Carving a lattice and acanthus pattern on an emu egg shell

Step 9 Time to carve the lattice pattern

We now will begin the lattice. Because the outermost layer varies in hardness and surface texture, I will remove it before making the effort to take the turquoise layer away. I realize this is a lot of work but I do it so I have a much reduced chance of punching a hole completely through the egg. I use a #171 tapered flat carbide burr to remove the dark green layer. I do this by carefully following the outline previously drawn to roughly the depth of the outer layer. After the diamond shape is marked I remove the remaining dark shell just outlined.