17 Step Commute

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Learning Center

Letter Class: LOLITA

Free-Hand Carving a Cherry Wood Name Keychain (with video).

Scott (a.k.a. DustyNewt)'s avatar
Scott (a.k.a. DustyNewt)
Sep 06, 2025
∙ Paid

Preface: I welcome you to to my new “Learning Center”. This is for “Paid” subscribers only and reveals my method of carving names that has evolved over the last 43+ years. It is valuable information, whether you just want to learn it to make a batch or keychains for everyone at the next family reunion or wish to add it to your business repertoire, I welcome the competition. There is plenty of work for everyone.

Here I intend to show you how I free-hand carve names into wooden chopsticks and keychains (I hope to publish weekly, on Saturdays). I also intend on posting excerpts of my eBook as it develops. Tentatively named “Free-Hand Carving Wooden Names for Fun and Profit”, I hope to publish it mid-2026.

With this first post , showing my free-hand letter carving process, I beg your pardon for my technological deficiencies. SubStack and Canva offers many presentation options and I am still learning what is suitable for me with my shop time constraints. It is bound to smooth out as I learn to format it properly in blog form and get quicker with the new [to me] skills of video presentation.

Thank you for subscribing and for your patience. Please write me if you have any tips, suggestions or questions.

Cherry Wood LOLITA Name Keychain
Cherry Wood LOLITA Name Keychain

Letter Class: LOLITA

Today we have an order for a Cherry wood name keychain to say LOLITA.

I start with a 1/2” x 1/2” billet of solid cherry. I mark off the letter placement with shallow saw kerfs, about a blade width deep.

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