Ray Kinman – 45 years of hand carved signs

In Ray Kinman’s shop, the sound of a 3-D sign coming together is not the high-pitched whine of the CNC router but rather the thump-thump-thump of the mallet on the chisel. The sign in progress is a Disney-inspired sign for the home of an avid collector of Disney memorabilia.

“If you had told me I’d be doing this twenty years ago,” he says, “there is no way I would have believed it. I never realized that carved signs were such a big part of the Disney experience.”

Ray’s letterstyles and carvings often have a whimsical or playful look. His signs usually look casual and fun. Almost every sign is carved in a wood panel, and he often adds layers so that he can produce very deep carvings.

In 1978, Ray was 21 and working as a professional musician in Lake Tahoe, playing the casinos and clubs. He had seen the beautiful carved signs by Ron Ramsey around town. He was soon to be a dad and wondering how to make enough money for a family. When a friend who was opening a restaurant asked if he could make a sign for them, he said he thought he could.

“I had never made a sign before,” Ray says, “much less a carved sign. But I just decided I could figure it out. One thing led to another and I started carving signs. I eventually wound up working with Ron for a while. I learned a lot there.

“Ron had the Tahoe market sewn up. After a while I realized that if I wanted to work on my own, it would have to be somewhere else. I wanted to move to Southern California to see if I could make it as a musician, so it seemed like the place to go for both reasons.”

Landing at Disneyland

Ray moved his family to Los Angeles where he found work playing bass in a band. He also started trying to sell his sign work. He started by carving signs at swap meets and making cold calls.

“After a while,” he says, “we took the kids to Disneyland. There were a lot of cool carved signs there, and I decided that I would like to become a supplier for them. I started sending photos of my work but got no response. For two years, I sent photos over and over again. Finally I assumed it wasn’t going to happen and put it out of my mind.

“Not long after, I got a phone call from the senior graphic designer at Disney Imagineering. He had seen some of my work at a local restaurant. He asked me to send more photos. It was quite a break. After that, he asked me to come to a meeting to discuss a project.

“I was really intimidated walking down the halls to that meeting room. Here I am, a self-taught sign carver, sitting down with these incredible designers. He rolled out the blueprints for the Indiana Jones Adventure. It was a major project, not something small to test my skills. I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do this!’ just like I had when I did my first carved sign.”

For the next eight years, Ray worked for Disney as a vendor. He then joined the Walt Disney Imagineering staff and spent about 11 years carving signs, large and small, for many of the major attractions. His last project was the “Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” in 2003. He then returned to  working as a vendor, doing projects as needed. When he visited Disneyland recently at least 14 of his major projects were still in use.

“I didn’t realize what I was doing,” he says, “or the effect it would have on my career. I got these terrific designs from some of the best designers in the world and got to turn them into carved signs. It was a great experience.”

Making carved signs

Ray does most of his work in a Malaysian hardwood called jelutong. It has very tight grain so it holds detail, yet it is soft. It has a beautiful blond color and is easy to carve. The only problem is that it’s hard to find. He’s always looking for stock to add to his inventory.

“I use a combination of power and hand tools for my work,” Ray says, “whatever gets the job done. I have over 100 tools in the shop. But most sign carving can be done with six chisels and a Dremel Moto-Tool. That’s all we use in our workshops, and people turn out beautiful signs with them.”

Ray started doing woodcarving retreats about 20 years ago because he enjoys helping others learn how to carve. He quit doing them for a few years, then resumed them about four years ago. They are three intensive days of hands-on instruction. Folks of all ages show up for them.

Ray says he’s surprised that many young people have never made anything by hand. Cutting, carving and painting a sign is a new experience.

“But if you want to learn most anything,” Ray says, “you can. I’ve found our greatest asset is not woodworking skills or artistic ability or who we know. It’s our persistence.”

His work today

The bulk of Ray’s current work is commissioned work for Disney collectors. Each year, nearly 60 million people visit Disney World and almost 20 million people visit Disneyland. Over those 20 years, hundreds of millions of people have seen Ray’s work and connected with it. Now many of them want a sign of their own done in that style.

“Right now I’m doing just what I always wanted to do,” says Ray. “I don’t think about retiring. I can be selective about the work I take and how much I take, and I get to help others learn to carve signs. I play bass with a few different bands every week—soul, folk, rockabilly. I love doing that and I love carving signs and doing workshops. You can’t beat that.”

Disneyland

Disneyland

Woodcarving retreat in progress

Disneyland

Disneyland