READ N TRY

Roman's website about chip carving, whittling, and woodturning

OverviewStoreNewslettersAbout
A collage of three coasters: one is a carving in progress, and the other two are carved and finished with oil. All three are adorned with skiing resort emblems.

Chip Carving Coaster Set: Winter Theme

This chip carving coaster set adds a nice touch to any casual conversation near a fireplace, on a patio, or on a balcony. Ski resorts depicted on the coasters help to remember and share more stories from the slopes. The display stand arranges the chip carved coasters in the “Olympic Rings” pattern to emphasize the enjoyment and importance of the outdoor sport.

Five chip-carved and winter-theme decorated wooden coasters on a stand. The stand arranges the coaster in the Olympic Rings shape.
Five chip-carved and winter-theme decorated wooden coasters on a stand. The stand arranges the coaster in the Olympic Rings shape.

The chip carved coasters are decorated with the Lake Tahoe, Jackson Hole, and Whistler Blackcomb ski resorts.

These coasters were carved from basswood, decorated, painted, and finished with several coats of Tung oil. The coasters are ¼” (6 mm) thick and 3.5″ (9 cm) in diameter. However, it may be better to use 3/8″ (10 mm) thickness to avoid cupping as described in the Board Warping (Cupping and Twisting) article.

A glass with water on a chip carved coaster. The coaster chip carving decoration is refracted but visible through the glass.
A chip carving coaster set consists of five coasters shown overlapping each other.

The way I drew and carved these coasters was very similar to the coasters that I chip carved last year (2014). If you are interested in chip carving, you may find this article about a chip carving practice board useful.

A partially chip carved coaster with a small chip carving knife.
Chip carving a coaster in progress
A close-up of a partially chip-carved coaster. A blade from a small chip-carving knife is visible in the image.

I carved the coasters from one long basswood board (1/4 x 4 x 24″, 0.6 x 10 x 61 cm), so they have the same grain pattern.

Roman is at his table, presenting his woodcarving projects at the SCVC woodcarving show.

I submitted this project to the woodcarving competition at the Santa Clara Valley Carvers 44th Show in San Jose, CA, in May 2015. I am very proud that this coaster set won a blue ribbon (first place) in the chip carving category.

To make it fun, I wood-burned a sketch of a confused skier on one of the coasters. This sketch comes from the “Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad” book that I used to learn sketching in 2013. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn sketching and drawing: ISBN 0-671-65694-5.

A round coaster with a chip carved border and a burned skier in a comic position. The sketch of the confused skier comes from the “Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad” book.
Back of the holder for chip carved coasters. A wooden bottle stopper is shown on a small shelf built into the holder.

The back side of the coaster base serves as a shelf for small handy items.

This chip carving coaster set was a nice project for improving my chip carving skills and practicing focus and patience. I hope these coasters will remind my friend, who got the set, of nice skiing stories over the years.

Click the button below to download the free, printable, scalable PDF of a chip carving pattern and start carving your coaster set today!

Download free PDF: Round Border Coaster
Collage showing a chip carving pattern next to a finished carved coaster, with a PDF icon indicating a downloadable pattern.

Share your thoughts in the comments. Happy carving!

A chip carving coaster set consists of five coasters, shown overlapping one another.

Comments

4 responses to “Chip Carving Coaster Set: Winter Theme”

  1. Dawn Rasmussen Avatar
    Dawn Rasmussen

    I’m heading to the shop to cut wood for tree ornaments…a jump start for next Christmas! Any tips on the painting of this ornament? They are so neat and simple🙂. Thank you and Happy NewYear!

    Reply
    1. Roman Chernikov Avatar
      Roman Chernikov

      Thank you Dawn. I use acrylic paint slightly diluted with water. I use a small brush to apply very little paint – so little that it can’t bleed in the wood fibers too far. I let the absorbed water from the paint to dry out from the wood for at least a day before applying the next coat.

      Sometimes I cut wood fibers along the borders of the painting areas to prevent the paint bleeding across the border. I use a knife or a woodburner on the smallest setting with the skew chisel tip to do that. This trick is very effective in some situations.

      I colored a chip carving project with the watercolor pencils once. The result was great, the color borders were very sharp. But the task took longer than carving and it required sharpening a pencil literally every few seconds.

      Overall I treat painting as an important part of the project, not as a chore. I try to make it fun by experimenting with different media and various techniques.

      Good luck with your ornaments! Share the pictures when you have a chance. Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Krimson Rose Avatar
    Krimson Rose

    I love the coasters! I think this might be my first project after I practice getting the technique down a bit. I have done two rows of practicing a border pattern (simple diamonds) and the difference between the two rows is amazing. I am drawing a rosette on the same board to practice some more, although I want a better compass for this in the future (I am using a child’s one as that was all I had). I think the coasters would be great, and I can practice woodburning along with it! How fun is that?!
    Any tips on hand soreness? How about upper arm/shoulder area? Do I just need to keep at it, using muscles I haven’t really used much before?
    I figure after I finish practicing on my board, I’ll come by and share a pic, so I can get some tips. I am really enjoying it so far though!
    Krimson Rose

    Reply
    1. Roman Chernikov Avatar
      Roman Chernikov

      Thank you, Krimson, for the kind words! I am very glad that you feel inspired with these coasters.

      These coasters are easy to carve as you only need to carve the borders. You may decorate the center pieces with any theme, using any technique. Please note that these particular coasters were carved using 4 corner chips that are more complex to carve than 3 corner chips. It is easy to adjust the pattern and use any type of border for your coasters.

      The compass… I think a better compass may help a little but a steady hand, keeping the writing point sharp, reading/magnifying glasses are much more important. Chip carving is all about precision but there are human (and physics:) limits. I do my best today, every day, enjoying it; and I know I will be more precise and accurate tomorrow. That works for me with the tools I have.

      Hand soreness… Well, it is very interesting topic. I usually carve only a dozen or so chips per day, as a hobby activity, so I don’t overload my muscles. I dedicate at least 15 minutes for carving every day. That enhances my skills, helps to relax and keep focus. A dozen chips is not much but they add up every day surprisingly fast.

      Recently I carved 60 large chips within half a day making good breaks in between. Unfortunately, I felt the consequences — I could not carve the next two or three days due to my shoulder soreness. This is my hobby and I try treating it as a hobby: I mix chip carving with other types of carving or with painting, sketching, reading, etc. This helps to avoid soreness and helps to keep it fun. Anyway I stretch and exercise my body, arms and hands a little every day.

      Share the rows of diamond chips that you have already completed. That will help to see the progress overtime when you finish your practice board. Be sure the progress is always amazing!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *