Cutting teardrops

[Cody]

What methods are used to cut the teardrop shape formed at the crotch of a leaf where the leaf.

 

[Sam]

Cody: One way is to plunge the graver into the metal and then quickly snap out to shear off the chip. Another way is to cut the outline of the teardrop and then remove the center part with a few graver cuts. The majority of of teardrops I cut are done with the first method. / ~Sam

 

[Cody]

Sam, are you doing this with the same graver you usually use. I don't seem to get a nice round back to the drop, rather, I get a slightly pointed drop. More like an elongated diamond.

C

 

[FANCYGUN]

One way I do it is to cut a line from light to deep. Then keeping the graver in the cut, lift the handle up almost vertical and spin the work around this way you sort of spin a circle at the end of your cut. It takes a little practice but not hard to do. I like either an onglette or a 70 degree V graver for this but see what works for you.

 

[Joe Mason]

I usally do the spin method that Fancygun explained. Sometimes I will take the high speed rotary tool and give it a touch.

Joe

www.joemasonengraving.com

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Cody, the reason you are not getting a round 'teardrop' is that your graver is to 'thick'. The graver has to be ground down to size so that it acts like a spring and pops the bur out from the cut with an audible 'click'. When I grind my tools up for stuff such as small scroll I taper the graver until it has a face of about 1mm across at the widest point. The tool must taper because if you grind too much of the back away there's a danger it will bend under the pressure needed to release the bur. Once you get the tools set up the way you like them you'll have no problem with this.

It's one of the reasons I can't wait for Airtact to be released coz you just stop squeezing at the right moment and the bur just pops right out under the pressure you're exerting at that precise moment. I even managed to cut some small scroll with tools that weren't mine and set up with no taper. No need to 'scoop' the bur out at the end of the cut.