It's been my experience that the aluminum discs are the cause of the run-out problem, especially when used with an arbor on a drill press. They are castings and often need to be trued so both sides are parallel. Otherwise they wobble all over the place. I even have one that does the...
Taking a class will avoid developing bad habits which will be much harder to unlearn. Learning under direct supervision, where mistakes can be corrected, is much easier than trying to interpret the plethora of UTube videos where not everyone is an expert.
"If you think education is expensive...
Hoolihan,
Is that top picture a duck call? Rolling Thunder Game Calls is located in our town and the owner lives across the field from me. They've got a pretty nice set-up and do fancy ones on special order, but I don't know what all that entails.
I've got one of those that I was going to get converted, but never got around to it. It's been sitting in pieces for years. The receiver was fairly pitted and I had started cleaning it up, but it got set aside and forgotten........to many projects.....too old to finish them all.
For some reason, people never give the harsh realities right off the bat. There are no classes near you, and most probably no tutors either. Those available are several states away and relatively expensive. Add to that your travel expenses and room and board. Also, those that do tutoring...
Back when I studied with Brian Marshall, he taught us how to modify push gravers to work with a pnuematic handpiece. There are many push gravers that are not available otherwise and it is easier to modify an existing profile rather than try to grind a new one.
"I would like to engrave on mild steel plate, can anyone tell me where to buy them?"
Engravables - Practice Plates - Precision Artistry LLC (engraver.com)
Montgomery Community college in SC has Metal Engraving 101 under the NRA Gunsmithing classes at the end of this month. Tuition is very reasonable and room and board can be had on campus. This is a basic course to get started. Probably the most inexpensive course you will find if you're up for...
Your location is important, unless you are willing to spend oodles on transportation and board. One we know that recommendations can be forthcoming. There are schools and individuals thruout the country offering what you seek.