A newbee

[White Raven]

Sam , it was the lapel pin that did this to me!! I said , Ron , if you want to wear this , you must step out of the shadows and into the sun , into the "Land of the Giants" .
Hi ,
I am an engraver Wannabee . I am a 68 year old , retired , Telephone lineman. I retired and moved from the New Haven , Conn. area to Alaska . Never did like the heat of the south. One day I read an ad for a silver carving workshop to be given at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and thought , if I can carve wood , why can`t I carve silver (?) . HA!!! Well I did , and was "hooked" . I purchased a vise and a couple of push gravers , and det out to teach myself to engrave ! We all know how foolish that is.
It was not until last fall that I stumbled onto Sam`s web page , then the "tips" , then the "Cafe". I opened the door and joined and have visited everyday since. Actually "evesdropping" , using theinformation and energy I received to go to my "swamp" and try , practice , or whatever. It has been the best tool I have since I learned to sharpen my gravers propperly!
I never joined in because I believed I had nothing to offer , Well I do , and that is my gratitude , many thanks for the encouragement you all have given me . I am not alone!!!!!
A million questons to go , and again Thank You all . I want to wear that pin as proudly as I do my scars.
Ron

 

[Glenn]

Ron,
Welcome aboard the greatest engraving ship in the world. (Sam this time send cash, your check bounced on the last pitch I gave). Really Ron your with a very talented bunch. I'm about your age, but unable to retire. If I can engrave any one can and this group is just the one you need to help you along.
My advice is to buy the best equipment you can afford to begin with and save yourself alot of pot holes in highway of engraving. Also GRS has fantastic classes you can take and be taught by the best. Good luck.

 

[sam]

Hello Ron, and welcome to the Cafe. Please feel free to ask questions if you need help, and post photos of your work for us to see and offer critique if you wish. It's a great group here they're more than willing to give you a hand.

Glenn: Thanks for that nice intro...cash is in the mail / ~Sam

 

[rogerbar]

howdy ron
dont feel alone about being a newbee. i'm in that boat with ya i am 58 yrs old and retired. i got all my equipment from the G.R.S. company but i didnt have enough money to take any of the courses offered . iam in the process of learning through the fine folks on this forum and a couple others, i am improving alot but along ways from being what i would call an engraver.i get some oohs and aw's from some of the people i show my work to but none of them would know the difference between engraving and great engraving . hang in there and keep cutting . i too want one of those lapel pins .
have a good one
roger barbee

 

[gail.m]

Thanks for chiming in Ron! I don't feel so bad now, as I just turned 67! I definately 'eavesdrop' here too, and was beginning to wonder if I was the only one here old enough to remember Bob Hope and John Wayne.
I also want to thank all of the Cafe members for the bank of information they so freely deposit to here.
I purchased a power graver just a couple of months ago and am having a great time. Gail

 

[Gargoyle]

and was beginning to wonder if I was the only one here old enough to remember Bob Hope

I met hope a while back. Told him I have something in common with his father. He looked perplexed, dumbfounded, till I told him I'm a stonecarver. Then he threw back his head and laughed, and said "that's marvelous".

His father had worked in the Ohio/PA area; I knew a couple of old carvers who had worked with him. One of them even had one of the elder Hope's mallets, till his wife convinced him to mail it to the younger Hope as a memento. (if he had still had it when I met him, I probably would have ended up with it).

I work in a much larger scale scale than you guys, but with many of the same forms and ornamentation. So I'll pop in here for a visit from time to time.

 

[sam]

Hi Walter. Welcome to the Cafe! It's a pleasure to have you here. We've been communicating on and off for a few years, and while we've never met, I've always considered myself a big fan of your work.

For those who have not seen Walter's beautiful stone carving, check out his site and you won't be disappointed. / ~Sam

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Welcome Ron you can met some wonderful and talented people here that's for sure.
Walter your stone work is magnificent. Bob Hope got his first gigs 10 miles from me in New Castle Pa. I wasn't born yet thank God.
Mike

 

[Gargoyle]

Bob Hope got his first gigs 10 miles from me in New Castle Pa.

There is a good stone mill in New Castle; I spent a week there once, helping them out with a section of a gothic spire which had been struck by lightning, and with a 6' wide shell lunette to go over a doorway.

As my aunt would say, "it's a small world if you don't tire"

 

[Mike Cirelli]

There's some great stone architecture in this and the Pittsburgh area. The stone work on buildings like the Cathedral of Learning and the steel work on some of the older bridges in Pittsburgh are amazing. I'm not sure if financially they could even be constructed in that manor today.
Mike

 

[KSnyder]

Gargoyle,
stone cutting truly a lost art. I cringe when I see a building being torn down cuz it's "old" that has the beautiful stone work.
I spent 19 mos. in Germany and marveled at the work I saw there.
welcome aboard,
Kent