Question: Wriggling gravers...how do you sharpen?

[sam]

I'm doing a small job for a customer that wants me to match wriggled lettering on a very old name plaque. No problem as it's pretty straight forward, but since I'm working on a lettering video I thought this would be a good technique to include.

I normally use my standard flat gravers for wriggling which have a face of 45-50° and either a 15° heel or no heel at all.

How do you wriggling experts sharpen your flats? I'm always looking for a better way and this is one type of engraving I don't do as much of.

 

[Weldon47]

Sam,

First, you must stop them from wriggling....they are much easier to sharpen when still!

Ha ha ha!

Weldon


Actually, I sharpen like I always do & use them that way.

 

[Douglas]

When I Wiggle Western Bright cut I use a 37 or 36 flat. 45 degree polished face 17.5 degree polished radius heel. That how Diane S taught me first now she uses 20 degree.

 

[Brian Marshall]

No heel on my wrigglers, though I do clean up the factory finish on the belly if it's rough.

We also wriggle with various liners, and of course you cannot put a heel on them.

For most silver & gold 45 seems fine. Might go up a little - mainly for corner strength - if it's white gold or anything with nickel in it.


Brian

 

[jr hoot gibson]

I'm with Brian, I have never put a heel on a wriggler, and for western brite cut you get the best results with a narrow liner, IMO. I sometimes rub the heel to just dub it.

 

[silverchip]

I use small liners for wriggle cuts,no nee to sharpen a heel and it has a pleasant appearance.Mostly for borders,hardly ever wiggle or wriggle scroll spines!!!!

 

[silverchip]

Sam,

First, you must stop them from wriggling....they are much easier to sharpen when still!

Ha ha ha!

Weldon


Actually, I sharpen like I always do & use them that way.

Very funny!!!!

 

[golden forge]

Sounds like I use the same as others, 45/15 on my flat gravers, and no heel on my liners for wriggles.

 

[rod]

Always a good idea to precision lap the flats, on the underside, front and on the sides, but no heel for me, my own feeling is that a heel sometimes encourages the flat to slip, I want a straight dig in to give a sense of security. I have always been surprised that many bright cutters leave the sides of their flats untouched, with the rather rough factory finish?

For beginners, once you get a good wriggle going, avoid the temptation to go gung ho, ending up with a less than perfect scroll backbone ... no chance of repairing a faulty wriggle cut. There is actually a lot going on in the wriggle cut, Diane and many others make it look so easy, but what they have is good muscle memory that keeps an eye on the even pitch, nice smooth line, and no slip.

As an aside, it is worth exploring the different effects you can get by wriggling with a round tool, it gives a different look, and for a really accurate path, I first use that same round graver to cut a trench, then wriggle the trench with the same tool, it will follow the path with precision. If you are not confident in cutting the full depth of the 'ditch' in one pass, try doing a light cut first, and a second cut can correct the line before wriggling?

Rod

 

[sam]

Thanks for all the feedback guys I was wondering if there was something I was overlooking or not doing.

Rod: I've noticed the tendency to slip as well with a heeled flat when wriggling, so I tend to either have no heel or one that's very, very short.

Have you ever tried wriggling with a 120? It produces a thorny looking result which I haven't found a use for yet.

 

[Haraga.com]

Liners only. All of them are bent and the belly ground away for clearance.

 

[Martin Strolz]

See Juzo Oda at work, very impressive! Long tools and big tools masterful handled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1J8iDRgAjQ

 

[monk]

sam- i use flats & rounds. no special geometry. the trick to it all, you already have-- control. the round gives me a slightly different look-- just decorative. when dropping backgrounds, strictly flat for me, or for textural work. i use the rounds just for doing a single deco line.

 

[Skate]

Hi Sam. My 2 cents....for lettering, you don't really need a heel. Still, I would put a short one on. If you want to really open up the wriggle line, however, a heel of 15 - 20 degrees will let you slide through the softer metals. This is nice if you are wriggling scrolls.

Diane

 

[mitch]

funny you should mention that, Sam- i had to recut sections of a wriggle border on a Lee Enfield just last week. it was probably the first wriggle cut i've done in 10 yrs.

the only minor problem was matching the width of the original- wider than a 39, narrower than a 40. since flat gravers have trapezoidal cross-sections, i just kept sharpening a bigger & bigger heel on a spare 39 until it was wide enough.

 

[Crazy Horse]

See Juzo Oda at work, very impressive! Long tools and big tools masterful handled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1J8iDRgAjQ

Gee, I wonder why this fellow wears that heavy duty leather glove? ;~) And since he wears that glove I have to wonder how he repairs a slip of the tool???

 

[truehand]

try putting a small 45 degree bevel on the sides of the belly/heel. I found this helps give the wriggle cut some extra "slide" which gives that beautiful "zipper" look and also seems to prevent slipping (maybe because the corners don't chip off as easily)

 

[sam]

Good idea...I'll try that as well. Thanks for all the feedback !

 

[rod]

"Have you ever tried wriggling with a 120? It produces a thorny looking result"

Yes, I have Sam, and it is effective in, say, wriggling a tapering curved top to a floral reed, or top of a plant, as it can taper down to zero?

Rod

 

[Big-Un]

I use a polished flat, on ALL sides, and just go with it. My experience in Tig welding has given me an edge on technique, as "walking" the cup while welding is basically the same as wiggle cutting. Works wonders for muscle memory.