Carved and inlaid hardwood
Scott & Emily Designs
We are a two-person shop on Maryland's Eastern Shore, carving signs, house numbers and landscapes from hardwood we mill ourselves.
The portfolio
Some of our work
Carved and inlaid hardwood, made to order.
Building Directory - design proposal A directory for a building of offices and residences. 
Storefront Sign Commissioned sign for a local business. 
Orange Sunset The same carved landscape in its warmest colors: a sky from peach through rust to deep red-brown, over green peaks and blue water. 
Crow A carved crow with wood inlay.
In the shop
How a piece gets made
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The wood
Everything starts as solid hardwood, cut and planed to size here in the shop. We don't buy it as ready-made panels.
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The drawing
We draw it at full size before we cut anything. The design tool checks what makes or breaks a piece: how thin a line can be carved, and whether the fill will read from across the yard.
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The cut
Carved on our CNC with a V-shaped bit, so every letter gets crisp edges and sharp corners. Raised lettering works the other way round: we cut the background away and leave the letters standing.
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The fill
Color fill, black epoxy, or a darker wood cut and fitted into a lighter one. Which one depends on the wood: white in sapele, black in hard maple, so the lettering still reads from a distance.
Commissions
Have something in mind?
Lay it out yourself in the design tool and see it at full size. Or just tell us what you're after and we'll get back to you.
Shopping for someone else? Give a gift certificate from $100. It never expires, and they get to pick.
Need a sign for your shop, office or building? Here's how we do business signs.