Engraver's steel sheet-source wanted

[Tom Curran]

I've been engraving copper plates for printmaking lately. While copper is very easy to work, it is also very fragile. The least little scratch shows in the print, and it's oh, so easy to scratch the plate.

What I'm looking for is a source for steel engraving plates, something that cuts freely, and comes already polished.

Free cutting is most important, along with thickness of 18 gage, or 16 gage. I will polish myself if needs be. The steel practice plates that Brownell's sells would be perfect, but they are very limited in size.

This is my original art, plate size is 2 1/4" x 3". I don't need large sheets.

Thanks for any leads you can provide!

Tom

 

[Tom Curran]

This is on steel, and my first one. I made some mistakes, but I know enough about steel from this exercise to say that I want to try more. The advantages of steel are that fine lines are much more controllable than in copper, and the plate is scratch resistant while printing.

The fox is almost ghostly, and the distant weeds on the other side of the hill are so delicate. This would have been harder to do in copper.

Plate size 2 1/2" x 4 3/4". Printed on acid-free 'Pescia' paper.

Thanks for looking.

Tom

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

I think the polished plates you are looking for are made by Cronite: http://cronite.com/index.php/catalog

You'll have to scroll down and look at the various sizes and thicknesses to suit your needs.

Engraver’s Steel

Cronite supplies many thicknesses of Engraver’s Steel. This aircraft quality, electric furnace steel is specifically formulated to our exact specifications for ease of hand engraving and evenness of etching. At the same time, it is very tough, in order to hold up under the pressure of wiping and stamping.

The steel is ground sufficiently to get below the surface of pits and inclusions, and then polished to a smooth working surface which can still hold an acid resist. Except for photo-presensitized material, each piece is then coated with a film of anti-rust compound and wrapped in wax paper for protection.

 

[DKanger]

Tom
Go to your local(?) auto body paint and equipment supplier. They have what you are looking for as sheet metal squares used to make or repair body panels. The finish "as is" is very good and could easily be polished to your desired finish with a sanding block and desired grit wet or dry paper.

 

[Weldon47]

I get mine at Home Depot or, Tractor Supply. I've also found the same stuff at an Ace Hardware too.
I get large sheets and cut them to size.
Love your stuff Tom,

Weldon

 

[Joe Jacob]

Cronite plate is probably what you are looking for. Polished and ready to engrave.

http://www.cronite.com/etchsup.htm

Scroll down to the bottom for "DIE AND PLATE METALS"

 

[Tom Curran]

Cronite might be just the ticket.

Cronite quote:

18 Gauge (1.27mm) Thin Steel - Sheets measure 12" X 25" and are coated with an anti-rust compound. Also available in 25" long strips, or in plates cut to the size you specify. Edges are deburred. Quantity price discounts apply at 25 and 100 sheets.

XT1-12002500 18 Ga. Thin Steel Sheets, 12" X 25"

 

[Tom Curran]

Thanks for your help, everyone!

Tom

 

[Jim B]

Buy the plates from Cronite. These steel plates are made for engraved and or etched prints. The steel plates are highly polished. Spend your time engraving not polishing plates. You may find the plates a little soft at first. They are great for push engraving.

 

[Tom Curran]

Thanks for your comments, Jim, and thanks for posting your work. I am most interested in push graving for printmaking.

 

[mitch]

wish you were closer- i have 3-4 of those 25"x12" 18g sheets you could have one for free.

 

[monk]

i wondered why all the fuss. after seeing your wonderful work, i can now understand your concerns about steel.

 

[KCSteve]

wish you were closer- i have 3-4 of those 25"x12" 18g sheets you could have one for free.

If you can easily split one you could get it in the Priority Mail flat rate envelope. Pretty cheap to mail one of those.

 

[Tom Curran]

Copper is so soft, it scratches during the wiping process. You can see there are slight scratches on the surface of the plate. These scratches actually hold ink; enough of them, and the print gets a gray cast.

The plate also wears with wiping; when super fine lines are cut, the print loses definition after a short run.

Many of the shading cuts on this plate are done with a liner, little dive into the metal and pop out the chips.

 

[mtgraver]

Tom have you thought about chrome finish on your copper, flash of nickel? Rotogravure printing uses a copper cylinder, work is proofed, then chromed for durability when printing. They were etched but hand engraving was used for corrections. Sad to think I never knew anything about engraving when I worked in that field of printing.
Mark

 

[mitch]

If you can easily split one you could get it in the Priority Mail flat rate envelope. Pretty cheap to mail one of those.

an excellent suggestion, Steve, unfortunately i don't have an easy means of cutting it up. i could ask a local machine shop or sheet metal operation to shear it, but if they charge me even $10 for their trouble the savings just evaporated...

 

[mdengraver]

In intaglio class I believe we used zinc plates. They seem to hold up well.

http://www.takachpress.com/servlet/the-125/backstopped-metal-zinc-plate/Detail

 

[Marrinan]

Zinc plates were commonly used in the printing trade of time mostly gone except for a few artist who picked up obsolete equipment and decided print make was an art not a trade. That happened after hundreds of plate engravers were layed off Fred

 

[mitch]

btw, to those following this thread, you'll want to click on Tom's link (http://tcurranc.ipower.com/index.htm) to his website. he does some very cool stuff!