Does anybody here try engraving?

[54ball]

It's something I'm going to try in the future.
I really like builder Mike Brooks' engraving. It is good but kind of has a raw edge to it. To me his style looks to be done in a "Workmans like manner". It's very appropiate for Colonial era work as a gunsmith could engrave but they were not engravers by trade.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Engraving is an aquired skill, lots of muscle memory goes into the work.

Though most of the gunmakers of the time were not very adept at engraving and the work shows it, there were a few that were exceptional, Isaac Haines comes to mind here.

The quality of your work will reflect the amount of practice you put forth as is true in all developed skills.

I have had zero formal training, just hacking away in my improvised shop.

this is one of my first pieces

this is from the same time frame

again

this along with the pictures from my earlier post is within the last couple years

 

[re-enactor]

That is awesome Tom. Thanks again. You have incredible talent there. I can draw well and carve wood well, but I've been intimidated by the idea of engraving for years. It would be cool just to tackle a simple design so my expectations are pretty low.

Say Tom have you done "a dog chasing a boar"? I've heard that is a common scene on old hunting guns.

J.D. funny that you mentioned ball peen hammers as that was my first thought for use in engraving as a chasing hammer or even an autobody hammer that I never really put to use.

 

[LRB]

Same as Tom. Self taught with help from Lynton Mckenzies DVDs. All hammer and chisle.

 

[jdkerstetter]

J.D. funny that you mentioned ball peen hammers......

I want to reiterate "small" ball peen. You don't need much weight.

Nice work Wick and Tom.....especially like that otter. You captured his expression well. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[LRB]

JD is correct. My hammer weighs at about 3 1/2 ounce, total weight. I modified a cheapo tack hammer by soldering a wide face to it. See below. These are almost all of my tools. Most used graver is a 3/32" square graver with the long grip lying on the hammer.

 

[kaintuck]

miracles on metal to the likes of me.....
:bow:

 

[re-enactor]

That is so cool and very encouraging also. I confess ignorance about the use of the chrome plated item or what it might be called, but recognize everything else.

 

[LRB]

That is a Crocker sharpening jig, to sharpen gravers. There are much better systems available, but it will get you by at around $45 / $50 bucks. Sharpening is another must to learn before getting serious. Much like wood chisles. There is sharp, then there is SHARP.

 

[re-enactor]

Hi Wick,
I appreciate your input here and I'm real interested in this. I am going to get some mild flat steel soon to start practicing with a graver.

The Crocker sharpening jig is something I'm checking out. Being a woodworker and carver, I have an assortment of ways of sharpening steel chisels and planes. One of them is a Work Sharp system that earlier posts on the site have discussed for possible use as a way to sharpen gravers. What I've read so far is that the Work Sharp 3000 didn't seem to do justice to the gravers. Sounds like a diamond plate would do the best job with a jig.

I'm on board to working with sharp tools and having sharp tools for engraving is clear to me. My understanding is that without sharp tools you have problems with burrs. When I was in college I did machine engraving for a jeweler and we used diamond tipped gravers, there we had trace the other part in a set of assembled letters. I remember the thing with burrs. Whenever I saw a hand engraved item of jewelry come in, say a pocket watch, I was awed by the artistic beauty of it.

 

[re-enactor]

Hi 54ball,
I like the work that Mike Brooks has done to add engraving to his builds at least from what I've seen posted. My focus is also on the folk art aspect. It is more fun and the direction i'd like to go. Thanks for your post. I'll keep looking for examples of his work too,.

 

[flashpanner]

wow! if this quality is from just "hacking around" in your shop, I can hardly wait until you get really good!

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

I can hardly wait until you get really good!

you an me both, I'd like to to call plumbing for the last 25 years a career and move on.
:wink:

 

[hoochiepapa]

If you really can't draw, find some patterns you like and trace them. Until you learn to draw, that would be the way to go.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Do you guys paint your surfaces with "china white", or water color before you start drawing on them?

same goes with relief carving. glue a drawn template to the wood before you start carving?

 

[jdkerstetter]

Nope and nope! I just pencil it on! Enjoy, J.D.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Yup and nope.

I will not trace a drawing but I have no issues with free handing it on my piece and cutting it out.

At other times a transfer works well, such is how the otter came about, it was manipulated on the computer to fit the space restrictions of that side plate ant transfered onto the brass with acetone.

 

[LRB]

I use China White. LMF version if I remember correctly. Once dry, it will allow the use of a pencil eraser and it makes the drawing easy to see. After the drawing is done to satisfaction I spray over with clear laquer or hair spray to keep from smearing my drawing. I use the China White only for the basic lines and don't bother for detailing or shading.
For carving, no. Just draw and cut.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
For simple volutes and scrolls, you can use china white and draw on the metal. You can also smudge beeswax on the metal and then draw on the waxed metal. The problem with drawing with a pencil on the metal is that most folks "sketch" in the design. Few can draw curves and designs smoothly without resorting to sketching. A sketched line is rough and usually much wider than the actual line you want to cut. As a result the engraved line may be very imprecise. If it is a line that you will enlargen, you can smooth out the rough spots and be fine. But a fine precise line may give you trouble. In the engraving below, I could have drawn the outlines of the figures on the metal but all the details needed something more precise.

 

[re-enactor]

Very cool engraving Dave. I appreciated the comments on using China white. The engraving block really makes the difference I bet also. Thanks for posting. How long have you been engraving?