Legacy Crests

by Embry McKee

...Pure Handcrafted Hardwood Customizations...

Gallery

Click on any thumbnail to see more detailed photos and information.




Smaller items

Translating two dimensions into three Glance through the pictures below of a crest I made for a high school in The Woodlands, TX, and see what was involved in making this particular high relief design. Then take a look at the links at left for things you'll want to keep in mind if you're considering commissioning a work for your family, school, or corporation.

This is the crest that I made for The Woodlands College Park High School.  It's a little over three feet square (see the photo near the bottom of this page to get a sense of the size).  It was based on this graphic, which was the most detailed picture of the school crest available.  I took some liberties with the carved elements, but in general I tried to stick as closely as possible to the original so as to keep the look consistent with what everyone sees around the school and on school merchandise.

---

Wood Selection

No stains or colorings of any kind are used in my designs - the color is all natural, though of course darkened and made richer by the finish.   Here you can see white oak and zebrawood in the field (representing the light and dark green stripes in the graphic), Peruvian walnut in the border, and linden (basswood) for the carvings, letters, and outline of the border inside and out.   It's critical not just that individual pieces of wood be of high quality, but also that the colors and grains of all woods chosen for the project complement one another.

---

Carvings

The stylized flat lantern that works fine in two dimensions would have been a bit bland in three, so it's filled out some for the carved version.  There's been added a hint of a lip around the base, and a trough around the inside of the handle, which de-emphasizes the thickness of the handle while keeping the footprint of the carving the same as in the graphic. The trick is to duplicate the original design while respecting the new medium.

The faithfully rendered carving of the winged foot had toes that looked like a blob, so the outline of the carving was actually shrunk a bit in that area to refine it. The feathers were stylized to make them stand out better from a distance.

The swords were simple elements, but still required a bit of interpretation to make the transition into three dimensions:  The blades were "waisted," (that is, they swell out as they widen toward the tip end, and sink in, or waist, as they narrow toward the guard), which gives them more presence.  And each guard was given a different design (one has rings, one rays) to break up the expanse of smooth wood from tip to pommel and keep them from looking plain.

 

The letters on the bugle's banner were too fine to make like the ones around the border (the thinnest parts of these letters only show up in the photograph below).  Instead, a 1/16" thick piece of walnut was applied to a piece of linden, and the letters were carved through the walnut into the linden with a chip-carving knife.  The lamination was then framed with strips of linden.  The bugle was made separately and indented to accept  the banner assembly.

To make a letter like these:   - draw the letter on paper; - cut it out with a razor knife; - prepare a blank of linden;   - paste the template to the blank; - cut out the letter with a scroll saw and remove the template from the blank; - form the bevel around the letter in two steps with two different tools; - touch up hard-to-reach areas with a fine-toothed riffler rasp; - smooth with a sanding wheel;  - hand-sand with 100-, then 220-, then 320-grit sandpapers. Of course, all the letters were taken through each step together, but it still took around 1 1/2 hours per letter to make them (there were 33 letters on this crest, so about 50 hours to have them all finish-ready). You can also see one of the two 11-inch miter joints in the photo above.  The miter joints have to be cut in conjunction with the shaping of the top and sides, so they have to be cut and made to fit by eye:  try the fit, refine the angle at the shooting board, try it, trim it, try it, and on and on until the top piece is in proper position and both joints are flush.  It's painstaking, but a butt joint wouldn't look right.

These are pretty unconventional tragedy/comedy masks; no artistic license was taken with them beyond the use of gouge grooves to show where the backs of the masks are folded over the top.

Each of the eyebolts is capable of supporting 1200 lbs. They were put through the brace and backing at an angle, giving them more than 2 inches of depth, and bolted at the front before the walnut border went on.

The back of the crest was made of linden, with red oak braces.  Linden (or basswood) is light-colored and neutral-looking, light in weight, inexpensive, and relatively easy to work (though a bit touchy to finish).  Red oak is strong for its weight and unobjectionable in color for this use (plus it was handy).

Professional assistance.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008 by Embry McKee.  All rights reserved.
Last updated 08/03/08