation you accept so that delivery is judged against the approved sample, not against a machine standard.
Can a carving be part machined?
Yes. Our journal describes a CNC rough-out followed by hand modelling as a common division of labour. State whether you accept it, and ask the workshop to say what was machine and what was hand.
Does a gilded or lacquered finish change the carving?
Yes. A gilded or lacquered finish adds a layer, can soften fine detail and shows the surface more. Tell the carver the finish before carving starts.
How do I approve a carved piece?
Approve a carved sample at full depth in the real timber and finish, in the project's lighting, before the run begins, and keep it as the reference.
Does the studio carve in-house?
No: carving is done by partner carvers in the partner workshops, within the coordinated production process.
Download the factsheet
A two-page A4 PDF with the at-a-glance table, the relief sections, the hardness chart and wording for a carving specification.