Sculpting punch

[sam]

For those that wanted to see the sculpting punch I use as mentioned in the other thread.

I can pretty much all of my sculpting with this one punch which measure .75mm. It's made from a discarded ball bur, and the face has a very slight radius and is textured by tapping it onto a 260 diamond lap. This gives the finished work a soft texture which I like. I also prefer the hammered look and don't smooth the surfaces when I'm done. This is personal preference.

I run my GraverMach at 1400 strokes per minute or less. A high stroke speed doesn't produce the results I'm after. I don't carve the elements into shape first like some people do. I use this punch to push the metal around until I achieve the effect I want. This gives me more metal to work which I find advantageous.

Cheers / ~Sam

 

[Roger Bleile]

Sam,

Thanks for the information on the punch. With it you have created ornament that is at the same time refined while retaining the hand wrought look that I like so much. Do you think I could get the desired effect using my old Gravermeister which has a stroke speed in the 600-1200 range?

Thanks,

Roger

 

[BrianPowley]

Sam,Thanks for the info.
Nobody can argue with your results!:thumbs up:

 

[sam]

Roger: I see no reason why your Gravermesiter can't produce similar results. Of course I use the 901 handpiece which to me is more comfortable and easier to control than the old style long Gravermeister handpieces, if that's what you have. I've not tried one for this so I don't know how easy they are to maneuver for this work, but your stroke speed is definitely in the right range. Keep me posted.

Brian: Thanks

 

[tsterling]

Sam,

Thanks for the description of the punch. One question: How much sculpting is done with gravers before you switch to the punch?

Thanks!

 

[sam]

Thanks for the description of the punch. One question: How much sculpting is done with gravers before you switch to the punch?

As I said in my post, I don't carve the elements beforehand. I relieve the background and then start the punch work.

 

[Kevin P.]

Sam, thanks for the technical info.
That's a fine design for a ring.

I take it as a challenge me to come up with something of my own in that style before my next show.
The sculptural effect and leaving the tool marks is great.
Kevin P.

 

[Roger Keagle]

Hey, it's like miniture blacksmithing...how good is that, thanks Sam for the info...wonder if I can do this with my H&C...? Don't see why not, just takes longer is all.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Thanks for that Sam, I'll give it a go when I get back into the action.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

I like that. You do nice work Sam does the metal (it like steel to me) have a tendency to flake if it's over worked. I used to use a tip like that when working nickels, and if I over worked an area it would start flaking on me.

 

[rod]

Sam,

Very nice!

I am glad you mentioned that good idea of 'stippling' a smooth bur right into a diamond lap wheel, or even just a small less expensive diamond wheel. Honest, it does not seem to do any harm to the diamond lap, and this process will always give you a consistent result for finish stippling background as well as your nice 'matted' carving look. I came upon this myself by experimenting, and wondered if others used it. As I stipple into the diamond surface, I wobble the axis of the handpiece like a spinning top losing its revolutions and this allows the radiused side of the tool to be matted up and around from its bottom surface. You can make a bunch of them with different roughnesses.

Rod

 

[monk]

sam: does that do any sort of damage to the diamond surface ? would wet & dry paper produce the same effect, maybe ?

 

[sam]

I've not seen any damage to my 260 grit lap. I just tap it lightly onto the surface exactly as Rod describes above. The wheel isn't turning, by the way. There are inexpensive diamond files you can buy if you're worried about doing this on your diamond lap. i have some called Eze Lap Diamond Hone and have been using them for years to sharpen gravers, punches, etc. I picked up a free sample at a show and then ordered several of them. They are excellent.

Mike: I've not had any problems with flaking metal.

~Sam

 

[KCSteve]

If you use the part of the hone near the center it shouldn't matter if it makes a mark - pretty hard to get a graver to reach that last 1/2" around the center when you're sharpening it.

 

[jetta77]

Very cool Sam, thanks for showing, it's stuff like this that is good for us amateurs to actually see.

Jeff

 

[Winstonklein]

Good tip!. Thank you Sam.


Winston.

 

[rod]

Of course, Sam,

That was important to add ... the diamond lap is not revolving! If you lay the lap on top of your ball vise, you can watch the punch under the scope as you stipple it into the diamond surface and see the roughness build up on the punch face.

Rod

 

[Dave London]

Sam
I made one of your inspired punches today:thumbs up:Thanks for sharing Dave
After I cut off the bur with a seperating wheel I put the punch in the fordom and ran it across my ancient coarse oil stone to true it up and it got textured at the same time

 

[sam]

Sam
I made one of your inspired punches today:thumbs up:Thanks for sharing Dave
After I cut off the bur with a seperating wheel I put the punch in the fordom and ran it across my ancient coarse oil stone to true it up and it got textured at the same time

Hi Dave. I'll be anxious to know how it works for you. Keep in mind that the face of the punch is nearly flat and has just the slightest radius. If the radius is too great it punches dimples into the metal. When you get it just right it moves metal beautifully and leaves a very nice texture. For a long time I made them too rounded and struggled to get the results I was trying for. The turning point was seeing Winston's and Phil Grifnee's punches. I got the texturing idea from Phil.
~Sam

I did these a few years ago and posted the photos awhile back. Much of this was done with the same punch.

 

[Dave London]

Sam
Yes I kept it flat very slight knock off of the edge, works great. Best control of a punch that I have ever had. I inserted it to a steel 1/8 in rod that I had drilled a 1/16 hole.Thanks again Dave
Hanging up the manual hammer driven punches this is much more precise under the scope and easier to boot