Breaking my engraving tip

[Wunderlust]

Hi all, very new to this forum. Hello from Down Under! I’ve tried a search but cannot find an answer, I’ve just started engraving a few weeks now, do pretty average results, however in this time I’ve managed to break the tips of two knife gravers. I use a power graver. Could one of the many knowledgable people here please tell me what could I be doing to cause this issue?

Thank you!

tim

 

[sam]

If you're engraving and not stonesetting, then I would encourage you to use a square graver or wider geometry V-graver. Knife gravers are very fragile and not generally used for hand engraving.

 

[Wunderlust]

Thank you for the advice, is an onglette engraver also good, it’s really fine detail I’m trying to achieve?

 

[tdelewis]

Yes, look for a youtube video on graver sharpening. There must be some out there and it will be of help.

 

[Dave London]

Also not to discourage you but , breaking tips and sharpening is a way of life for engravers

 

[monk]

what material are you practicing on ? my advice is to use copper at first. esp. with the knife graver. these are buggers on the harder metals. try a 120 graver. these can produce extremely fine cuts in a wide variety of materials. look at sams' tutorial on fine shading. he uses power assisted 120's to do thiswork. it goes without saying, a good deal of practice is needed to achieve acceptable results. slow down. engraving is not a destination, it's a journey. enjoy it.

 

[jerrywh]

Can't get a better answer than Sam's