What are the best wood engraving technique to choose from?

Wood engraving is a very old artistic technique. Dating back thousands of years, the first uses of this technique are thought to date back to Antiquity. Long associated with antique furniture or relief paintings, woodcutting seems to be making a comeback, enabling increasingly original and trendy creations. 

In this article, we'll show you how CNC is a key ally in this addictive technique and, to get you started, we've also included a step-by-step tutorial for creating your own printing stamp.

In this article

1) When to use engraving

2) What are the different engraving techniques

​Hot Engraving

​Cold engraving (xylography)

3) How to use a CNC machine for engraving?

​The advantages of using a CNC over hand engraving 

​Which tools for CNC engraving?

4) Tutorial : How to use a CNC machine to engrave a wooden stamp

When to use engraving

We all have in mind a piece of antique family furniture adorned with engraved motifs. Engraving is one of the most ancestral ornemental technique, but the use of this technique went much further than that. 

Engraving was used to apply monograms or family crests to furniture. A true symbol of heritage, these pieces of furniture were much sturdier than today's and were handed down from generation to generation. 

Depending on the design, the engraving could have symbolic significance. In some cultures, furniture engraving was part of local craft traditions. Although this technique seemed to have gone out of fashion, it is now making a strong comeback, thanks in particular to objects that people wish to personalize.

In today's decorating world, engraving is used to create original works of art or decorative panels to embellish interior spaces. Utilitarian or everyday objects such as jewelry boxes, caskets or photo frames can be personalized using this technique.

The same goes for customizing kitchen utensils such as cutting boards, trays or wooden spoons. 

In the commercial field, engraving can be used to create signs or goodies to promote a brand.

Finally, engraving is still used to create furniture, but in a more graphic form, with textured kitchen cabinet doors or geometric patterns that are much more fashionable than the vegetal motifs often found on old furniture.

What are the different types of engraving?

There are two different types of engraving: pyrographic engraving, which uses fire to engrave the material, and more traditional "cold" engraving, which uses knives, gouges or milling cutters. 

Both techniques are particularly interesting, and can be used to decorate a variety of objects.Hot engraving enables fine engraving and only marks the material over a few millimeters, while cold engraving allows more fantasy and a much more pronounced relief effect. 

Hot engraving (pyrography)

Pyrography is particularly well suited to customizing objects such as small paintings, coasters or cutting boards. This particular technique can also be used to customize wooden objects in relief, such as wooden spoons, or even small objects like jewelry (bracelets, pendants or wooden rings). 

Pyrography is the most common wood marking technique. Who hasn't tried it at least once? Today, lasers are becoming more and more widespread, making it possible to produce highly precise engravings. 

Parameters such as laser power and speed can be adjusted, making it possible to achieve a wide range of effects very easily, much more difficult to achieve with a pyrographic engraver.

Cold engraving

Cold engraving, on the other hand, can be used to create signage or furniture. The use of tools rather than heat creates a high degree of relief, while retaining the natural appearance of the wood, rather than being burnt as with laser engraving, giving a whole new dimension to the work.

When it comes to "cold" engraving, there are two rendering options: ​intaglio and relief (cameo). The use of jewelry-related terms helps to visualize the rendering.​

Intaglio engraving, involves removing material to create incisions or hollows in the surface of the wood.Intaglio engraving is particularly suitable for fine elements that need to be protected from wear and tear, or for patterns or text that appear below the surface of the material. 

These hollows can be accentuated with ink, paint or, very much in vogue at the moment, colored resin to accentuate the patterns.